Godflesh Live Date History // 1988 - 1993
Date City Country Venue / Info?
Notes On Sources
Details
Information, setlists and accounts of many of the early entries was provided by a gentleman named Andreas Vondran who attended a number of shows throughout western Europe in the early-to-mid 1990s.

In addition, large chunks of this info was from decades ago and any errors may have populated the Internet since.

1988.11.03 Bristol UK The Tropic Club
Details
The earliest known Godflesh show, this was from within a year of the band's inception. Several of the songs were old Fall Of Because tracks and a pair would later be recorded on the Tiny Tears EP (and subsequently tacked onto Streetcleaner). The audio linked below shows both how raw the early band sounded and just how far their sound had progressed, even in such a brief time.
Media

[YouTube link is audio only (but well worth the listen!)]

Setlist
  1. Wound
  2. Avalanche Master Song
  3. Veins
  4. Godhead
  5. Tiny Tears
  6. Spinebender
  7. Weak Flesh
1988.12.11 Birmingham UK -unknown-
1989.??.?? -unknown- DE -unknown-
Details
A video bootleg of this show exists
1989.01.23 Edinburgh UK The Venue
Details
The band supported Prong for two nights, the 23rd and 24th of January.
1989.01.24 Leeds UK Duchess Of York
Details
The band supported Prong for two nights, the 23rd and 24th of January. An audio bootleg of this show exists
1989.03.13 Portsmouth UK Poly Tech University
Details
An audio bootleg of this show exists
1989.06.08 Birmingham UK -unknown-
Details
An audio bootleg of this show exists
1989.08.05 Nottingham UK -unknown-
Details
Lyrics to Christbait Rising are quite different: jumbled up and likely improvised.
Media
Audio Download [256kbps MP3 : 53Mb]
Setlist
  1. Wound
  2. Veins
  3. Christbait Rising
  4. Tiny Tears
  5. Weak Flesh
  6. Avalanche Master Song
1989.11.30 Birmingham UK -unknown-
Details
An audio bootleg of this show exists
1990.02.15 Uxbridge UK Brunel University
Details
Supporting Loop. World Domination Enterprises also played this evening.
Media
Setlist
  1. Love Is A Dog From Hell
  2. Like Rats
  3. Veins
  4. Avalanche Master Song
  5. Tiny Tears
  6. Streetcleaner
  7. Locust Furnace
1990.02.23 Amsterdam NL Paradiso
Details
This was the Technotone Festival in the winter of 1990.
Setlist
  1. Streetcleaner 2 (tape)
  2. Streetcleaner
  3. Mighty Trust Krusher
  4. Locust Furnace
  5. Like Rats
  6. Avalanche Master Song
  7. Veins
  8. Wound
  9. Weak Flesh
  10. Headdirt
  11. E: Tiny Tears
  12. E: Christbait Rising
  13. E: Love Is A Dog From Hell
Review (by Andreas Vondran)
"Unfortunately I was not mad about Godflesh at this time, otherwise I would have seen this festival. I do not know which other bands played this night, but Godflesh was headlining and played last and a full gig. It's the only gig I know with Streetcleaner 2 as intro and where they started with the songs where Paul appeared playing second guitar. The crowd was wild and they played a lot of encores what is quite unusual."
1990.03.31 Schorndorf DE -unknown-
Details
Media
Audio Download [192kbps MP3 : 120Mb)]

Setlist
  1. Like Rats
  2. Christbait Rising
  3. Avalanche Master Song
  4. Veins
  5. Wound
  6. Tiny Tears
  7. Weak Flesh
  8. Streetcleaner
  9. Life Is Easy
  10. Mighty Trust Krusher
  11. Locust Furnace
  12. Ice Nerveshatter
  13. Headdirt
  14. Love Is A Dog From Hell
1990.04.10 Cologne DE Rose Club
Setlist
  1. Love Is A Dog From Hell
  2. Like Rats
  3. Christbait Rising
  4. Veins
  5. Avalanche Master Song
  6. Tiny Tears
  7. Weak Flesh
  8. Streetcleaner
  9. Mighty Trust Krusher
  10. Locust Furnace
  11. E: Headdirt
Review: (by Andreas Vondran)
My first Godflesh-Live-experience, and the beginning of my addiction. They started very late after two boring support bands I don't remember. After 5 minutes of Love Is A Dog From Hell, Justin's PA crashed and Ben finished the song as a bass solo with the drum machine in the background. It took 20 minutes to continue and therefore the gig finished very late. Even today (after about 20 times I saw them live) it was one of their best shows.

Paul Neville jumped on the stage for playing Streetcleaner, Mighty Trust Krusher and Locust Furnace with them. So it was in all other shows.

In November 1990 they made a little tour and I spent a few days of holidays to participate.

1990.08.05 Nottingham UK -unknown-
Setlist
  1. Wound
  2. Veins
  3. Christbait Rising
  4. Tiny Tears
  5. Weak Flesh
  6. Avalanche Master Song
1990.10.24 London UK Astoria
Details
Godflesh opened up for Nirvana this evening with L7 also performing. Historically, it was thought that the cover to the Slateman single was photographed this evening, however, that was discovered not to be true. See the London Astoria 1991 date below for more.

Media

Setlist
  1. Christbait Rising
  2. ???
1990.11.22 Gent BE Democrazy
Setlist
  1. Love Is A Dog From Hell
  2. Like Rats
  3. Christbait Rising
  4. Spinebender
  5. Veins
  6. Suction
  7. Streetcleaner
  8. Life Is Easy
  9. Mighty Trust Krusher
  10. Locust Furnace
  11. E: Avalanche Master Song
  12. E: Headdirt
Review (by Andreas Vondran)
The show in Gent was the most successful I saw. The gig was completely sold out and the crowd was incredibly wild, even two hours after the show they hammered on the ground. I was surprised they played Spinebender and Life Is Easy. And really, it was the only gig ever they played Life Is Easy. Before the show a friend of mine and myself did an interview with Justin. It is on the tape as well. By the way the show was opened by Helios Creed.
1990.11.23 Geel BE De Campus
Setlist
  1. Love Is A Dog From Hell
  2. Like Rats
  3. Christbait Rising
  4. Wound
  5. Spinebender
  6. Weak Flesh
  7. Mighty Trust Krusher
  8. Locust Furnace
  9. E: Head Dirt
Review (by Andreas Vondran)
The show in Geel in the Campus room of the university was opened by two terrible BE metal-bands, the setlist was quite similar, except Life Is Easy as I mentioned before, but they played Weak Flesh that night. The audience was stunned by the violent sound and seemed not very excited but Godflesh sold more T-shirts than ever, strange people.
1990.11.24 Cologne DE Rose Club
Setlist
  1. Love Is A Dog From Hell
  2. Like Rats
  3. Christbait Rising
  4. Dream Long Dead
  5. Suction
  6. Streetcleaner
  7. Locust Furnace
Review (by Andreas Vondran)
The show in Cologne was a sole scandal. They had to play with the awful old-men-band Lurkers. When they had signed, Godflesh were convinced that Lurkers was the support band, because in England only two people would come to a Lurkers show, they are not popular any longer. The club was almost sold out and Godflesh had to support Lurkers, unbelievable but true.

There was a fight between the people shouting for Lurkers to start, and the Godflesh fans. Godflesh only were allowed to play 35 minutes because they were afraid that Godflesh would blast off the brains of the people. In addition to that the club's staff treated Godflesh in an unacceptable way (no drinks, only a small room). Therefore they decided that they would never play in this club again. A popular joke was: "why nobody would like to have Godflesh as a support band? Because you would sound like a children-pop-band afterwards.

Dream Long Dead was our request we told Justin before. He said that they hadn't played it for a long time, but they did as a sign of "thank you for your company during the tour". Even an encore was not allowed, what a mess. I'm sure you can ask them about this story because they will never forget it. When I spoke to Justin and Benny in 1995 after the show in Essen, they still laughed about this event.

1990.11.25 Liege BE Centre Recreatif St. Gilles
Setlist
  1. Love Is A Dog From Hell
  2. Like Rats
  3. Christbait Rising
  4. Veins
  5. Wound
  6. Streetcleaner
  7. Mighty Trust Krusher
  8. Locust Furnace
  9. E: Spinebender
  10. E: Weak Flesh
Review (by Andreas Vondran)
Almost the tour ended on this day. On their way to Liege they drove to Holland for buying some hash. Unfortunately they were checked at the border, but they were lucky, the police couldn't find anything although using dogs. I didn't see the local BE bands opened that night. The show was nothing special and only a small crowd.
1990.11.26 Louvain-La-Neuve BE L'Ecume des Jours
Details
The final date of the autumn 1990 tour. This may have been the last show to feature Paul Neville, at least for some time.

Media

Credit to Stan Verbeken via facebook

Setlist
  1. Like Rats
  2. Christbait Rising
  3. Wound
  4. Veins
  5. Spinebender
  6. Avalanche Master Song
  7. Weak Flesh
  8. Streetcleaner
  9. Mighty Trust Krusher
  10. Locust Furnace
  11. E: Ice Nerveshatter
  12. E: Pulp
Review (by Andreas Vondran)
The last show was something special. They told us before that it will be the last time playing the old Godflesh/Streetcleaner-songs. They played it for years and it was enough, Justin said. We were interested to hear the songs we hadn't heard and shouted a lot of requests. And they did: the encores were Ice Nerveshatter and an incredible noisy 20 minutes-version of Pulp (with Paul Neville), but they didn't play Love Is A Dog From Hell.

One year later the next tour with Robert instead of Paul Neville. Also there was no drum machine anymore but they used a DAT-Recorder for drums and samples. I did not enjoy the tour that much. They were very limited by the DAT-machine and played the same songs in the same order almost every show, while on the last tour I had admired their flexibility. And: I did not like the Robert's style of playing guitar. It sounds really like an errant Loop-Guitar and it bothered the Godflesh sound. They sounded less noisy and less straight.

1991.01.24 London UK Astoria
Details
Show alongside Revolting Cocks and Bomb. This was the date that the cover of the Slateman single was taken.


Photographer Jason Ashbridge recounts, "I took the photo at a show where the guys supported Revolting Cocks in London; and a damn fine show it was too....Godflesh played 5 new numbers and RevCo ...well, they were fun! Anyways, I took a whole roll of film specifically for the Slateman cover; the intention was to make the cover look like one of those early Mudhoney/Soundgarden type covers...I think it worked."

Media

1991.10.10 London UK Camden Underworld
Details
One of very few four-piece dates featuring Robert Hampson on guitar, Mick Harris on drums. While Harris played with the band in several instances, I believe they only played four shows as a four-piece during this era. I may be mistaken.

Cable Regime and Fudgetunnel opened on this evening.

Media

[Note: YouTube link is audio only]

Setlist

  1. Slateman
  2. Slavestate
  3. Meltdown
  4. Perfect Skin
  5. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  6. Spite
  7. Cold World
  8. Don't Bring Me Flowers
1991.11.01 Wrexham UK Memorial Club
Details
With Mick Harris and Robert Hampson. See 10 October, 1991 for more.

Media

Setlist (Same as the prior night)

  1. Slateman
  2. Slavestate
  3. Meltdown
  4. Perfect Skin
  5. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  6. Spite
  7. Cold World
  8. Don't Bring Me Flowers
1991.11.21 Eindhoven NL Effenaar
Setlist
  1. Slateman
  2. Slavestate
  3. Meltdown
  4. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  5. Spite
  6. Cold World
  7. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  8. E: Love is a Dog from Hell

Review (by Andreas Vondran)

Note: As promised they did not play any songs from the albums Godflesh and Streetcleaner but the new Slavestate stuff. At this time neither Pure nor Cold World were released, therefore it was exciting to hear new songs first live (Don't Bring Me Flowers, Spite, Cold World, I Wasn't Born To Follow). Of course, I was happy they played my all-time-favourite Love Is A Dog From Hell as an encore and in a special version which was much slower than the original.
1991.11.22 Dortmund DE Live Station

Media

Audio Download [VBR MP3 : 112Mb]

Setlist

  1. Slateman
  2. Slavestate
  3. Meltdown
  4. Don't Bring Me Flowers
  5. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  6. Spite
  7. Cold World
  8. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  9. Love Is A Dog From Hell
1991.11.24 Brussels BE V.K. Tref
Details
Most of this European trek featured the same setlist. An audio bootleg of this show exists

Setlist

  1. Slateman
  2. Slavestate
  3. Meltdown
  4. Don't Bring Me Flowers
  5. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  6. Spite
  7. Cold World
  8. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  9. Love Is A Dog From Hell
1991.11.26 Hannover DE UJZ Glocksee
Details
This is the same setlist as four days prior in the prior few days.

Media

Audio Download [192kbps MP3 : 109mb]

Setlist

  1. Slateman
  2. Slavestate
  3. Meltdown
  4. Don't Bring Me Flowers
  5. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  6. Spite
  7. Cold World
  8. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  9. Love Is A Dog From Hell
1991.11.27 Amsterdam NL Melkweg
Details
This is the same setlist as the prior days.

Media

Audio Download [192kbps MP3 : 109mb]

Setlist

  1. Slateman
  2. Slavestate
  3. Meltdown
  4. Don't Bring Me Flowers
  5. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  6. Spite
  7. Cold World
  8. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  9. Perfect Skin
  10. Love Is A Dog From Hell

Review (by Andreas Vondran)

It was the first and last time I heard Perfect Skin live, therefore at least something special in this show.

Only four months later, there was already the next tour. Pure was released in the meantime, Cold World was not, but they did not play it on this tour, remarkable. They lost some credit again because of the disturbing guitar of Robert. This was not only my opinion.

1992.03.14 London UK The Venue
Details
Supporting Prong. Robert Hampson performed with the band this evening.
Media

[YouTube link is audio only]

Setlist
  1. Pure
  2. Mothra
  3. Slavestate
  4. Spite
  5. Predominance
  6. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  7. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  8. Slateman
  9. Like Rats
1992.03.30 Herford DE FlaFla
Setlist
  1. Slateman
  2. Pure
  3. Mothra
  4. Slavestate
  5. Spite
  6. Predominance
  7. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  8. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  9. E: Like Rats
  10. E: Love Is A Dog From Hell
Review Notes (by Andreas Vondran)
In comparison to the last tour they added Pure, Mothra, and Predominance. And we were of course stunned to hear an old song: Like Rats was first encore, also in a slow-motion version.

(My notes)
Andreas had a bit of luck getting to see LIADFH so frequently. Most of the shows in early 1992 had the same setlist, with only minor variances. See his notes from the 26th of November 1990 for some details regarding those changes.

1992.04.01 Essen DE Zeche Carl
Setlist
  1. Slateman
  2. Pure
  3. Mothra
  4. Slavestate
  5. Spite
  6. Predominance
  7. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  8. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  9. E: Like Rats
  10. E: Love Is A Dog From Hell
Review Notes (by Andreas Vondran)
What a shame, one of two shows I was present but no tape. We did not realize that our machine was damaged. We had recorded but nothing was on the tape.

(My notes)
The setlist is presumably the same, though it is not verified as such.

1992.04.10 Utrecht NL Tivoli
Setlist
  1. Slateman
  2. Pure
  3. Mothra
  4. Slavestate
  5. Spite
  6. Predominance
  7. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  8. Don't Bring Me Flowers
  9. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  10. E: Like Rats
  11. E: Love Is A Dog From Hell
Review Notes (by Andreas Vondran)
One more song this night: Don't Bring Me Flowers. The show was opened by the local band called Deinum but as usual I did not pay attention because most support bands are boring and this one was definitely.
1992.04.11 Nijmegen NL Doomroosje
Details
Robert Hampson played with the band this evening and all was new material. They reportedly played Like Rats as well as a final encore, but that's not shown on the video provided below.
Media
Setlist
  1. Slateman
  2. Pure
  3. Mothra
  4. Slavestate
  5. Spite
  6. Predominance
  7. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  8. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  9. Meltdown
Review Notes (by Andreas Vondran)
Something special, they played Meltdown instead of Love Is A Dog From Hell.
1992.04.13 Enshede NL Atak
Setlist
  1. Slateman
  2. Pure
  3. Mothra
  4. Don't Bring Me Flowers
  5. Slavestate
  6. Spite
  7. Predominance
  8. Someone Somewhere Scorned
  9. I Wasn't Born To Follow
  10. E: Like Rats
  11. E: Love Is A Dog From Hell
1992.07.05 Santa Barbara, CA US -unknown-
Details
(Verify this information)
Godflesh was set to tour the United States in 1992 alongside Skinny Puppy, however, they encountered issues with their visa and could not make those dates. In July of that year, the band made up six dates (with or without Skinny Puppy?

Media

Audio Download [256kbps MP3 : 79mb]

Setlist

  1. Pure
  2. Slavestate
  3. Mothra
  4. Monotremata
  5. Spite
  6. Slateman
  7. Like Rats
1992.10.22 Windsor UK The Old Trout
Details
The band played slower renditions of Devastator and Avalanche Master Song.

Media

Setlist

  1. Devastator
  2. Avalanche Master Song
  3. Nihil
  4. Pure
  5. Slavestate
  6. Mothra
  7. Monotremata
  8. Spite
  9. Cold World
1993.04.09 Leuven BE Corso
Details
One of very few known dates from 1993, support was provided by Tryptych.

Media

Credit to Stan Verbeken via facebook

Setlist unknown

1993.07.08 Kristiansand NO Caledonien Hotel
Details
The only known date from 1993, this featured the slow rendition of Devastator.

Media

Setlist

  1. Devastator
  2. Nihil
  3. Pure
  4. Slavestate
  5. Mothra
  6. Monotremata
  7. Spite
  8. Slateman
  9. Like Rats
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