One of the best benefits to living in Southern California is the plethora of concert venues in the area. Orange County & Los Angeles alone easily have over 100 venues combined where shows can spring up and happen. If that isn’t enough for you, just a drive down the 5 freeway to San Diego can open up a whole new concert going experience with new venues to take in. I was fortunate enough to finally experience the Observatory North Park down in San Diego when KMFDM came through on their 40th Anniversary Tour. This industrial band from Germany has made a name for themselves over the decade, and I was finally able to see what they had to offer.

Opening the night was the band known as Sour Tongue. These guys brought an upbeat groovy punk aspect to the show. Lead singer Satori Marill lets her voice flow between sultry melodies and in your face screams of passion. Reminded me of Cherie Currie from the Runaways. Guitarist Jake Bonn drives the song with his distortion ladened riffs. Bassist John Murphy is one of the most animated on stage, letting his hair whip around while just losing himself on his instrument. Drummer Max Codoceo handles Sour Tongues changing styles with ease. From pushing the beat with punk rhythms, to creating a two steppin yeehaw vibe for a country-style song, and even crafting a dance beat during the song “Soap.” No matter what the song called for, Codoceo was able to groove with it. Sour Tongue played other songs like “Jorking My Shit,” “A Mile in Clown Shoes,” “Teeth,” “Supreme Jort,” “Godspeed 43,” “Godzilla Sex Tape,” “Nebraska,” “Watch This Drive,” and “Poopy Pants Baby.” The crowd may not have known what to expect from a band called Sour Tongue, but the band played with passion that could be felt with every note they put together.

Two podiums were placed on stage with the KMFDM logo spray painted across the bottom. The beat to the opening track “All 4 1” rang out across the venue. Founder and co-vocalist Sascha Konietzko stepped on stage still sporting a spiked mohawk. With the lyrics to the song starting by shouting the band’s name of “K. M. F. D. M.” the crowd went wild. Quickly joined by his other co-vocalist Lucia Cifarelli who helps to create a dynamic vocal range with Konietzko for each song. These giant podiums also serve as a bigger aspect to the show besides adding texture to the stage dressing. As Konietzko is the band’s programmer with Keys, synths, and percussion, while Cifarelli also performs on keys, these podiums hold the musician’s instruments. Yet, both performers find time to step out and play unobscured for the audience to truly taken in their performance. Something I love about industrial music is that traditional instruments are manipulated to create sounds you wouldn’t normally expect from them. Guitarist Andee Blacksugar handles a normal 6 string axe and drummer Andy Selway is on an acoustic drum kit. But by sending their sound through pedals and computer system they can modulate the sound to make it sound more robotic, futuristic, or even rhythmic.

KMFDM’s style and sound was on full display through songs like “Let Go,” “Freak Flag,” “Hyëna,” “Airhead,” “Oh My Goth,” “Naïve,” “Go to Hell,” “Push!,“ ”Liquor Fish & Cigarettes,” “Rebels in Kontrol,” “Bumaye,” “Blindface,” and “A Drug Against War.” With this being their 40th Anniversary tour, the band could not just end the show there. They have too many beloved songs and came out for a five song encore with “No God Here,” “Megalomanic,” “When the Bell Tolls,” “Godlike,” and truly ending with “Paradise.” Even though some of these songs can be considered heavy, KMFDM is creating more danceable beats and rhythms. A dance pit would form in the middle of the crowd, as fans couldn’t help but dance to some of their favorite music from the last four decades.

I have heard of KMFDM in passing over the years, but it took my editor Matthew Belter advising me to see their show to finally get me out there. And I am so greatly fully appreciated that he recommended this show. Not only was the music lively, fun, and danceable, but the band still sound like they do on record. I was transported to a industrial club with heavy bass pounding into our ear drums, and I soaked in every moment of it.