I was late to the game with Skinny Puppy as I never really got into them until after the suicide of member D.R. Goettel and the release of “The Process,” at the time their final album. I figured that I’d never get the chance to see them live. This was disappointing as tales of their live shows had become the thing of legend in the world of industrial music, especially the time they were arrested for dissecting a live dog on stage (it was a very real looking prop).
Of course, Puppy have returned and The Greater Wrong of the Right Live chronicles their resurrection. Unable to see them during this tour either, I was happy to get a copy of their live DVD for review.
The DVD begins giving the viewer an opportunity to select between stereo and Dolby 5.1 as well as whether to jump to a specific performance or watch the entire show, recording during 2004 in Montreal and Toronto.
The concert begins like a typical industrial show in anti-authoritarian fashion as images and sounds of George W. Bush fill the screen. From there the “Downsizer” begins as images of human and ape skulls are juxtaposed on screen (this fusion of filmed performance and onscreen images continues through the first half of the DVD, focusing more on the stage show during the latter half). During the course of the entire song Ogre never appears onstage; instead, there’s a large video screen in the center of the stage beset on one side by Justin Bennet (drums) and William Morrison (guitar, bass) with cEvin Key (synths, percussion) on the other. It’s not until “I’mmortal” that Ogre appears, dressed in some stitched up shirt similar to a straight-jacket while wearing headgear that resembles some kind of strange canine creature (I’m assuming a “skinny puppy”). This remains on his head until “Empte” when he removes the muzzle portion, though eventually the entire headdress is removed.
The group tears through a handful of their more recent songs before stretching into their back catalog. During “God’s Gift Maggot” Ogre continues to drizzle himself in fake blood but he holds a gas-mask filled with some kind of green fluid that he occasionally spits into the air while performing “VX Gas Attack.” From then on most of the concert consists of older songs and similar theatrics.
Ultimately I was unimpressed. As I noted before, Skinny Puppy had become icons, but as a performer I found Ogre to be anything but dynamic. Sure, he covered himself in blood and other things, but most of the show consists of him posing and moving about a 5’ x 5’ area under the large projection screen.
Also, no matter how much a keyboardist gets into it there’s little that one can do to make it look exciting, so while cEvin Key was instrumental in creating the sonic experience of the performance it wasn’t that exciting to watch. In fact, it seemed as if all of the performers were most interested with focusing on their instruments and effecting aural twists through them instead of performing for the crowd, though the guitarist did occasionally jump straight up and down while playing.
Another disappointment was the song selection for the show; the exclusion of many tracks from their most recent releases is puzzling. Where were “Jahya”, “Candle”, and “Death” from The Process, “Killing Game” from Last Rights, or even “Spasmolytic” from Too Dark Park, their seminal release?
It is true that as of their last two releases Skinny Puppy has become more conventional with their songs, which has upset some fans and pleased others (I’m in the latter group). As such, when embarking on their first tour in a decade (or longer) it seems that the group decided on a nice mix of old and new, though with a significant slant to the old. Of course, this again would make sure that not everyone would be happy, and though I would have preferred to see more of their current work I concede that this compromise simply had to be.
The extras on the second DVD are ancillary little bits from some of their past albums, including home video footage from 1986 while the band was on tour in Europe. There’s nothing especially interesting about them (unless the band talking about how stoned they are does it for you) and will appeal only the most hardcore of Skinny Puppy fans.
In the end I was glad that I got to see Skinny Puppy live in one shape or another, but like so many other bands that have tried to make a comeback it was impossible for them to live up to their own legend.