The allure of watching concert recordings is largely lost on me, as is the appeal of watching musicians play on laptops, and yet I found myself on the Christmas morning of 2024 watching the TG Berlin blu-ray while my wife was still sleeping. I have no idea why I thought this would be appropriate viewing material for the wee hours of the holiday.
This disc was part of a box set released earlier that some month. The video portion of this captures their performance at the Volksbühne in Berlin on December 31st of 2005. Just as I chose to watch this on Christmas, I wonder what was the draw for many Berliners for this to be their New Year’s Eve entertainment. As singer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge tells the audience at one point, it is a day just like any other one, but I wonder if anybody in the audience had secretly been wanting a more traditional celebration.
From what we see, however, the audience is very much excited to be there for this very rare appearance by this group which was briefly reactivated earlier this century after a hiatus of two decades. And, from what was preserved on video from their first incarnation was far more confrontational than anything shown or heard here. This performance largely has the curious feel of a victory lap for a group once trounced in the UK press as “wreckers of civilization”.
What we have here is Chris Carter and Peter Christopherson seated behind Macbooks and various electronic gadgets, which does not make for very exciting visuals. Compensating for this is Cosey Fanny Tutti on trumpet and slide electric guitar. Then there’s P-Orridge as the direct public interface, making such bizarre pronouncements as “Studio 54” at one point, but truly shocking me with a sincere “Thank you!” near the end.
The music is more palatable in this period than in their prime, which is somehow simultaneously benefits, and is to the detriment of, the experience. Pre-programmed beats establish a foundation which grounds the audio as a musical composition, regardless of the chaos on top of it, whereas performances from the late 70’s could be sheer walls of unrelenting noise. Hell, they simply played audio of various artillery fire for one gig. In comparison, nothing is really challenging here. I had hopes for a closer titled “P.A. Destroyer”, only to discover the only challenging aspect of the piece is the length. That the once-highly-controversial “Hamburger Lady” is well-received as an encore is something I am unable to mentally reconcile.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the concert is the stage presence of P-Orridge in this phase, as they had become a trans person in the interim between the eras when Gristle was a going concern. With their surgically modified chest and fey mannerisms, this is a jarring contrast to the openly confrontational and seemingly perpetually angry young man we saw a couple of decades prior. I do not mean this in any way to be a slur against P-Orridge, or trans people in general, but am simply saying this is the most immediately evident sign TG Mark II is something different from before.
In keeping with their early recordings and filmed appearances, great pains are made to explain the video portion of the program is not to be compared to conventional releases. The visuals were captured by various handheld DV cameras around the stage and in the audience. This approach actually captures the various aspects of the performance quite well. But what is odd is the accompanying audio is truly flawless, with even an option to play as Dolby Atmos. I am at a loss to fully explain why I feel this way, but something chafes me about the marriage of (allegedly) subpar video and audiophile sound. To the best I can articulate, it scans like a betrayal of their DIY roots.
There is one curious moment in TG Berlin I want to call out, and that is a “technical issue” which briefly disrupts the performance. What I found odd is manager Paul Smith, already too visible on stage up until this point, was especially drawing way too much attention to himself immediately beforehand. I had the distinct feeling he was acting, and that this malfunction was intentional.
Admittedly, such a thing would be in keeping with the spirit of the group’s earlier shows. This results in some catcalling from the audience, to which P-Orridge replies they are glad at times like these that they don’t understand German. That’s a funny line, but it was in response to some tepid umbrage to what I swear was a staged “accident”. The intentions may have been noble and the audience rightly (if barely) provoked, but this is clearly a long ways away from the time they played a private school and the underage cretins were yelling at Cosey to show them her tits.