Live Review : Skinny Puppy @ Jannus Live

Having now caught Skinny Puppy at three different landmarks in their career, I have a new perspective on their legacy.  The first was on their 92 “Last Rights” tour. The second on the “Greater Wrong of the Right” and now on what has been billed as their final tour. If this is their final tour and if anyone was going to stick to their word in this regard I would trust them more than say Cher or Motley Crue who have also made such claims in the past and opted for bigger paychecks instead. After all, given the sporadic nature of the project’s touring do we really want to see them in their 70s, or is a graceful goodbye that upholding their legacy with dignity preferred? I want the latter. 

 This most recent show at Jannus in St Pete, an outdoor venue, is basically a boxed courtyard that is surrounded by residential buildings. The crowd was large enough that the merch line wound back toward the stage while the openers Lead in Gold droned on into the dusk. Paul Barker of Ministry fronts the band , using his bass the way guitar typically holds down a post-punk band. This duo is very capable, but they have focused their sound in a murky place that many bands of this kind occupy, making them less than urgent in their approach. Skinny Puppy would finally take the stage in typical theatrical flair that found Ogre singing as a shadow puppet behind a white screen . They opened with “VX Gas Attack” from the 1988 “VIVIsectVI” album. Their messages about the horrors of chemical war even more timely now give the state of the world today. When Ogre came out from behind the white curtain, he wore a black shroud that gave him the appearance of the Elephant Man. During “Tormentor” the theme began to emerge with the interplay between Ogre and an actor clad in a militant cyborg costume, who represented an oppressing energy. “Love in Vein” was a highlight for me since “Last Rights’ is my favorite Skinny Puppy album. 

The shroud came off on “Human Disease” to reveal an alien mask with glowing eyes. From this point until the encore, the acting on stage felt like the show was a torture porn musical rendition of “the Man Who Fell to Earth”. “Hardset Head” from ”the Process” was another musical treat, as perhaps due to the nostalgia I have for it , but “the Process” is my second favorite Skinny Puppy album. It also gave guitarist Matt Setzer from London After Midnight time to shine. The set list paid homage to the totality of their career . Not really a band with a greatest hits to adhere to , the omission of “Tin Omen” felt odd, and the same could be said for “Pro-test”, but having seen them play both those songs before , it did not really phase me.

 When they did include some of the more recent material that leans in more of an EBM direction than industrial, they used the darker songs that blended nicely against their more classic darker work. While “Candle” is one of my favorite Skinny Puppy songs, it felt like a weird way to give their final goodbye, while the more anthemic “Assimilate” felt like the last rallying cry for their vision. Though Skinny Puppy has never been a band to play by any rock n roll rules, or paint any sonic picture that is not of their own vision for in that sense it was the most sensible night for them to ride off into.