MDFMK

And after seeing MDFMK in concert, I have witnessed that they live by these statements.

During the first encore, MFDMK summed up the status of KMFDM in their rendition of "DIY" from KMFDMK's final album, "Adios:""KMFDM, that's no more!"

Although KMFDM is no more, MDFMK will never escape their past legacy. Instead, they are using it to their advantage in continuing their music, both on recordings and in performance.

The show began, sadly, with a mediocre opener, Five More Dead, a hardcore/metal band which would do themselves good by trying to set themselves away from Korn. Personally, I was expecting Sister Machine Gun or Lords of Acid, but an hour or so later the reason I journeyed to the Masquerade appeared on stage.

Sascha Konietzko nonchalantly walked on stage, smoking a cigarette, and began working on a keyboard and other gear. The audience roared, and he waved, indicating the audience be louder, and we were. He was then joined by Luccia Cifarelli wearing the coolest goggles I have ever seen. The two then performed "American Dream," an exclusive track from the Japanese release of "MDFMK." During the performance, Luccia disproved those sayind MDFMK lacks the humor of KMFDM by changing the line "A buck for a buck" into "A fuck for a fuck" during the second verse.

Tim Skold appeared onstage at the end and started "Now." At this point the audience went insane and a shortlived mosh pit began. Also during this track, one of the most electrifying moments during the show occured when a dude wearing "A Drug Against War" t-shirt got past security and on stage. He paused for a moment before taking a proper dive into the audience and going to the rear of the crowd. He was followed by several others during the show, but none was as spectacular as his.

The rest of the performance was incredible, and was jumped up a level when a white shroud was pulled down to reveal the 7-foot tall guitar playing robot. At the same time, a screen lit up with concert footage behind the band. This footage was a mix of pre-recorded performance footage and real time footage. It also distorted and changed angles to other cameras in the venue.

Another special effect which was simply awesome was Skold's use of a drill head and a toy laser gun that made noises over the pick ups on his guitar. These effects gave an extra tone of distortion to the sound.

MDFMK played their entire debut album, plus the Japanese bonus tracks "American Dream" and "Action Reaction" and "Missing Time," from the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack. The band then did an encore of "DIY" and "Adios" from KMFDM's final release.

The band then did another encore: "Anarchy," from 1997's "Symbols" album. During the lyrics in the bridge, Tim Skold stopped singing to let the audience pick up with "Chaos created government." However, only silence met him, and with a slightly annoyed look on his face he once again tried to get the audience to pick up. Once again, no sound, and Skold continued on, seemingly realizing those in attendance were too hoarse to continue.

After the show, I followed the advice of a roady and went outside by the bus which said "Revolution Now" on the front window. Tired, I laid down and stared at the single star in the sky. Then movement caught my eye on a catwalk outside the Masquerade: Someone who looked kind of like Tim Skold was walking outside, followed by some other people. He then yelled, "Hey, wake up!" In the post-KMFDM show tradition, the band came to talk to the fans and sign autographs. Below are some pictures and interesting comments from the band members.

My only regret of the evening was realizing that I did not have the time or money to go see MDFMK the next night in New Orleans. I'll be waiting for their next show, and I encourage any KMFDM fans who are speculative of MDFMK to go see them in concert. It's worth it.

After the show:

Photos: