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Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb's sound, which captured the zeitgeist of ’80s British counterculture, is as relevant as a commentary on today’s strong-arming superpowers as it was then, finds WILL STONE
Frontman Douglas McCarthy
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NITZER EBB
Lafayette, London
FRESH from a gig in Warsaw, industrial legends Nitzer Ebb would have been a bizarrely apt act to see in the Polish capital, a country that neighbours war-torn Ukraine.
As if to prove the point, sartorially conscious frontman Douglas McCarthy strides onto the stage — not removing his trademark aviators for the entire set — to launch into a thunderous rendition of Blood Money to the thump, thump, thump of programmer Vaughan “Bon” Harris’s drum pad.
Shouting his lyrics (he doesn’t sing), McCarthy is quite the stage presence as he dances, struts and shakes his hips to every tune, delivering three more from second album, 1989’s Belief — For You, Captivate and Hearts And Minds.
Bon Harris also proves himself an enigmatic dancer of sorts as he occasionally emerges from behind his corner of electronic equipment to join McCarthy on vocals, both yelling “muscle and hate” and “force is machine” on their hit Join In The Chant.
The track is so beloved in electronic circles that famed late DJ Andrew Weatherall once said hearing it at a club in Windsor was “the closest I felt to God.”
The Essex lads — they’re originally from Chelmsford — completed by third member David Gooday, have an unparalleled energy and their sound, which captured the zeitgeist of ’80s British counterculture, is as relevant as a commentary on today’s strong-arming superpowers as it was then.
A far cry from Warsaw, the Lafayette, a plush new venue amid the £3 billion regeneration at King’s Cross, is about as swanky as they come — and a stone’s throw from Google’s London HQ. Not very punk — but then it is owned by Mumford and Sons’ Ben Lovett.
Hardly used since it first opened in March 2020, an unfortunate launch date for a venue, it nevertheless has a quirky theatre-esque character with decent acoustics and a standing balcony.
Rounding off the main set with Let Your Body Lean and Murderous, from classic debut That Total Age, their encore sees Bon Harris sing a stripped-back, emotive version of Violent Playground and Gooday, hitherto silent, comes centre stage to belt out Alarm.
McCarthy gives us one more, Cherry Blossom, before signing off: “We’ve been Night-zer Ebb.” Not “Knit-zer” or “Neet-zer” then? You learn something every day.
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