It All Adds Up Eventually: Throbbing Gristle to Play First U.S. Shows in Ten…Times Seven… Teen… Carry the Four… TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS!

If I close my eyes, I can still clearly envision my first encounter with Throbbing Gristle. The scene was a common one at that particular time in my life: after-school retail hell at a record store. The degenerate staffers took turns manning the stereo, pimping their cred by playing whatever stone cold classic or latest thing no one else had ever heard before (it was a regular Empire Records or High Fidelity, it was!). However, the customer is always right, so any requests to hear a release trumped the unknown nonsense that was being played at that time (this was before listening posts became de rigueur).

Naturally, some customers would monopolize the stereo, and a French DJ named Louie was one of the biggest time hoggers. He spun exclusively industrial-type music and harsh sound, and if he liked something, he would shout out, “Ooh, I like dat!” If he really liked something, he would grab the record like a seagull snatches an errant french fry and smell the vinyl. No joke. More often than not, when he LOVED something, he would take a huge whiff of wax, then pop his boner out of his flies and slap it against the record while stuttering, “I-I-I.. looove it so much… p-p-lease… pplease. Oooaaahhh!” Okay, that last part was a white lie, but he did get overly excited for his “most favorites” like Throbbing Gristle. You know, Louie wasn’t that over the line with his enthusiasm; after an endless barrage of stock beats, Gristle was always a welcome and interesting change of pace.

There are plenty of Throbbing Gristle recordings to pick and choose from, depending on your mood -- from wanting some severe pain or a dash of devastating carnage -- but according to our friends at The Daily Swarm, the quartet of Peter Christopherson (TMT Interview), Chris Carter, Genesis P-Orridge, and Cosey Fanni Tutti will actually be playing LIVE in the U.S in April, their first dates since 1981! In fact, by my calculations, if it weren't for two shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco that year, these new gigs would be the very first Stateside for the pioneers.

Apart from the confirmed Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival appearance on April 19 (playing fourth on the bill, before Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and The Cure), performances in three other cities have allegedly been announced. The New York and San Francisco visits will apparently comprise both an afternoon set featuring a performance of their 1981 soundtrack to Derek Jarman’s avant garde film In the Shadow of the Sun and an evening show of hits and killer filler

04.17.09 - New York, NY - venue TBD *
04.19.09 - Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
04.23.09 - San Francisco, CA - Grand Regency Ballroom
04.25.09 - Chicago, IL - Epiphany *

* afternoon and evenings sets

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