Killing Joke treat Ether festivalgoers to a great selection of classics

As the days start getting longer and the sun starts granting a few extra hours of light in the evening, I take it as a sign that the Ether Festival on London's South Bank is about to start up again, offering a new selection of eclectic music old and new. This particular April Fool's day saw relatively new outfit Swimming playing support to legends Killing Joke, fresh from a new album to add to their already extensive collection. With a band that had influenced so many others (including Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Soulwax and Nirvana), expectations of these two acts old and new were high.

Setting foot into the lobby of the Royal Festival hall usually gives you a good impression as to how the night is going to go and this was no exception. I was greeted by a sea of burly, middle aged rockers, complete with boots and black leather jackets, dotted by the occasional Mohican haircut. Clearly Killing Joke's fan base have aged, but as band that have been around since the late 70s, they certainly have not waned in popularity and in general they were out to have a drink, listen to loud music and raise hell.

Kicking off the show proper saw five-man band Swimming from the British Midlands, playing a selection of rock and shoe-gaze indie from their catalogue. They are a tight bunch, with a collection of catchy hooks and guitar riffs. In particular, the drummer plays with a combination of electronic drum pads and physical instruments, powering the performance forward alongside their vocal talents, which I am sure are complex and meaningful, but were lost amongst the cacophony of guitars and feedback. A shame that most of the attendees had stayed in the lobby area, presumably to quaff a couple more pints in preparation for the main event, but an enjoyable performance nonetheless and I look forward to hearing more from them in due course.

Following a quick hop outside for a beer, burger and cigarette, the hall quickly swelled as people took their seats, the anticipation for seeing the headliners growing as the hall filled with popular music from Blade Runner and Metropolis as Killing Joke took to the stage, a mish mash of suits, leather jackets, jeans and combat smocks, the latter coming from frontman Jaz Coleman in his Alice Cooper-esque stage outfit of black hair and eye makeup. Wasting no time, they kicked things off into a riot of driving guitars, thundering drums and raucous vocals, giving the crowd what they had been waiting for.

It's at this point I should mention that anyone stuck in the pit (poor photographers!) got swamped as members of the audience rushed the stage, creating a small mosh pit at the front as people stomped and danced together in the isles. I don't think anyone was left seated either – the audience had come for them and were treated to a great selection of classics, firm favourites and new tracks lifted from their recent album. The set list made sure to include some of the more downtempo material to create time to recover from the headbanging and gave them a chance to show the breadth of their musical ability.

I've also got to rave about the visuals, projected on the wall behind the band, featuring anything from communist Chinese dancing soldiers, to decaying cityscapes, freaky clowns, cartoon violence and even more provocative, a montage of a cartoon plane doing death-defying runs between skyscrapers mixed with 9/11 footage. As an audio-visual performance, together with Jaz's performance as some kind of zombie-soldier, stomping/marching to the beat and screaming vocals opposite heavy guitar lucks and complex drum solos, this was a great ensemble - the product of playing over 40 years of gigs and great to watch.

Much like the yin-yang, there is old in the new and new in the old. Swimming proved that newer bands are still capable of producing new tracks and sounds whilst paying homage to older artists, whilst Killing Joke have ably demonstrated that they are still able to rock out and by combining old and new material together with a great visuals, can go from strength to strength.

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