KMFDM at Irving Plaza

Sasha Koneitzko and Lucia Cifarelli

Sascha Konietzko, also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, was born in Hambug, Germany, but conceived what would become the industrial band KMFDM in 1984 as a performance art project at the opening of an exhibition of young European artists in Paris, France. KMFDM initialized the nonsensical and grammatically incorrect German phrase Kein Mehrheit für die Mitleid, which is typically given the loose translation of "no pity for the majority," a phrase Konietzko composed by cutting words from a German newspaper and randomly pulling them out of a hat. Konietzko soon returned to Germany, where various musicians moved in and out of KMFDM. In 1991, Konietzko moved to Chicago, Illinois, and KMFDM became part of the city's industrial music scene that included Ministry, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, and Revolting Cocks, until 1994, when Konietzko relocated to Seattle, Washington. KMFDM split in 1999, but Konietzko resurrected the brand in 2002 with a new lineup. American singer Lucia Cifarelli joined the revamped KMFDM; Konietzko and Cifarelli married in 2005 and relocated together to Hamburg in 2007. KMFDM released its 20th studio album, Hell Yeah, on August 18, 2017.

German band Lord of the Lost was to perform as an opening act for KMFDM's American tour, and two Lord of the Lost musicians were to perform in KMFDM as well, but delayed visas forced a cancellation. At Irving Plaza tonight, Konietzko and Cifarelli stood front and center at two podia, singing and playing electronic gear; they were backed ably by longtime drummer Andy Selway and a last-minute fill-in, Brooklyn-based guitarist Andee Blacksugar. The set consisted of seven songs from the new album, as well as one or two songs from nine other albums and EPs. Several songs featured politically-charged anthems of resistance and defiance to the band's trademark ultra-heavy beats. Konietzko and Cifarelli interlocked vocals, often leaving their podia to work their audience from the edge of the stage, to repetitive hard and heavy guitar and synthesizer riffs. Konietzko provided the grittier vocal style, counterbalanced by Cifarelli's comparatively sweet range. KMFDM's music was not as experimental as it was in the 1990s, but this newer mainstream version worked very well.

Visit KMFDM at www.kmfdm.net.

Setlist:

1. D.I.Y.
2. Freak Flag
3. Hell Yeah
4. Amnesia
5. Light
6. Rebels in Kontrol
7. Total State Machine
8. Animal Out
9. Burning Brain
10. Bumaye
11. Glam Glitz Guts & Gore
12. Shock
13. Virus
14. Murder My Heart
15. A Drug Against War

Encore:

1. WWIII
2. Hau Ruck
3. Godlike