Set List

1. I Am Angie Bowie (Sine Waves)
2. The Last Rites of Spring
3. Are You Shivering?
4. Amethyst Deceivers (Version 3)
5. A Warning from the Sun
6. Drip Drop
7. Windowpane
8. Drip Drop (Reprise)
9. Ostia
10. I Don’t Want to Be the One
11. Bang Bang (Sonny Bono Cover)
12. An Unearthly Red

Feeling: Reflective

“Live Four” phase. Final live performances of all songs.

All official releases cut out chunks of the performance, including several minutes of “Windowpane” and parts of the intro and ending to “I Don’t Want to Be the One.”

—

The Last Rites of Spring

John: “I am Angie Bowie.”

We are children, we are children, we are children
We are children of the black sun
We are children, we are children
We are children of the black sun
We are children, we are children of the black sun

We are born, we are born
We are born under a black sun
We are children, we are children

And William Burroughs is hallucinating in space
And William Burroughs is hallucinating in spay-
Burroughs in space, are we going in space? [manipulated loop repeated]

[Off mic]
Are we going overage? [?]
Are we going of range? [?]
Are we going raged? [?]

Are we going in space?
Are we going in space?
And William Burroughs is hallucinating in space
And the animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
Yayayayayaya!

And is a human race
Are you going deranged?
It could be arranged
And the animal saliva will survive
The spiral animal will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
The animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive!
And the animal saliva will survive!
And the animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
And William Burroughs is hallucinating in space

And the animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
And the animal saliva will survive
And the spiral animal will survive

Where’s your ahoh?
Where’s your halo?
Where’s your halo?
We’re sin, and in? [?]
And William Burroughs is hallucinating in space

Hey, hey
Uh, ugh, ugh, ah, ah, ah, AH! AH! AH!
And I am-
And… [?]
And William Burroughs is hallucinating space
And William Burroughs is hallucinating space
AH!

John (after the song): “Never turn the lights on in a dark room.”

Are You Shivering?

Are you still shivering?
Are you still cold?
Are you drowning in silver,
Or are you bathed in gold?
Are you still shivering?
Are you still cold?
Are you drowning silver,
Or are you bathed in gold?

This stream’s va-vitality
With threads as fine as a spider’s web
They pour from your mouth
They pour from your mouth
Are you still shivering?
Are you still cold?

In the oceans of the moon
Swimming squid-like and squalid
This bright moon is a liquid
This dark earth is a solid
Are you loathsome tonight?
Does your madness shine bright?
Are you loathsome tonight?

Are you still shivering?
Are you still cold?
Are you still shivering?
Are you still cold?
Are you drowning in silver?
Are you drowning in shilver [sic]?
I sit down and shiver in your silver river

Are you loathsome tonight?
Does your madness shine bright?
Are you loathsome tonight?

In the oceans of the moon
Swimming squid-like and squalid
This bright moon is a liquid
This dark earth is a solid

John (after the song): “Thank you for coming to see us. Thank you for being here. Difficult things are happening in life, ha.”

Amethyst Deceivers

John claps throughout the song’s intro then clears his throat audibly before singing.

Pay your respects to the vultures
For they are our future
Our fathers and mothers have
They have failed to release us
Into the welcoming arms of the amethyst deceivers

So pay your respects to the vultures
For they are your future
Our fathers and mothers have
They have failed to release us
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into your welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms of the amethyst deceivers
Of the amethyst deceivers
Of the amethyst deceivers
Of the amethyst deceivers
Of the amethyst deceivers
Of the amethyst deceivers

So pay your respects to the vultures
For they are your future
Our fathers and mothers have
They have failed to release us
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arm
Into your welcoming arm
Into the welcoming arms
Into the welcoming arms

So pay your respects
So pay your respects
So pay your respects
So pay your respects
So pay your respects
So pay your respects
To the vultures
To the vultures
To the vultures
To the vultures
To the vultures
To the vultures
To the vultures

A Warning from the Sun

John: “Please beware of solar flares.”

AH!
Agh! Back!
Yeah! Ooh…AHHH!
YAHHH!

The sun is coming
The dragon flies
His breath will drown
This earth with astral fire, aghhh

The sun is coming
The dragon fly
His breath will drown
This earth with astral fire, ahhh

The sun is coming, ah
The dragon flies
His breath will drown
This earth with astral fire, AHHH!

The sun is coming
The sun is coming
The sun is coming
The sun is coming
The sun is coming
The sun is coming

The sun is coming

Drip Drop/Windowpane/Drip Drop (Reprise)

No angels are here (repeated)

Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad (repeated)

I am not here; I am there
I am not there; I am down here
And the ambulance died at my feet
And the ambulance died at my feet  

Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad
Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad
And then the ambulance died at my feet
Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad (repeated)
Whistle
Whistle  

Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad
Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad
Whistle and I’ll cut you with a knife

Listen, I will fuck you with a knife
Listen and I’ll fuck you with a knife (repeated)
Listen, I will fuck you with a knife

Whistle and I will fuck you with a knife
Whistle, whistle and I’ll come to you my lad
Whistle and I’ll fuck you with a knife
Whistle and I’ll fuck you with a knife
Whistle and I’ll cut you my lad  

You don’t have to say it
Listen, and I’ll say it
I don’t have to say it
I took liquid LSD in my eye
I took liquid LSD in my eye
I took liquid LSD in my eye  

Whistle and I’ll come to you my lad
Listen I will come (repeated)
To put liquid LSD in your eye (repeated)
Put liquid LSD in your eye (repeated)
Listen 

I put liquid LSD in your/my eye (repeated)
Put liquid LSD in your eye (repeated)
Put liquid LSD
I put liquid LSD
Put liquid
Put liquid LSD in your eye
In your eye (repeated) 

Gold is the sky in concentrate
Power in its purest state
I put liquid LSD in your eye
Power is, gold is the metal with the broadest shoulders
The metal with the broadest shoulders
The metal with the broadest shoulders
The metal with the tallest orders
The metal with the broadest shoulders

“Windowpane” morphs back into “Drip Drop” for the last two minutes of the whole music section – the only time this happens.

Ostia

John: “Thank you. And now, what do we do? We do something from Horse Rotorvator.”

There’s honey in the hollows
And the contours of the body
A sickly golden river
A sticky golden trickle

You can hear his bones humming
You can hear his bones humming
Singing like [a] puncture

And the car reversed
The body in the basin
The shallow seaplane basin

Leon like a lion
Is sleeping in the sunshine
Lion lies down
Lion lies down

You can hear his bones humming
You can hear his bones humming

He said, “Murder me”
He said, “Murder me in Ostia”
He said, he said, “Murder me in Ostia”
Then throw my bones over
The white cliffs of Dover

Leon like a lion
Is sleeping in the sunshine
The lion lies down
Lay down with me, little lions
Lay down with me, little lions
Lay down with me, little lions
Lay down with me, little lions

Lay down with me, little lions
Lay down with me, you little lions
Lay down with me, little lions
Lay down with me, little lions

Lay down with me, little lions

John (after the song): “For the poets and the queers.”

I Don’t Want to Be the One

John moans into the mic before launching into his (relatively brief) monologue.

And the tiredness is still here. And the tiredness is still real. And the tiredness is still here. And the tiredness is still real, is still real, is still real, is still real.

John (after the song): “Thank you, heh. Sometimes, we are the one, huh? Sometimes, we are the one.”

Bang Bang

John (after the song): “Dedicated to Courtney Love.”

An Unearthly Red

John: “Ooh, we go. We don’t really know where we go.”

Massimo contributes vocals to this performance of the song, spurring on John. The two sing scream in each other’s faces throughout.

John: Wow! Aho! Ah! Ayow!
Massimo: Ayow!

God told me to do it
God told me to do it
God, God, God is my father
I had a vision of a burning bush
A vision of a burning George Bush
He said
He said, “God told me to do it”
He said God told him to do it

John (to Massimo): What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, motherfucker!
Massimo (to John): Hey, motherfucker, is it me?!
John: God told YOU to do it!
Massimo: He told you to do it!
John (pointing into the crowd): Ivan, God told you to do it!
Massimo: God told you to do it!
John: Ah, and God told you to do it! I had a vision…
Massimo: He had a vision!

Massimo: He said, “God told him to do it”
And then that night for the president
Was waking up from his dreams
And there is blood on his hands
And the White House carpet dripping
And was he tripping or was he dripping
Or was he dripping or was he dripping, the president?
‘Cuz God told him to do it
Massimo (into one of the front row cameras): God told him to do it!

You arsehole! You fucker!
You arsehole! You fucker!
You asshole! [repeated]
She is the mother of God
Tear every page out of the Bible and eat it
Tear every page from the Bible and eat it
He is president of deficiencies
No, President Deficiency
No vision of deficiencies

And, and again, and…
He does it again and again
Again and again and again… [repeated]

One, two, three, four!
John: And God told me to do it
Massimo: Oh, God told him to do it…

John: (to Massimo and Pierce) He could have you did it, or you?
Because God told you to do it
He said, “Your father is God
Oh, my father is a man
A man is a man”
He said, “Your mother is a whore”
“My father is God”
He said, “God told you to do it”
He said, “God, my father”
An unearthly red [repeated]

John’s closing words: “Ahem. Thank you very much for coming. That is it for tonight. We have to go and have a bath. Thank you for coming very much. Goodnight.”

After the show, draZen has difficulty convincing the bouncer to let him in backstage, despite the fact he was recording video onstage. Claus Laufenburg joins them where the band asks him for a copy of his video.

Rumor has it that following this gig, John and Ossian had a falling out and Ossian got kicked out of the band. There are conflicting reports as to why – some say he was a bad influence on John drug-wise, others say he insisted on recording in the studio with Coil and getting songwriting credits, etc. Danny McKernan contests all this, however, stating he simply did not play any more shows with them, while Ossian himself refuses to comment on the matter. The facts are that he did play with Peter and Thighpaulsandra at the 2003-06-21 Porto gig and he did end up recording in the studio on 2005’s The Ape of Naples.

Furthermore, John cracked under the pressure of being such a vicious and entertaining performer and had a series of psychotic episodes fueled by a total addiction to alcohol. There were questions even as early as the next day at the Spoiler Workshop, also in Vienna (which John was not present for), from Peter as to whether or not Vienna would be Coil’s last gig ever. The band would undergo a bit of a hiatus as John and Peter attempted to work out their personal and professional problems.

Sometime during this period, John broke up with Fred Mann and started dating Ian Johnstone, an artist with a peculiar style complementary to Coil’s. The pair first got in touch in the 90s, where they intended on creating an art installation together called “One.” He was the last in a series of boyfriends John had over the last few years of his life. Fred Mann has kindly shared with Live Coil Archive his recollections of this time period, which we’ve edited for clarity: “I had basically given John an ultimatum that he needed to work with me to get clean. He fell down the stairs at my house in Hackney and his head went through the banisters. He lay on the floor vomiting and shouting, so I told him to clean up his act, as he nearly broke his neck. That’s when he started spending more time with Ian, because Ian got him high and let him be stoned all the time…As to Ian, somebody I knew independently of Geff for many years, Ian had always had a boyfriend, a Spanish guy. He got involved with Geff at the very end of his life, and my thoughts about Ian are rather complex. Firstly, I never liked or trusted him. Secondly, I was never sure of his motives for being around Geff. Basically, I don’t think he helped much. Sleazy and I had been battling to get Geff sober and Ian wasn’t really part of that…Geff was only ever sober when he had an Antabuse implant. I was amazing[ly] fond of Sleazy. He was a brilliant man, and I did and do love Geff. Ian……. who needs that crap.”

Peter remained John’s primary caregiver throughout his life, and there was never any question over whether the duo ever stopped loving each other. John never moved into Ian’s place to any official capacity, instead living full-time in Weston Super-Mare.

Massimo and Pierce also stopped performing live with Coil, though they continued to be artistic collaborators.

On November 2nd 2002, Brainwashed announced: “Due to a sudden tightening of security at Italian border crossings in advance of an upcoming Social European Forum in Florence, Black Sun Productions have decided to cancel their performance of the Plastic Spider Thing ritual that was to take place in Milano on November 4th 2002. Here is their full statement on the matter:

Zürich, 2nd November 2002

What we heard from the italian e-newspaper Repubblica.it (and reported also from German internet news) forces us to the sad decision to cancel our performance scheduled in Milano for Monday November 4. We sincerely apologize with those who have worked to organize the event (especially Andrea Amici of Teatro I’, Ango Visone of Pornflakes, Flavio Magnani of Speed Demon and Lisa Tavazzani) and those who kindly reserved tickets for the performance.

Who writes to you has chosen to live and to work away from Italy as a result of the facts of Genoa of last year. Massimo & Pierce, DraZen and all the persons who gravitate around Black Sun Productions share a radical artistic militancy and an anarchist cultural, if not political, personal position. The vision of a European democratic (?) country that, once again, suspends international treaties and rejects European citizens to its own frontiers make us sad and frightened us. The way we look, the stuff that we carry with us to stage our performance (among which chains, army outfits and white overalls) and our antagonist attitude make out of us the police’s perfect target in such a scenario.

We are enormously sorry to disregard to our engagement and to miss the possibility to return to perform in Milano but we are sure of your understanding: our personal histories and the radical nature of our performances are enough to make us believe that we would be rejected from the Italian border police (like already happened yesterday to some “lawless-men” rejected to the Italian frontier of Ventimiglia). We are sure that nobody of you has forgotten about the horrible prison-odessey happened to an Austrian street-theater-group last July in Genoa. Please, don’t blame us if we don’t feel like to take the risk.

Massimo & Pierce, DraZen Black Sun Productions

—

On December 12, Brainwashed reported John made an appearance on the Soulseek Coil group Solar Lodge and made the following statement: “…We may be doing another one-off in New York early next year, opening for us will be Bablicon – young brain sizzlers, gelled krautrock… amazing. We hope to conquer California sometime soon as well…[Performing live in] Canada is a possibility; speaking of which – We’ve been in contact/communication/reciprocation with the lads from Boards of Canada. Our extreme appreciation for each other’s work is mutual. Something may also come out of that in the near future.. Again, it’s all in the aether. We definately [sic] will not be touring again due to promotion, inner complications and other nonsense. If you want us to come to your city you’ll have to lure us over. :-)”

This projected gig never took place.

John Balance – vocals
Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson – Ableton sequence, video projections, Clavia Nord Modular Synthesizer
Thighpaulsandra – Clavia Nord Modular Synthesizer, Kurzweil Synthesizer, Electro-Harmonix on John’s vocals (with 16-second delay, modified by Kanwal Dulay)
Simon Norris (Ossian Brown) – Clavia Nord Modular Lead Synthesizer, Kurzweil Synthesizer on “Are You Shivering?”
Massimo Villani – Pasolini poem reading on “Ostia,” Black Sun Productions’ “Ghost Boy” performance art
Pierce Wyss – Black Sun Productions’ “Ghost Boy” performance art
draZen* – videographer on-stage

Andy Ray – live engineer

*I count draZen as an actual performer here because I feel his onstage video recording feeds into the creative dynamic of the band as they perform. draZen’s mere act of documentation cycles back into the performance and becomes art. If you accept that, this was the only time he “played live” with Coil.

Please contact us if you have any ticket stubs from this event: info@live-coil-archive.com

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