Flyer for a Throbbing Gristle & Flipper show (Raymond Pettibon, 1981) “Genesis was really scary. There was something so intense about him on the stage; he looked so lizard-like-reptilian-with dark circles around his eyes. He would stalk around the stage with these paramilitary clothes on. There was this sonic maelstrom. In the audience were the most degenerated people I have ever seen. It was literally as if the people there had been let out of an insane asylum from the lowest level of Dante's Inferno. There was this creepy sexual vibe, Felliniesque in its utter decadence.” Richard Metzger
Throobing Gristle – Live @ Kezar Pavillion (San Francisco, 1981)
“I started going to Hardcore shows. I appreciated the aggression, the violence, and the fierce independent attitude, which was antithetical to most other music of the time. I saw most of the early American Hardcore bands play, but like everything, it seemed to get co-opted. I was looking for something more extreme that didn't concede to popular opinion. That's how I started listening to Industrial Music.” Michael Moynihan
Michael Moynihan (Coup de Grace) – Live @ Oberhausen (1986)“I suppose you were seeing something that hadn't been seen before. There was no pretentious Rock Star stuff. There's no bar, no pick-up scene. It was very intense and visceral, in close quarters.” Michael Moynihan
“The idea I had in my mind was of an electronic maelstrom. And in live situations people would have no choice but to be completely submissive to this kind of sound.” William Bennett
Hardcore kids during a Whitehouse performance (DC, 1983)“Utilizing ear-shredding frequencies and demented vocal hysterics, Whitehouse terrified the frail and pleased only those with the most discriminating of tastes.” Michael Moynihan
Whitehouse – Live (1984)
“I did Noise Music because I genuinely liked noise. I thought it would extend the boundaries of music. I didn't do it to be confrontational. I assumed others would feel the same way, and find it exciting. But a lot of people didn't. At my concerts, people smashed beer glasses in my face.” Boyd Rice
Flyer for NON show @ Mabuhays Gardens (1982) “They really disliked me. At the show I had these bright lights shining in their eyes so they could barely see me – they were trying to reach up and smash the lights, but the lights were just out of their reach. One guy in front who was a real hardcore punk was rolling around with his hands over his ears and actually crying – he had tears in his eyes. Somebody threw a beer glass that hit me on the forehead. And it broke, and I could feel this throbbing pain – it had a little bit of beer in it, and the beer ran down my face and I thought it was blood. I continued to be real friendly to the audience, which made them even madder, because they were so mad and I didn't care! They were shaking their fists at me, and I thought that at any minute there'd be a riot. So I took it as far as I thought I could, and then thanked them and left.” Boyd Rice
Hanatarash – Live (1985) “Hanatarash are infamous for their extremely dangerous live shows consisting entirely of on-stage destruction and utter disregard for anyone's safety. The most notorious incident involved Yamatsuka throwing junk around with a backhoe inside a venue. On another occasion, he inflicted a deep wound on his leg with an electrical saw, but carried on with the show. A dead cat is also known to have been cut in half during a show. The band once caused so much damage to a live house in Kyoto that it was forced to close.”
Hanatarash – Art from We are Hardcore 5CDR set of early CS releases “At a 1985 gig in Tokyo's Superloft, Hanatarash had the audience fill out forms relieving the band of responsibility for any possible bodily harm caused by the performance. The show stopped just as Yamatsuka was about to throw a lit molotov cocktail onto the stage, which was gasoline-drenched from a barrel. The performance cost the venue ¥600,000 ($6000) in repair costs.”
Hanatarash – Live (1988)
