Set List

1. Something
2. Higher Beings Command
3. Amethyst Deceivers (Version 1)
4. What Kind of Animal Are You?
5. Blood from the Air
6. I Am the Green Child
7. Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil

This show and the following two in Amsterdam and Leipzig comprise a small, informal tour. Wajid Yaseen of 2nd Gen remembers: “I was invited by them as as support act on a small European tour with them many years ago…my fave gig with them was at the Paradiso in Amsterdam…We played in a plush seated theatre , so that must have been Antwerp…Ah it’s coming back to me now….the gig in Leipzig was at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival….my dad had died around then so I was a mess….was overwhelmed by Coil’s performance and bawled my eyes out pretty much throughout….met Jhonn after their set and carried on crying with him…”

Feeling: Glowing

“Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil” phase. Debut performance of “What Kind of Animal Are You?” The song replaced “Titan Arch” in the set from this point on. Coil had worked on a studio version of the song, but according to Thighpaulsandra, it was never finished, most likely because John never recorded studio vocals for it.

Supporting act(s): 2nd Gen (Wajid Yaseen)

Reportedly, the video projections stopped working early on in the show, to Peter’s visible frustration. No photos or video have surfaced displaying them.

Something

This version is instrumental.

Higher Beings Command

Higher beings command their powers to the ground
Higher beings command their powers…

Then the gremlins of this evening
Have destroyed all visual destruction
The Adrenalin Gremlins
Have struck at our destruction
The Adrenalin Gremlins
Have struck at our destruction
The Adrenalin Gremlins
Have struck at our destruction
The Adrenalin Gremlins
Have struck at our deception

Higher beings command their powers to the ground

Amethyst Deceivers

Peter fades the backing track in.

John started using the Alexis AirFX vocalizer on this song from this point on, making his vocals sound alien.

What Kind of Animal Are You?

John sings many of the lyrics more rhythmically to the backing audio track here than he would at future performances.

I’m wearing a crown of thorns
A crown of black thorn
Like black splinters from the black wood
From the black Pope of black Rome

I’m wearing a crown of thorns
Made of black wood
Like black splinters from the black throne
Of the black Pope from black Rome
I’m wearing a crown of thorns
I’m wearing a crown of thorns, I’m wearing a crown of thorns
Black thorns…
I’m wearing a crown of thorns

I’m wearing a crown of thorns
A crown of black thorns
Made of splinters from the throne of Rome from black Pope

The ancients in your brain is not the cause of your pain
The ancients in the brain is not the cause of your pain
The ancients in the brain is not the cause of your pain
The ancients in your brain is not the cause of your pain

I am a dog whose bark is dark as night
I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bark is dark as night
I am a dog whose bark is light as bright
I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bark is dark as night
I’m an animal, I’m an animal, I’m an animal, I’m an animal
I’m an animal, animal, animal
I’m a salamander, I’m a salamander, a salamander, a salamander
I’m a salamander, I’m a salamander…
Animal, animal, animal
A salamander, salamander, animal, animal

Seek seeka seeka seeka [repeated]
Seek seeka seeka
Salamander
A burning salamander
Burning salamander

Man is the animal, man is divine
There is no time, there is no time
If you strip the plastic back, then you’ll see

I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bark is dark as night
I am a dog whose bark is bright as night

And when you strip the plastic back
Then you’ll see, then you’ll see, then you’ll see, then you’ll see
And when you strip the plastic back
Then you’ll see, then you’ll see, then you’ll see man is the animal
Man is the animal
There is no spike [?]

I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bite is bright as light
I am a dog whose bark is dark as night

Seek seeka seeka seeka
Seek seeka seeka
Seeka seeka seeka seeka seeka seeka
Seeka, seeka, seeka, seeka

The animal
Man is the animal [repeated]
Man, man, man, man, man is the animal

I’m a salamander
A burning, burning sala-salamander
I’m a burning sala-salamander
And when you strip your plastic back
You’ll see, you’ll see, you’ll see, you’ll see, you’ll see, you’ll see
There is no time, man is divine
Man is the animal, man is the animal
The bloodline ends here
The bloodline ends here

Those lights at the end of the tunnel
Those lights at the end of the tunnel are the fires of your burning brains
Are the fires from your burning brains
Are the fires from your burning brains
The fires from your burning brains
Those lights at the end of the tunnel are the fires from your burning brains

What kind of animal are you?
What kind of animal are you?
What kind of animal are you?
What kind of animal are you?

Blood from the Air

Best friends die
Worst enemies die (Everyone dies)
People you don’t know die fast…
Places change
Things never really stay (Everyone dies)
You, yourself, die many times over
Before everyone… (Everyone dies)
Recite [?] upon like a giant
We have to keep…your bed, and… (Everyone dies)
Dead

Peter sings backing vocals.

I Am the Green Child

John: “I am the Green Child. I am the Green Child, and I will fuck everything tonight!”

At over 10 minutes, this is the longest live performance of the song.

[?]
I am the Green Child
Ugh, haha, hahaha, hahaha, hahaha
Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha, haha, hahahaha

England awakes
England expectorates
All hope evaporates
There is no wrong
There is no wrong
There is no wrong, there is no wrong

What’s twice in mine, is thrice in thine
Ooh
Ooh, ooh
Ooh ooh ooh

Swimming in a sea of occidental vomit
Swimming in a sea of occidental vomit
We’re swimming in a sea of occidental vomit
We’re swimming in a sea of occidental vomit
We’re drowning in a sea of occidental vomit
We’re swimming in a sea
Swimming in a sewer
Swimming in a sewer
Swimming in a sewer
Swimming in a sea of occidental vomit

Leave a papercut
…With this
[?]
[?]

I am the Green Child
I am the Green Child
I am the Green Child
I am the Green Child

Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil

It’s gonna get louder, it’s gonna go louder, it’s gonna get louder
This is gonna get louder, louder, louder, louder!
Louder, louder, louder, louder!

There is no wrong, so I go on
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
No allegiance to the hummingbirds
No warning from the sun
Hornet, wasp, or hoverfly
Even the bees have their alibi
All hummingbirds must die
All hummingbirds must die

And the sun dissolves like an octopus
[?]
Anesthetists and gas
I wanna go under
I want to go under in the company of animals
I want to swim across an ocean of drunken fish
Fly with suicidal birds
I’m tired of the thieves, and the priests, and the rich
Cross-pollinating sores
I need and I want you but I can’t find you

I need a killer to take my pain away
Christ on a bike with carpet burns
Keeps falling to his knees
And when I reach the station in the heaven of glass
I’ll say a little prayer for you
Then I’ll cut off the heads of the doves that fly
All hummingbirds must die
All hummingbirds must die
[?]

There is no wrong, so I go on
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
[?]
…No wrong, so I go on
There is no wrong, so why go on?
[?]
No allegiance to the hummingbirds
No warning from the sun
Hornet, wasp, or hoverfly
Even the bees have their alibi
All hummingbirds must die
All hummingbirds must die

All hummingbirds must die
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
Everything’s gone wrong [repeated]
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
And the sun dissolves like an octopus
No allegiance to the hummingbirds
[?]
[?]
All hummingbirds must die

Everything’s gone wrong [repeated]
I don’t believe in dentists
Anesthetists and gas
I wanna go, wanna go under
I wanna go underneath with the animals
In the company of animals
I wanna go underneath
I wanna go with animals
Not fucking people, animals
Animals, animals, animals, animals, animals, animals
What kind of animal are you?

I wanna go under, I wanna
Put me out of this fucking misery
Miss Anthropy, misanthropy
Misanthropy, Miss Anthropy

Stay young and beautiful
It’s your duty to be beautiful
Stay young and beautiful
It’s your duty to be beautiful
Stay young and beautiful
It’s your duty to be beautiful

There’s nothing wrong with hate
There’s nothing wrong with, hey!
There’s nothing wrong with hate [repeated]

Nothing wrong with hate
There’s nothing wrong with hate

The “Stay young” lyric is a reference to the 1933 Abe Lyman song “Keep Young and Beautiful,” which was covered by Annie Lennox in 1992.

John Balance – vocals, Alexis AirFX on “Amethyst Deceivers,” Yamaha SPX 1000 pitch-shift effect on “I Am the Green Child,” metal sheet percussion on “Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil”
Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson – backing audio sequence, video projections, Clavia Nord Modular Synthesizer, backing vocals on “Blood from the Air”
Thighpaulsandra – Fenix Synthesizer, Clavia Nord Modular Synthesizer
Simon Norris (Ossian Brown) – Kurzweil Synthesizer
Tom Edwards – marimba

If you have any stubs for this event, please contact us at: info@live-coil-archive.com

Cultuurcentrum Luchtbal
Columbiastraat 8A,
2030 Antwerpen,
Belgium

The following is a review of the concert published a long time ago but recently shared with us in a Word document by the writer, Carsten S.:

COIL LIVE IN ANTWERP : 30-5-2001 Is There Life On Other Frequencies ?

by carsten s.

–
Finding Words for a Coil Performance is actually a challenge – especially as there were only very few of them in the meanwhile more than 15 years of Coil`s history and there have never been many groups around who could be compared to them.
So after the announcement of this mini-tour (Antwerp-Amsterdam-Leipzig) expectations raised high and everyone came out prepared for a nearly unique event.
It was no surprise to hear that the tickets have been sold out long ago when we arrived at the very friendly CC LLuchtbal with movie-theatre seat rows and place numbers. Of course we where to early but we were not alone, people from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany mingled together, dressed in all styles you`d somehow expect to be attracted by the diversity of Coil, sitting outside in the grass and waiting for the things to happen.
–
As warm-up 2ND GEN appeared; a solo act on computer with computer-manipulated video screen.
Hard beat layers reminding of Ministry´s heydaze (without guitars) and ´classic industrial` sequencing around the hurting boarder mixed with a bit live percussion on 2 tracks and added text fragments on the screen. The volume setting on permablast cleared the mind for the things to come.
–
After a break in the foyer (non-smoking and non-drinking area above of course) Coil finally hit the stage – to be welcomed by spontaneous applause of all the people like me who could hardly believe that this was actually happening.
The stage setting, opened to the audience – not confronting them, lies in comfortable half-darkness, a line of light bulbs hanging in the front of it all, a smell of myrrh (at least that was my impression) started to creep through the seat rows while all of them, dressed in similar overalls with mostly short hair, prepared their gear to go.
I really had a hard time to figure out who´s who besides Peter Christopherson (electronics and mixing) and Jhon Balance (vocals and thundersheet). Later on I get confirmed that Thighpaulsandra (Synthesizers), Simon Norris (Synthesizers) and Tom Edwards (Marimba) have been present too.

PC starts the intro mantra „Something“ while JB toys around a while with the light bulbs, the others remain busy but I can´t see with what actually – and like this it remains most of the time.
–
Then JB gets to his microphone and as he raises his voice to the limit suddenly the whole scenario reminds me of the Temple past of them and it`s a bit like time stood still and they just continue where they left the live performing all this time ago.

Spotlights in brown/golden and lilac illuminate the more and more unreal appearing Coil members through the waves of a smoke generator while versions of „Amethyst Deceivers“ and „Higher Beings Command“ get unleashed, plus a new one „What Kind Of Animal Are You“ .
The last of these spreading a more ambient Tibetan / buddhistic happiness as f. e. „Teenage Lightning“ does. Krautrock-like escapades blinked through and pointed out what JB said about Moon Musick; Coil approaching a lunar phase that corresponds with the female principle ,which has been completely disclaimed by them in their earlier days, and therefore now a way more free attitude with sounds and forms.
–
This mood suddenly gets counterpointed with an impressive version of „Blood In The Air“.
I think everyone was surprised they picked this special track for a live situation, but nonetheless it worked perfectly. The complementing voices of JB and PC accompanied by the very disciplined and precise beats and bits left everyone stunned. Completely out of this world.. a song no one else besides Coil could have recorded nor played in concert.
Even knowing it was already performed in Nantes this spring I could hardly believe it – and it showed that JB´s voice had nothing lost at all over the years.
–
In a completely different direction than followed „I Am The Green Child“ with JB using his voice
particularly in a manner reminding of Edward Ka-Spel. Heavy psychedelic mutations accompanied the very long piece which once more showed very detailed and playful the new influences Coil embrace today.

–
The set is closed and equalized with an intense extended `heavy industrial` crescendo, „Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil“ came into the mind and there it stayed. Fascination through concentration
creeped through the audience as this powerful audio assault kept going on towards new heights for nearly ever. The percussion metal sheet in the back suddenly got abused as JB started to bang his head against it before he closed with mantra like repetitions of the final words „There´s nothing wrong with hate / There´s nothing wrong with aids“ (not sure if I got the last one right, though) .
Exhausted he disappears, leaving PC as the main driving force who expands it even further for a while before he lands the T.G. like construct safely.
–
The musicians appear at the front row, salute and leave.
–
No encores are given. Long lasting applause until the light re-appears. The audience stands up and falls back into the normal time / space continuum. „An hour never felt that long or so short“ my mate remarks stunned. I remain speechless – without anything clever to say.
Besides Coil I can‘t think of many artists who could handle such a diversity and complexity in sound, structure and ….emotion. Don´t ask me to name any.
–

Maarten Schermer attended this gig and remembers: “at the Luchtbal, which was a seated venue, i was sitting in one of the front rows, almost right in front of the left-hand speakers. I was a bit worried about how loud Coil were going to be, but opening act 2nd Gen (i think it was) was so harsh, I was appropriately deafened once Coil came on. I seem to remember that the video machine for the backdrop stopped working, almost immediately, I think. Peter tried repeatedly to get it to work again, to no avail, and at some point just gave up, shaking his head.”