Chin Chin - Corsica Studios, London, 3/12/2006

by Anthony Strutt

published: 22 / 11 / 2006

Chin Chin - Corsica Studios, London, 3/12/2006

At a gig by reformed German 70's art rockers Faust at the Corsica Studios in London, Anthony Strutt witnesses their unique brand of rock'n'roll art terrorism reach unbelievable new heights when they gas their audience with toxic smoke

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It is Sunday night. It is ------- freezing and I am under the Elephant and Castle railway station and waiting to go into a warehouse that has been converted into a nightclub. What I will witness won't be a gig but more, in the 60's sense of the word, "a happening." The original line-up of Faust released four albums between 1971 and 1974, split in 1975, and then reformed in 1990. There are now only two original members left. One is Jean -Herve Peron, who must be the biggest bloke I have ever seen, and who plays on bass, vocals and almost everything else that is playable, not even that which is necessarily a musical instrument. The other is Werner Zappi Diermaier, who appears on drums and anything else he can hit. Guest musician Amaury Cambuzat plays guitar for them and is a lot younger than both of them, but fits in well. After great sets by two supports, Faust finally come on just after 11.30 pm, appearing behind a screen. In front of it there's a cement mixer. Jean-Herve begins by coming in front of the screen to chuck fresh cow-pissed hay over us to get us in the mood, before going back behind the screen to play the set. This is an art happening, not a traditional gig, man. The band play for a mere 70 minutes and it is totally unlike anything I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. Some of it is art, some of it is simply noise, and some of it sounds scary and evil, but it is also totally fresh and very rock'n'roll. Only seven tracks are played. One song, a short pop song, is played on an acoustic guitar. The rest is a total assault on your senses. Faust attack your senses and wake you up. It isn't for everyone but it is art for art's sake. Towards the end things become very scary when Jean-Herve gets out a live chainsaw, uses it to take apart an oil drum and, after this, sets fire to a container which starts smoking. In the space of a minute the whole venue is full of toxic smoke. The majority of the audience start choking or crying and have to run out of the venue, while the band play on from behind the screen for another 10 minutes. This is rock'n'roll art terrorism. Two nights before they were banned by the London ICA for selling an obscene T-shirt and fined so highly that all the profits from the next batch of dates will have to be used to pay this back. The stuff of legends !