After walking a couple of blocks to get to this 3 band show, we arrived at the door where hordes of fans (some ticketless and waiting for scalpers) awaited entrance. Having bought our tickets before the show sold out, we moved anxiously toward the stage area maneuvering through masses of miscellaneous goths and other black-clad creatures of the night. They would learn soon enough that 242 there for music, and not for fashion.

But before Front 242, we would first see Crocodile Shop and Project Pitchfork. After waiting for awhile (and watching humorous clips from vintage sci-fi flicks projected to a movie screen), Crocodile Shop finally took the stage. Unfortunately though, we couldn’t see the band very well because of their excessive use of smoke machines. The cloud cover lasted about 60% of their show, and sadly I have to say that it was most likely used to camouflage their inactivity. In an attempt to make the show more visually stimulating, CS’s frontman (Mick Hale) accidentally dropped his microphone off of the stage and vocals were lost for a couple minutes. This was overlooked and emphasis was on the never-ending onslaught of beats and well-executed music. Overall I have to say that Croc Shop has a good roster of music, but their live performance of that music left something to be desired.

When that portion of the show was over, Project Pitchfork emerged with the lead vocalist dressed in something reminiscent of The Crow (including duct tape), with a stripe of face paint across his forehead. Smoke wasn’t used as liberally as in the previous performance and the lighting effects were slightly better. The vocal manipulation was a refreshing change considering that Project Pitchfork uses little or no voice distortion. The band was slightly more energetic than the first, and the vocalist and keyboardist even got into a pushing fight. This got the crowd riled and writhing to their sound, while they pumped out both new and old tunes into their show. Project Pitchfork definitely made a respectable (although slightly cheesy) attempt at showmanship and displayed a more noticeable sense of attachment to their music.

Pitchfork eventually exited the stage, creating a tense 10 minute wait until 242 finally started making sounds. The guest drummer (Tim Kroker) and keyboardist (Patrick Codenys) began a lengthy intro to Happiness to create tension in the crowd as we all waited for Jean-Luc De Meyer and Richard 23 to come out onto the stage. Jean-Luc was the first to claim the stage. Receiving a roar from the mass of fans he joined in the subtle intro, creating a tension yet again as we all waited for the appearance of Richard 23 himself. After what seemed to be forever, he leaped out as the last necessary component for 242 to begin their show. Following Happiness, 13 more Front 242 classics were performed. Each track was a contemporary approach to their predecessors. All were given a more rave/techno oriented style which suited 242’s previous style and characteristics rather well. I even found myself moving with the music.

Other than the indirect use of smoke and fans in the intro, they didn’t use many enhancing effects at all. This was not a hindrance to their show; rather it was an advantage. In fact, Front 242 was 100% energy, and didn’t stop moving for the duration of the concert. This only proved to me that they were still passionate and into their music- including songs produced as far back as 1982! What really impressed me is that they wore their normal everyday clothes and didn’t have to dress up to keep the attention of their crowd . The highlight for me was when Richard 23 practically ripped the flesh off of my hand while trying to slap it (go ahead and laugh). Overall, I think that Front 242 delivered well on their part of the $22.50 ticket price, despite the short-comings of Crocodile Shop and the campy performance of Project Pitchfork. The show was definitely worth it, but I sincerely hope that the next time I see Front 242 they have new material to perform.

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