The Knife have always been an elusive prospect. Even without taking into account the few amount of tours they’ve undertaken since their inception the duo of Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer have been faceless perpetrators of challenging electronic music ever since their self titled debut dropped in 2001.
2013’s Shaking The Habitual was their most inventive attack on your perceptions of electronic music yet and while the European tour that followed shortly after it was divisive amongst critics for its inclusion of tracks that were studio album playback The Knife’s last ever show, as apart of the Iceland Airwaves festival, proved beyond a doubt that their mythology will live long beyond their 15 years of existence.
Just as their recorded music isn’t always the most accessible in the pop vernacular The Knife’s live show can be hard to grapple with. While ultimately entrancing and even at times enthralling their last one and a half hours of existence was part live band, part dance spectacular, part rave and part demonstration of liberalism.
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An impressive multi-platform setup with three different sets of percussive instruments promised a propulsive explosion of the industrial and tribal drums that are both prevalent in Shaking The Habitual and Silent Shout and while that was delivered on for the first three songs the rest of the set saw the abandonment of their instruments.
While Karen sung live for the majority of their performance there were times when The Knife was simply just an amazing presentation of choreography. As the 11-piece switched hats from musicians to dance artists and the studio album played back the performance seamlessly turned from a gig to a dance routine that rivals that of any pop arena show you’ve ever seen.
The Swedish outfit challenge the listener turned punter once again. Are we just watching a band at a festival? Or is this performance art soundtracked by great music?
But there’s no time to answer those questions as the spoken word Collective Body Possum poem provides a powerful interchange between dance art and rave art.
After those compelling sentiments, which breaks down the framework of gender conventions, The Knife ease their way into a closing rave with ‘Ready To Lose’.
Assisted by the dynamic powerhouse of Light Asylum’s Shannon Funchess the Shaken Up version of ‘Pass This On’ is a series of robust combustions of beats that are synced with an intimate display of same-sex dance pair ups.
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Conveying such messages through the prism of entertainment is a feat few achieve effectively, but The Knife pull it off.
Yet, as an oft-described mythical music entity The Knife’s live show is unlikely to go down as their trademark.
You can put that down to their infrequent live shows and unwillingness to tour though. Everything that this entity represents is perfectly transmitted into the live arena.
Their ability to provoke thought whilst simultaneously entertaining is perhaps the easiest way to categorise the uncategorisable.
Their last ever show was incomparable to any other gig you’ve ever seen. Just as The Knife are unlike any other band you’ve ever heard.
Setlist
Wrap Your Arms Around Me
Raging Lung
We Share Our Mothers’ Health
Bird
Without You My Life Would Be Boring
A Tooth for an Eye
One Hit
Full of Fire
Collective Body Possum (Poem by Jess Arndt)
Ready to Lose
Pass This On
Stay Out Here
Silent Shout(Brief Rhythm of the Night intro)
