Some quotes and comments (some edited) based on the initial feedback to the latest Whitehouse live actions (updated 8/10/01):

LIVE ACTION 93 - LONDON 28/9/01

"It was really great seeing Whitehouse live in London and Leeds. the shows were way beyond my expectations and I will never forget them"

"I congratulate you on a very enjoyable evening. I can quite honestly say I've never seen so much broken glass littering a stage after a gig and it's a miracle nobody was sliced to ribbons! No doubt you'll be amused to hear my own injury list includes bruised ribs, bruised lower back, large cigarette burn to left forearm, swelling to left side of head (thanks Peter), a sticky camcorder full of beer, and the obligatory two-day tinitus. Which was nice. Video came out surprisingly well and accurately conveys some of the chaos that took place at the front of the stage that night (plenty of fleeting shots of the floor, panicked faces in the audience, you gobbing beer everywhere, etc.), more so than last year's which had more nutters but didn't really come close in terms of audience participation / violence..."

"I managed to sneak past the ticket queue this time (sorry Gaya), so I guess I owe you some positive feedback. What a superb Friday night! The first turn was OK, despite the singer's ridiculous hair, a bit like TG's song 'Punished' warped all over the place - who knows what he was talking about. I quite fancied the Italian girl in the audience with the French revolutionary style hat. At first, I was bored with the wait for Whitehouse to come on and was worried they'd play a shorter set as a result of the delay, but when Peter Sotos lunged forward in his dirty old man's rainmac, I was well chuffed. The current 'set' is probably the strongest I've heard from all the Live Actions, each blast of noise melted into each other perfectly with no let up, and 'Princess Disease' and 'Rock and Roll' stood out as particular high points. Had a good laugh as well when Phil Best got dragged off stage twice during 'ACLU', with his paternal mentor William actually looking concerned for his welfare! Loads of the predictable bottle throwing etc but it was obvious that Whitehouse were going to win the Seven Sisters Shootout. Bollocks to the whingers, LA93 was pure, unadulterated, sleazy dalek electro filth, a great night out for all the family and definitely something I'll be re-listening to in the bunker when Bin Laden's crop-dusting planes start spurting anthrax across the UK. It's a shame Sotos got injured in Leeds, if people think he's 'aggressive' they should try going down a suburban nightclub hellhole like Ritzy, Kudos or whatever, where you can happily be maimed, knifed, bottled and gouged by as many orange-shirted, sports casual scumbags as you so desire."

"A few comments about LA93 on Friday. 1. Why was Sotos patrolling the stage doing nothing? 2. Why did Bennett literally contribute fuck all, all night? 3. Well done Best, you ran the show single-handed.
The show was an awesome display of power & noise, but come on Peter & William, put some fucking effort in."

"I think Peter Sotos patrolling the stage and William Bennett doing nothing is good. So up yours. I hate music virtuosos."

"LA93, the third time I have seen Whitehouse and the best. I have not had so much fun at a gig for years. It was easy to connect with the emotion coming from the band. I was smiling all through the set. "

"Oh well so this was whitehouse - it was the first time i saw them today, it was meant to start at about 9ish but didn't - what did you really expect??
When i got in the first act was already on - a bloke standing at the microphone shouting something that after having gone through lots of electronic effects reminded me slightly of spk (one track but can't remember which one) and another bloke at the hardware creating some pulsating noise this went on for some time and the only lasting impression it left me with was an earache...
After they left the stage there was a little musical intermezzo (or something similar) before the next band came on stage enter: the gorilla the little bold man and the handsome bloke with the sunglasses the gorilla was running around on stage for most of the time and his main musical contribution - apart from turning a few knobs at times - was to spill beer over the audience spit at them and do all sorts of obscene gestures the little bold one was either turning knobs or singing - mainly along the lines of fuck you - you are stupid - wankers - and more fuckyou's now prince charming was either turning knobs or - if he managed to get the microphone of the little bold one - sing oh well something like that the sound started of with what sounded like one of this analog synthesisers and reminded me pretty much of the sounds i created using a program called rubberduck (tb303 emulator) then turned into noisier soundscapes & squeaky wave modulations after that was the gorilla and prince charming left the stage and the little one started doing some stuff this seemed more based on samples and had much more structure to it - appealing a bit more to my taste after a while the other two came back and started to make more noise - a few bottles and glasses were thrown but otherwise not much interesting happened by the way this was whitehouse - prince charming is william bennett the gorilla was peter sotos and the little bold one was philip best after this i had to leave - i hadn't had a good days and the sound was drilling too far into my brain and i probably would have ended up writing this mail while dangling from a lamppost ... ;-)
well i guess i might just be getting slightly old ...."

" I think this is one of the best WHITEHOUSE shows I've seen, and definitely one of the most intense concerning glass throwing, etc."

LIVE ACTION 94 - LEEDS 29/9/01

"Saturday night lived up to all my expectations, as being the most exciting evening I've had for a very long time, and is certainly in another class compared to anything I've seen perform live in the past. Whatever the listener may not understand by hearing a Whitehouse studio recording, suddenly becomes crystal clear, being present at a Live Action."

"We've never had to sell advance tickets for anything, but we've been forced to do it for a few insistent folk for this one - seem like yer average power electronics fan is a touch more uptight and conservative about seeing their heroes than, say, yer average improv/jazz fan. Now there's a turn up for the books.... (or is it?). On a similar note, the Whitehouse boys have insisted on some sort of "dressing room" arrangement - seems like they're not keen on mingling with the proles or something. Just compare that to Sunny Murray, who after he'd played + sweated his way through a storming set, sat on the door and shook hands/kissed (depending on sex of recipient, old lothario that he is) every member of the capacity crowd when he played recently. And I bet Old Sunny could have Bennett and pals in a fight. Shit, I hate posers."

"So some huge fat bearded geezer in a black shirt comes up and boots you off your chair onto the floor and fuming 'cos you've been drinking since 4 you get up and start pushing him back and you end up on the floor then you notice that the crowd has parted and it's one on one and you've got to see it through so you look him in the eyes and kick a (plastic) glass at him and you square up for more and he shouts something at you but you can't hear 'cos of the relentless noise and adrenalin so you kick back again and he whispers "it's part of the show". You feel angry and relieved. Some twat in a leather coat and sunglasses is shouting what sounds like 'cunt' into the mic until an even bigger bald twat grabs the mic and starts shouting what sounds like 'cunt'.
I can understand why no glass is allowed, and why bounties are placed on the heads of these people.
Deep down I loved it, took me right back to the eighties."

"Was it all just a performance then? Sotos came on like a right t**t. I felt for you, mate. It wasn't a pretty thing to watch and all balls to you for having a crack back. I didn't realise his job was just to be "provocateur", or Bennett's "muscle". Mind you, He seemed to do fuck all else on the stage. I thought that they had grown out of all that "confrontationist" shite, so why did Bennett let him do it? For someone, like Bennett, who dislikes personal violence this just seemed like a cheap shot and made a few of the people around me very nervous, and please don't give me that "nature of the beast", or "that's their way" apologist bollocks. We paid our hard-earned, entertain us. If we want violence, we can get that on the streets of Leeds, thank you very much."

"The actual "stuff" they did was pretty excellent and lived up to all my expectations. "Tit Pulp" and " Rock and Roll" were superb and the sound was fantastic-so why all the Sotos bollocks? As for the idiot who was doing the Nazi salute, well he got what he deserved, but it just left a nasty taste in the mouth. Did they come back after B and S left the stage, leaving a vaguely worried Best behind to follow them? I have to confess, I gave up and sodded off. A drive across the Penines awaited and encores suck. It's Belle and Sebastian for me from now on."

"The fat bastard with the beard wasn't often on stage, he liked to fight with members of the audience before some brave soul gave him some back, spilling his blood (ho ho). What a twat. The lasting impression is that Bennett & Co are complete wankers, but what a night!"

"For a start, there's the risk of much more violence down the front at an average nu-metal gig... Sotos for quite a few years now has been doing provocateur antics rather than touching his synth. I've seen him behave worse than on Saturday night... the one-on-one scrap basically just amounted to a playground shoving match. Ironically Peter Sotos was the only person hurt at the gig - he got driven to hospital afterwards cause he'd cut his hand up. I totally loved this show - an all-time classic. Whitehouse are the only experimental band whose stuff has the physicality & presence of the best rock'n'roll...you don't stroke yr chin at their shows, you get fucked up & revel in the craziness. Yep, Bennett, at least, came back for the usual 'ACLY'."

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