This was almost a dream line-up for me. Three of my favourite industrial bands all on the same bill – and finally my first time seeing Front Line Assembly live! To say I was in my element on this Sunday is probably a big understatement.

I’d been out clubbing all night for a friends (Stacy) 17th birthday. She’s selected Sex, Love & Motion – a Hardcore House club that was at The Soundshaft in Charing Cross under the arches. Not my general scene but I was happy to give everything a shot atleast once – but soon came to the realisation that a lot of house music is pretty similar when I realised I’d been dancing for over an hour and – apart from a couple of points when some female vocals kicked in – it pretty much seemed like it was the same track. Still, it was a fun night out trying something new, although it was the only time I went there.

Anyway, thankfully I was no worse for wear come Sunday as I’d been really looking forward to this gig, and had been dying to see Front Line Assembly for years. There were also a load of people out for it, so lots of socialising and dancing was had.

I’d seen Cubanate (3 times) and Sheep on Drugs (5 times) on a number of occasions and had generally always liked both bands live. On this occasion Cubanate possibly slightly edged Sheep on Drugs for me – but both bands put on cracking sets and were really great live.

Having two such strong support acts in no way daunted Front Line Assembly though. Technically touring to support their latest album (Hard Wired) the set was littered with tracks from their previous album, 1994’s Millennium, which they had never toured for. Indeed the last FLA tour had been in 1992 for Tactical Nueral Implant (which is a fantastic album) and I think that was just for North America. So for the vast majority of the attendees this was the first opportunity to hear live versions of tracks from atleast three of their recent albums!

Front Line Assembly were incredible. They had been on my ‘bucket list’ of bands for so long that the build-up could have led to disappointment upon finally seeing them but they were better than I’d even hoped for. Fantastic night out.