Cabaret Voltaire: One Last Transmission
Cabaret Voltaire, Regency Ballroom, SF—Photography by John Greenwood
It was an absolute honor to catch the legendary Cabaret Voltaire on their way through San Francisco on what has been declared their last-ever world tour, and what a schedule they have set for themselves. They must be playing a venue somewhere near you; make sure to go see them; there may not be another chance. They entered the stage somewhat eerily, cloaked in darkness save for a backlighting creating mystery, shadows, and atmospherics. It was a magical night as they locked the assembled gathering at The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, into their orbit for a trip through their catalogue of classics, giving up the jewel in the crown, "Nag, Nag, Nag," to end the night, hoisting us up to the heavens in style.
This band was probably the prototype for techno and industrial back in the 1970s, before the term "techno-industrial" was even invented or put together. Visual art video footage being played atop the band members while they were playing live onstage was cutting edge in that era. The new wave/punker kids that I came up with in the late 1970s area local to Cabaret Voltaire did not know what to make of them; they were ahead of their time, spawning other early bands that the folks trying to hang on to some sort of control over the music industry at the time categorized as "avant-garde music" and dumped CV into that category alongside other strange musical art terrorists like Throbbing Gristle and the Velvet Underground. Those are lofty names to be associated with, no doubt. But to me, CV was really spearheading the budding movement that was on the rise inside of New Wave at that time, which introduced the likes of The Human League, Fad Gadget, The Normal, and the fledgling Mute Records gang. That eventually came to be known as Techno Industrial.
Cabaret Voltaire, Regency Ballroom, SF—Photography by John Greenwood
As a gobby teenage punk rocker, I can remember using Cabaret as a weapon against the so-called "grown-ups" at the time. When you knew you had an impending lecture incoming from a "grown-up" to tell you how to act and how to be. I would regularly just drop CV on the turntable, volume cranked on full, and just watch their mouths open and close without having to hear a word of it. Point your fingers to your ears and mouth the words, "I can't hear you, mate!" while the whole room trembles and shakes to "Nag, Nag, Nag!" It was one of my favorite wind-ups, and I will always love this band for giving me that power of humiliation over my oppressors. I am surprised nobody ever tried to break the record in half, particularly my long-suffering mother, who fell for the trick every time.
All the more reason to catch this iconic band on their first North American tour in 30 years, promoting the release of their live album But What Time Is It Really? via Memetune. . The album was engineered and mixed by Benge, recorded by Joe Peat, mastered by James Trevasus with artwork by Dan Conway and Paul Burgess, based on Conway’s live visuals on the tour.
Cabaret Voltaire, Regency Ballroom, SF—Photography by John Greenwood
The album features original members Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder, who remain committed to staying true to the enduring vision of Cabaret Voltaire. The live performances will cover the arc of their formidable output—from early experiments and the first Rough Trade/Factory Records releases, through the band's Doublevision video label, and into the work with renowned producers such as Adrian Sherwood and Marshall Jefferson.
But What Time Is It Really? Is out on CD now and on vinyl from May 22nd via the Cabaret Voltaire store, as well as across the band’s final tour dates.
Originally active between 1973-1994, Cabaret Voltaire featured Chris Watson until 1981 and Stephen Mallinder until 1994. The group was inactive for 20 years—with Richard H. Kirk as the sole remaining member—the 2014 performance at Berlin’s Atonal festival. An interconnected series of releases—Shadow of Fear, BN9Drone, and Dekadrone—followed in 2020 and 2021 before Kirk’s untimely passing in autumn 2021. Mallinder and Watson have stated that there will be no new recordings under the name Cabaret Voltaire.
