Review: In St. Pete, Skinny Puppy puts a cap on 40 years of EBM dominance [PHOTOS]

After a long absence from touring and recording, pioneering electro-industrial group Skinny Puppy announced its 40th anniversary and farewell tour earlier this year. Much to the delight of local fans, the band’s final jaunt included a stop at St. Petersburg’s downtown, outdoor venue, Jannus Live.

On Tuesday night, the courtyard-style music venue was overtaken by the onslaught of sounds, textures, and visual stimulation Skinny Puppy has become known for throughout its long tenure. Filled to near-capacity by fans dressed primarily in all black, Skinny Puppy delivered a two-hour trip through its lengthy musical catalog and satisfied its most devout followers.

Taking the stage as sounds of bloops, bleeps, and knob-twiddling emerged from speakers, the three-piece band, featuring founding member cEvin Key, found their places onstage. Lodged at the center of the stage was a veiled tent-like structure that enshrouded the group’s other founding member, Nivek Ogre, as he sang. Appearing only in the form of a silhouette, Ogre’s vocals penetrated the night’s breezy air.

Kicking off the night with “VX Gas Attack” from its groundbreaking 1988 album VIVIsectVI, the band sounded sturdy and powerful. Known for its sometimes-brutal pounding, chugging sound, Skinny Puppy established early on that it’s one of the frontrunners and key contributors to the sound and rise of industrial music, dating back to the decade in which the group was formed.

The pulsating blend of funk and electro-industrial that permeated through the venue when the group churned out its 1989 tune “Rodent” was enriched by the live, pounding beats touring drummer Justin Bennett added to the dizzying mix. Still behind the curtained cubbyhole, Ogre’s vocals dominated the array of songs the band delivered on an almost non-stop basis for much of the early part of the program.

After finally emerging from his veiled space, Ogre appeared, clad in all black and sporting a huge black headdress that masked his face. As the singer made his way to each side of the stage, an onstage visual performer added to the night’s performance by providing theatrics to enhance the visual aspect of the show. Sporting a long tunic and a gasmask-like head covering, the performer’s bits included inflicting Ogre with simulated blows with an oversized cattle prod and pretending to inject him with a large syringe.

Always known for the visual aspect of its live performances, admittedly, the band had very little room on the venue’s stage to deliver maybe a more deliberate or effective display of its brand of performance art. Nonetheless, with Ogre’s further costume changes, which included donning an alien-like mask with glowing eye slits, the audience was more than happy with song selection the group treated it to for two solid hours.
Representing songs from its many albums, the group mixed in some of its better-known darkwave club dance hits with some more obscure numbers. Alternative club staples like “Assimilate” and “Dig It” went over well and drew plenty of overwhelming reactions from those who danced along at the venue as they had presumably throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s when Skinny Puppy music dominated club playlists.

Seemingly eager to keep playing, the band continued to jam in as many numbers as possible before the night came to an end. After finally removing his onstage costume and his mask, Ogre took a few opportunities to greet the crowd and offer some brief interjections of onstage banter. “You’ve been with us for 40 years! That’s a long fucking time. You made us a band!” he gleefully announced before leading the band through a stellar, hypnotic performance of “Testure,” another one of the band’s earliest offerings that helped solidify Skinny Puppy as the premier dark industrial group.

Often imitated, emulated, and blatantly copied, Skinny Puppy has long stood as the figurehead of the genres it conquered and helped popularize, dating back to its creation in the early 1980s. While others have adopted the sounds and aesthetics the band has crafted throughout its existence, only Skinny Puppy had the vision and the foresight to blend political commentary, animal rights activism, the incorporation of sampling film dialogue, and visual stimulation to its presentation and to its music.
While it’s disappointing that this current trek is billed as the band’s farewell to touring, it’s still inspiring to know that Skinny Puppy is going out at the top of its game and is still lightyears ahead of its many contemporaries, as proven by this outstanding performance.

Setlist
VX Gas Attack
I'mmortal
Rodent
wornin'
Tormentor
Love in Vein
Human Disease (S.K.U.M.M.)
Hardset Head
Pedafly
Morpheus Laughing
The Choke
Worloc
Inquisition
Dig It
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God's Gift (Maggot)
Assimilate
Smothered Hope
Testure
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Deep Down Trauma Hounds
Candle