Combichrist’s “One Fire World Tour” made a stop in Portland, Oregon, and it was nothing short of amazing. One notable difference was the absence of Joe Lentz. However, it wasn’t that noticeable. Normally the drumming duo are front and center performing their drumming skills with a side of antics in full costume. I was worried how the new lineup would fare, how the fans would react, and wondered if the drumming antics were part of Combichrist or unique to Joe? Well, the answer was both. The drummers weren’t front and center on this tour, rather…they were masked in thick fog and nearly invisible. You could hear them fine, however, and they didn’t miss a beat. While the beautiful Andy LaPlegua is always the majority of the show…on this tour he is the whole show. Personable, likable, pleasant to the ears and eyes, he put on one hell of a show.
I had the pleasure to talk with him prior to the show. The highlight of the interview, besides all of the great answers he provided was when he mentioned that he only had 10% battery life left. I said, “I ask a lot of questions. If I get to one you don’t want to answer, just say skip and we’ll pass it over.” To that he said, “I would anyway.”
Both the interview and the show were great. Andy’s energy is contagious. His unique style is a breath of fresh air. The crowd was dancing and jumping, and singing back to the Norwegian front man…which consistently brought a smile to his face.
While fans of Combichrist will no doubt miss Joe Lentz and the banter between him and the stage hand, due to the thick fog, you don’t even see the drummers and Andy lights up the entire stage all by himself.
Playing old songs and new, the track list is as follows:
Opening music: This shit will fuck you up
- Hate Like Me
- Never Surrender
- Shut Up and Swallow
- Satan’s Propaganda
- Guns At Last Dawn
- Throat Full of Glass
- Exit Eternity
- Can’t Control
- Follow The Trail of Blood
- No Redemption
- Today I Woke To The Rain of Blood
- They
- What the Fuck is Wrong With You
- Encore: Maggots At The Party
You can listen to MIRP’s interview with Andy here:
