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THEATRE OF HATE

the blitz kids

TOH broke as a band through hard slogging tours. The band spent months on end trekking across Western Europe playing to an ever growing army of fans who waited on every word from their heroes, Theatre Of Hate. During the three years TOH were initially in action, at the beginning of the eighties, Kirk and the changing band line up played over 400 shows. This is one of the best.Scandinavia was a favourite for the band, as the girls were gorgeous and the men just loved to go mental at the shows, a perfect recipe for some truly brilliant gigs. A better version of Conquistador cannot and will not be found.           text from whon.co.uk In the early '80s Kirk Brandon's lung capacity and romantic anthems created a brand of shouty pop music which was effective live but often tiresome on record. Theatre Of Hate were a rebel-rousing, post-punk act who traded heavily on Brandon's enthusiasm, backed by a dense cacophony of saxophone, scratchy guitars and tribal drums. Sadly, Love Is A Ghost fails to capture the spirit of their live shows and leaves only a thin, skeletal sound to pick over. Brandon's next band Spear Of Destiny were better. The Preacher reflects this, with flashes of vitality and inventiveness on Forbidden Planet, Young Men and The Wheel. It's also touched with a pathos as Brandon's sense of epic grandeur constantly outstripped his abilities, a trait which inevitably ended in tears once the short run of success was over.                                by Martin Aston

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