Last night, IAMX brought dark and dangerous pop music to Slim’s. It soothed my soul.
It was a circus pants and heels kind of evening- I knew that Chris Corner would bring his deranged bell boy ensemble, so I felt compelled to match it. It was my second night in a row at Slim’s, but this time I wasn’t alone, as I met up with my twitter pal DreamerM, which was also therapeutic as we discussed NIN/JA, SSSC, Chris Cornell, and more.
I didn’t catch much of the opener…just enough to know that there was too long of a break between bands again. Tonight, the stage had butcher paper up along the sides to focus everyone’s attention on the center. Many in the crowd had similar thoughts as me, and came dressed for the occasion.
Finally, the lights dim and out pops Chris Corner, followed by the band. His female keyboardist/bassist is in a white strapless dress and wears glitter eye makeup. The guitarist is in white, an exposed hairless chest and a headband. I can’t see the drummer. They are all very pumped up, beckoning to the crowd to give them applause and come closer….which I found to be a bit odd for this band.
They launch into new material first- ‘Think of England’. The stage remains very dark. The girl wanders over to my corner of the stage- and I’m not entirely certain what happened, but I think she stepped off it and gracefully fell into the crowd. It looked like it hurt. She hopped back up and continued like nothing had happened.
A spade decorates the back of the stage, along with some other small projections. Corner also has some small triangles painted on his face under one eye. But it’s really hard to see everything because they keep it very dark up there. I know Corner changes hats a couple times, and that’s about all I can see. And then, as he did in GAMH, he ‘stage dove’, which is more like he falls onto the crowd and is barely caught.
They continue with new material- some of which sounds better to me live than when I listened to it before. ‘My Secret Friend’ and ‘I am Terrified’ were definite standouts. It felt good to hear ‘The Alternative’ again. When the encore came around, ‘President’ and ‘Kiss and Swallow’ made it, but my two favorites, ‘After Every Party I Die’ and ‘This Will Make You Love Again’ were left out. I really needed to hear those two songs, so unfortunately I left the set kinda down about that.
Corner and his band bring a great energy to their performance- it’s filled with passion, the lyrics make you feel, and you end up commiserating over life and love with this collection of unsatisfied souls in the room. I danced around in celebration, and inadvertently freaked out a few of my followers tweeting meaningful, yet desperate, lyrics that I was feeling.
“I am terrified, I think too much,
I get emotional when I drink too much,
I buy every cry, cause I don’t trust,
I am terrified, I think too much.”
Regardless, I leave feeling very positive. IAMX sang it out of me, and I left it all on the dance floor.
Last year’s review of the IAMX show at GAMH
My interview with Chris Corner of IAMX
My review of ‘Kingdom of Welcome Addiction’
DreamerM’s blog about the show
OVERALL: 8/10
IAMX performance: 8/10
venue (Slim’s): 8/10
crowd/scene: 8.5/10
value ($17.00/ticket): 9/10
memorable: 7.5/10
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