Mindless Self Indulgence - Cologne 2008

Luxor, Cologne, Germany
10th April 2008
Mindless Self Indulgence & Gerilja

With their mix of Rock, HipHop, Punk and Electronica, MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE (MSI) make it difficult for anyone who wants to put their music into a specific draw. The band calls their music “Industrial Jungle Pussy Punk” and they celebrate it excessively on stage, often in eccentric costumes. The band from New York is not only known for mixing different styles and influences musically, they are also best known for live shows you would not forget that fast. So, I was very curious what awaited me during that evening in Cologne in the tiny and very packed Luxor club.


Gerilja

When I first heard that band name supposed to be the support for MSI, I thought of that hardcore band from the North. But well, those guys are from the North - to be precise from Norway - as well, it is a different band. A band where it is pretty hard to get any information about. There is a mySpace site, but there are no info about the band at all besides the band names. A band website could not be found. So well, then we go ahead with the information we got… with nothing. GERILJA are Alex (vocals, guitar), Ottar (drums) and Simon (bass). http://www.myspace.com/gerilja



Music & Performance
Somehow those three guys looked pretty funny on stage. You had the impression you were catapulted back to the early 80s, when tight tiger leggings, headband and bubble-perm hairstyles were very popular in the hard rock scene. But not only the look of those guys seemed to come back from nearly three decades ago, also the music sounded like during those days. At least partly. Not really my cup of tea, only the very last song of the set made my feet whipping to the beat. The sound in the packed venue was pretty good, the lights weren’t. Steady magenta is not what you would call nice lights and it made the boys look very odd anyway.

Setlist
01. White L
02. The Night
03. Disco Shakedown
04. Rad P
05. Masters of the Universe
06. Neon Sphere
07. Heat
08. PS

Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 6
Sound: 8
Light: 3
Total: 6




Mindless Self Indulgence

The band MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE has been founded in 1995. Their music has been influenced by the 1980s. Elements like the hip-hop vocal style or the bleeping Atari sounds are very usual for them. In many of their songs, the lyrics are about being gay and other related topics. They have already played as an opener for many well-known bands like SYSTEM OF A DOWN, STAIND, KORN, SUM  41 and also RAMMSTEIN. Their discography includes five albums as well as several EPs and remixes. The album 'You'll rebel to anything' has already been released in April 2005 in the USA and was 2007 re-released in an expanded and re-mastered edition also in Europe. As for now, the band is up to release a new album called ‘If’ end of April 2008. MSI are James Euringer aka Little Jimmy Urine (vocals), Steve, Righ? (guitars), Lyn Z (bass) and Kitty (drums). http://www.mindlessselfindulgence.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/mindlessselfindulgence


 
Music & Performance
To sum this show up - it was freaky, totally over the top, madness and absolutely crazy. And it was a lot of fun! Those four people came onto stage like a hurricane, starting with 100% power and kept this level until the end. Before the songs really got started, singer Jimmy had some sweet presents - gummy bears and such stuff - for the fans. But after he spread this stuff out, the evening could get started accompanied by loud screams, chant, clapping and wild jumping. Band and fans, both went mad. Jimmy, but also Steve and Lyn jumped onto the speakers… or took a bath in the crowd, crawled on the floor, lying on the drum kit. You never knew what to expect from this band within the next second, you got surprised any moment. People shouted every song… and were titled as “classy audience” several times. My favourite saying of the evening!



Jimmy also “sold” one of the microphones for just 20 euro and very quickly - to the surprise of the stage crew - the mic was drowning in the masses. Jimmy knew how to push the fans to extremes. The floor was shaking, shoes were flying in total madness… What an energetic show! Towards the end, Jimmy wanted to send his “own message” to you-tube and asked all people in the venue to take their mobiles to record his message. But also one of the photographers in the pit had his part in the show when he was pulled on stage to take pics of the audience which went totally nuts. Jimmy exceeded the conversations with the audience… mostly about sex… which ended several times in fans “grabbing” his dick (well, better the mic he’s put into his pants).



As for the setlist, of course you could enjoy several sings from the upcoming album ‘If’ to be released end of the month. But also the older stuff had its fair share in the setlist where the focus basically was put onto the previous albums ‘You’ll rebel anything’ and ‘Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy’ with the celebrated songs ‘Clarissa’, ‘Faggot’ or ‘Dicks…’. All songs were very fast… and short and so, the set ended after about 75 minutes even though there were more than twenty songs on the setlist. But no one needed a longer show. This one was fantastic as it was with a band on which applies any attribute from way-out over freaky to totally mad. The live show was more than 100% pure energy; full off aggression, movement and sarcastic words. So, anything you were expecting from that show… with an audience that went totally mad during the whole performance. Perfect!



Setlist
01. Shut me up (You’ll rebel anything - 2005)
02. Mastermind (If – 04-2008)
03. Clarissa (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy - 2000)
04. Stupid MF (You’ll rebel anything - 2005)
05. 1989 (You’ll rebel anything - 2005)
06. Never wanted to dance (If – 04-2008)
07. Kill the Rock (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy - 2000)
08. Prescription (If – 04-2008)
09. Revenge (If – 04-2008)
10. Animal (If – 04-2008
11. Tornado (Tight - 1999)
12. Pay for it (If – 04-2008)
13. Faggot (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy - 2000)
14. Capitol P (Despierta Los Niños - 2003)
15. Bitches (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy - 2000)
16. Dicks are for my friends (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy - 2000)
17. Golden I (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem - 2000)
18. What do they know (You’ll rebel anything - 2005)
19. Planet of the Apes (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy - 2000)
20. Straight to Video (You’ll rebel anything - 2005)
21. I hate Jimmy Page (Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy - 2000)