It was a night of darkness at the Skinny Puppy show at the Fox Theater in Pomona on Saturday December 20, 2014. People of all forms came to the show, dressed like your average Joe, all the way to full on costumes that could have competed with Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy.
Skinny Puppy
Well the theatrics were on for Skinny Puppy, Nivek Ogre had many faces throughout the evening and put on quite a show. The show was loud and the crowd could not take their eyes off the stage as they wanted to see what was going to happen next. The show seemed to portray a science experiment gone wrong. At one point the created murdered the creator with a meat cleaver. It was mind-blowing to say the least.
First Line Assembly
The crowd roared when First Line Assembly hit the stage, they put on a fantastic rock show that had a crazy light spectacle that made it a photographer’s nightmare, but it worked out in the end. The strobe lights went crazy for about an hour and Bill Leeb, formerly of Skinny Puppy, kept the crowd engaged and pumped till the end of their set.
Haujobb
Veterans of industrial rock followed Youth Code. They played music that spanned twenty years and they played it well. The crowd stood and bobbed their heads while they played, except for one guy, the guy dressed as Bane who definitely had too much to drink, wobbled and danced all over the place while flipping the security guard off who told him to get off the stairs multiple times. Yeah, that guy was at the show.
Youth Code
Local Angelenos, Youth Code opened the show with something to prove and what they proved was that the industrial rock was not dead. Sara Taylor came out with a ferocity that I have not seen in an opening act. Taylor ran around the stage screaming out vocals and whipping her hair around and she never stopped. Taylor was very excited and appreciative to be playing with the bands that followed. She and Ryan George played a thirty minute set that never let up. Their performance was packed full of energy and I felt I was at a Youth Code show and not just watching an opening act. They definitely did prove their point that industrial music may have a new wave coming. Definitely check them out if you get the chance.
It was the last show of the tour and all bands were sad that it was over, but all were very appreciative that people came to see the shows along the way.
Words / Photography: Wes Marsala
Article Originally written for GrimyGoods.com December 22, 2014
