Type O Negative
20 June 2003
Astoria, London
Johan and I forsake support band Kill II This as it`s Friday night and we`re in need of the infamous Bloodshots at Garlic & Shots. Arriving at the venue, it`s apparent a lot of goths and metallers have come out of the woodwork tonight as the venue is sold out. We manage to procure a prime spot on the balcony with an unrestricted view of tonight`s proceedings.
The green life line cover of the new Type O Negative album Life Is Killing Me Makes an effective backdrop and the stage set up has the ambience of an operating theatre. This is enforced when the band take to the stage in green surgical gowns (also on sale at the merchandising stall, so watch out for Johan the mad Swedish doctor, or Doctor Love as he prefers!).
Ironically with all the medical theme`s, Pete Steele isn`t feeling well, which accounts for a shortened set of just over an hour. The sound also seems to be sick this evening and remains in a critical condition for the duration of the show.
There are a few puzzled looking faces as Type O open with Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity (I Know You`re Fucking Someone Else) from their debut album. At ten minutes plus it lasts as long as you`d expect with a title that long.
Cheers are raised for October Rust`s Wolf Moon, which is more familiar to the masses and it is followed by the only selection from the brooding World Coming Down album, Everyone I Love Is Dead.
You don`t get much in the way of on-stage action at a Type O gig and tonight the band stick to their four corners of the stage. Josh Silver is on a raised platform stage left and is a mass of swishing hair, whilst to his right, Johnny Kelly on drums enjoys a return to the venue he was at in November last year when moonlighting with Danzig. Ken Hickey on guitar is front of stage right looking positively tiny next to the towering Pete Steele.
Pete Steele himself is as depressed as ever though he does seem even more subdued tonight. He does however raise a smile when he`s forced to restart Love You To Death having been out of tune with the rest of the band. Some bands may look unprofessional having to do this but for Type O it leads to a warm connection with the audience.
With the new album so fresh it`s Type O Negative policy not to play lots of unfamiliar material and tonight we get just I Like Goils and I Don`t Wanna Be Me, which both being uptempo and catchy are shrewd choices. The later in particular goes down well having been on a number of magazine compilations, though if you`ve heard the album promo, you find yourself imitating the guy telling you when the albums out, mid song.
The final song is of course the ode to goth girls, Black No.1 with the crowd practically drowning Pete out. The short-set finishes shortly before 10pm and it felt more like a one-off brief performance rather than a date in support of the new album. It`s to be hoped Type O will be back to fully promote their excellent new album so we can here a few more songs from it live. However, the early finish meant more time back at Garlic & Shots for Bloodshots!
Type O Negative Set List:
Pain (Intro Tape) / Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity (I Know You`re Fucking Someone Else) / Wolf Moon / Everyone I Love Is Dead / Christian Woman / Love You To Death / I Like Goils / Prelude To Agony / I Don`t Wanna Be Me / Black No.1
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