Mission UK – Club Nokia – Los Angeles, CA

Tuesday evening was a night for going out to shows in the general LA area, The Pixies were at the El Rey, AFI was at the Troubadour and last but certainly not least The Mission UK were in town headlining Club Nokia. With three amazing bands in town it was really difficult to choose which show to venture out to until you took a second to think about how often each of the bands play in LA. The
Mission UK hadn’t toured out west in over a decade so it was a must that we attend their show as they are a rare act to catch.

From the opening number of their set it was clear that the band were well versed and geared for a performance that would have them sounding as huge as they were during their late 80’s commercial prime. They had been touring North America for a few weeks and had been incredibly tight. Lead vocalist Wayne Hussey sounded strong as ever despite being hospitalized the night before at Cedars Sinai for laryngitis. With the echo effect on his vocal mix he actually sounded as well as one would have expected him too, it added an eeriness to the shows atmosphere. He would jokingly proclaim to the be the worlds 2nd greatest singer alive, he clearly didn’t mind taking the piss out on himself, you’ve gotta love British humour!

Judging by the crowds wardrobe it was clear as night that the LA goth scene came out in full effect to see The Mission, many of who were seeing them for the first time. With a new album due to be released later this month The Mission leaned heavy on new material set-wise. With many bands (who had their biggest success in the 80’s) it usually a drag when new songs makes up a large chunk of a set list, but there was no groaning from the audience as The Missions newer stuff is great and not all that different from their more well known hits from prior releases.

The crowd response was cheery during their performance of “Wasteland”, the 1986 single that brought goth to the independent charts in the UK.

It was their encore which featured Peter Murphy and Gary Numan guitarist Mark Thwaite that saw the band really firing on all cylinders. “Deliverance” and “Tower Of Strength” were the highlights of the night and captured the band at the top of their musical strength.

If their was ever a band who resembled a Gothed out version of Zeppelin, it is definitely The Mission UK as their songwriting and performance have more in common with the epic legends than any shoe gazing mope fest celebrators.

With a new record due soon we can only hope that there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to catch The Mission UK again. It would be ideal if they’d tour with The Cult in the states, a match made in 80’s goth rock heaven!

    More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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