The following are reviews from the European tour of Nov/Dec 2001.
23rd November, 2001 - Nürnberg - Z-Bau
from Mike
What else should I say, they were brilliant! Wthout any introduction the band entered the stage and after a short feedback-intro, started with Defeated. The set was about 35 min. Here's the setlist:
Of the few people in the audience who already knew Godflesh, most seemed to be familiar with the newer tunes, which is something i didn't expect. After all Godflesh seemed to have a good time on stage. The whole band was very aggressive and moving quite a lot - speaking in Godflesh-terms, of course. After the show, the cheers were much louder than before and I think the band made a few new fans that evening.
Christbait Rising ended with a small feedback/noise-outro and Justin left with the words "we were Godflesh". Otherwise this seems to have been a typical GF-gig for this tour.
A few words about the other bands: Devin Townsend didn't seem to have a really good day. Strapping Young Lad were, to say the least, disappointing. fear Factory were cool,though.
Godflesh was the first band to enter the stage on this tour with Devin Townsend and Fear Factory. Due to the number of bands, they sadly had only half an hour for their set. And a good set it was:
The sound was very crisp, Ted Parsons was great on the drums, and Raven was a good replacement for Ben with his menacingly grinding bass. Justin's vocals and guitar wailing were very crisp and clear and as always overwhelmed you. Justin was also surprisingly agile as he actually moved a little distance from his microphone when producing his beloved guitar whining, something I haven't seen him doing on any previous gig ;)
Teds drumbeats on Christbait Rising were surprisingly groovy, it's still the old fucked up weird rhythm, but with a new, very danceable quality to it. The crowd's reaction was very poor (ignorant imbeciles...). When Devin Townsend entered the stage, first thing he did was to berate the audience for not giving Godflesh the reaction they deserve ;)
The rest of the concert was fine as well. Devin Townsend wasn't my taste at all, so I went for a little snack; but Fear Factory presented their usual great treat for the audience, although their sound was really mushed up so you couldn't really appreciate their riffs and vocals... And of course they demanded an extra applause of the audience for Godflesh... ;)
A great evening after all, but with a GF gig you really can't go wrong.
Godflesh did not play with Fear Factory in Hamburg. Ted missed a train and could not make it to Hamburg in time. Bad news for the fans there. Fear Factory played just sixty minutes (no encore), most people think about this evening as a rip-off;: little music but expensive show.
I have seen Godflesh in Hengelo (Netherlands), one of the shows without Fear Factory.
They played exactly 45 Minutes. The set-list:
Due to the written set-list they were prepared to play Anthem and Jesu as well but both songs were outlined.
Ted's drumming was great, Raven did not play that much on his bass, so he cannot really replace Ben. But I guess this is not expected regarding the time Raven had to come in.
Great set-list IMO and one of their best shows I have seen for years. I did not wait for Devin Townsend.
Godflesh came on at about 8.45 - no backing tape, just all 3 walked on to the stage, faffed about for a couple of minutes, then started up, playing.
I could have gone home then and got my moneys worth, but i stayed for Fear Factory, which was so-so, but for me Godflesh ruled. Although its sad Ben wasnt there to enjoy it, Raven pulled it off quite competently.
Godflesh by all accounts had van trouble and up until about half way through fear factory's set I was under the impression they weren't playing. But, give Fear Factory credit. They stopped mid set, announcing that Godflesh had turned up and were going to do one track...
Justin came on stage announced that they were Godflesh and that the song was Love is a Dog from Hell, to a fairly half hearted response to be honest.. and that was about all he said. The sound was huge, I was duly impressed but as i think the crowd consisted of mostly "nu metal" kids, it didn't really go down that well. Though I'm glad that they actually turned up it was a bit of a dissapointment with such a poor response and only one song..