live action 24

27aug83

mermaid - birmingham, uk

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

rapemaster, weapon power, anal american, cock dominant, queen myra, tit pulp, right to kill

notes: audience 80-100 / chaos during right to kill prompts venue managers to call police - whitehouse subsequently have to flee the venue / support group is family patrol group

live action 25

04oct83

les halles - paris, france

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

rapemaster, in the face, anal american, i'm comin' up your ass, queen myra, from hell, right to kill, new sadist

notes: audience 300 / part of two-day ‘industrial music’ festival including other groups such as die form / psychic tv billed as headliners for both days but did not appear / whitehouse headline first night but pull out of second show after arguments with the french promoters / french national radio interview with philip best who is infamously disrespectful towards hosts

live action 26

12oct83

morden tower - newcastle, uk

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

rapemaster, penis supreme, anal american, i'm comin' up your ass, queen myra, bloodfucking, right to kill, new sadist

notes: audience 30 / support groups are ramleh and new blockaders / venue is small chamber in 14th century castle / halfway through the set william bennett insults (nb: not in an in any way racist manner despite what nigel ayers has attempted to allege, ayers was not in fact present at the concert), then lightly slaps a girl in the face in ritualistic fashion / the girl becomes extremely hysterical and attacks william bennett, hitting him in the eye / dave tibet and whitehouse roadie hold her back and drag the girl kicking and screaming from the venue / the rest of the entire audience decide to leave in solidarity with the girl and also in disgust at the group’s provocative performance / whitehouse continue playing to only one person left in audience by the end / whitehouse subsequently banned in newcastle record shops for many years after incident / LA 26 tape contains 2 versions - one stereo in audience, the other mono from on stage

live action 27

23jan84

air gallery - london, uk

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

rapemaster, tit pulp

notes: audience 40 / sound cut off by venue after about 10 minutes / support group is pure

live action 28

30mar84

markthalle - hamburg, germany

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

rapemaster, cna, i'm comin' up your ass, shitfun, queen myra, ass-destroyer, right to kill, you don't have to say please

notes: audience 400-500 / other artist: die tödliche doris / live action videoed / pictures link

special biographical note: Whitehouse were accompanied by NME journalist to cover the tour of Germany. Subsequent articles were refused publication by NME editor.

live action 29

06apr84

helmholtz - bonn, germany

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

great white death, rapemaster, cna, i'm comin' up your ass, shitfun

notes: audience 125 / played at local high school in front of students/ support is pop group facon facon / amid chaos sound is turned off by school headmaster expecting ‘human league’-style group / eventually, whitehouse and fanatics forced to flee school / live action videoed

live action 30

07apr84

club metropol - berlin, germany

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

great white death, rapemaster, cna, i'm comin' up your ass, shitfun, queen myra, ass-destroyer, right to kill, you don't have to say please

notes: live action is totally unpublicised / whitehouse play in huge venue in front of about 4 people

live action 31

09apr84

ymca - hamburg, germany

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

great white death, rapemaster, cna, i'm comin' up your ass, shitfun, queen myra, ass-destroyer, right to kill, you don't have to say please

notes: live action videoed

live action 32

13apr84

nox - berlin, germany

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

great white death, rapemaster, tit pulp, i'm comin' up your ass, shitfun, queen myra, ass-destroyer, right to kill, you don't have to say please

notes: audience 150-200 / support group is synthetisches mischgewebe

live action 33

23may84

batcave - london, uk

william bennett, kevin tomkins, philip best

you don't have to say please, rapemaster, i'm comin' up your ass, queen myra

notes: audience 200-300 / venue full of gothic punks expecting ‘human league’-style group / lots of hostility towards whitehouse / dj pulls the plug on the sound after 15 minutes

live action 34

06jun84

cubby bears - chicago, usa

william bennett, kevin tomkins, peter sotos

you don't have to say please, rapemaster, ass-destroyer, shitfun, queen myra, bloodfucking, i'm comin' up your ass, right to kill, we've got the power / local radio interview conducted

notes: audience 150-200

live action 35

08jun84

gs viggs - madison, usa

william bennett, kevin tomkins, peter sotos

you don't have to say please, rapemaster, ass-destroyer, shitfun, queen myra, bloodfucking, i'm comin' up your ass

notes: locals do not take kindly to whitehouse performance and demand rock music / whitehouse forced to flee from venue out of a back door

live action 36

09jun84

1st avenue - minneapolis, usa

william bennett, kevin tomkins, peter sotos

great white death, rapemaster, you don't have to say please, ass-destroyer, shitfun, queen myra, bloodfucking, i'm comin' up your ass, right to kill, we've got the power

notes: audience 200 / this is the venue owned by prince / support group is dark carnival

review:
Anyone who knows anything about the new avant-garde of industrial music by now probably knows who Whitehouse are so I’ll dispense with the formalities. This, Whitehouse’s 2nd US tour, comes approximately 1 year after the 1st tour. I guess for some strange reason Whitehouse want to build a Stateside following, something TG didn’t so until almost after their demise. So after attempting a gig date in KC which failed due to the massive negative response from last year’s gig, which to say the least blew away all the little so-called open-minded punk rockers, which terrified them. I loved it. But that was last year. More about this subject later. Anyhow this was now Minneapolis’ first glimpse at the bizarre world of sound barrage a la Whitehouse. The club was the First Avenue, the COOL disco/pop/hip club of the so-called upper class set. A side room is named the 7th Street Entry. A coatroom sized room tucked away neatly so the cool people wouldn’t see it. Well after the support group Dark Carnival were all over with, none too soon, Whitehouse took the stage and the barrage began. having seen their KC show last year I can safely make comparisons and there were definite differences. First off, the voice of Whitehouse (William Bennett) was not fed through any distortion devices, so one could hear every word he was shouting. It just didn’t have that ultra-frightful sinister effect. All those little nasty words that make Whitehouse so notorious were easily comprehensible. But I guess the most important element was absent from the Minneapolis as opposed to the KC gig was the element of stark fear, terror. in KC I never saw so many people actually scared of what was happening and not knowing what was going to happen. In KC Bennett took his aural assault and slammed it right in your face, literally. In Minneapolis Bennett stayed safely on stage, safe from the audience and vice versa. In KC his domain was also the audience’s. The audience was quite free to mimic Whitehouse without fear of reprisal in Minneapolis. In KC it wasn’t like that. The sound was the same, an electronic barrage coming from 2 small Wasp synths from fellow-members Kevin Tomkins and a stand-in for Philip Best (who I found out got canned from the group just prior to the tour). The effect of the consistent, beatless INTENSE electronics were the same at both gigs, many people leaving quite quickly, holding their ears. Excruciating, painful, constant sound. But overall Bennett never seemed to have control over the audience. Last year I saw what I’ve never seen before in a performance atmosphere. One group, and specifically one person - William Bennett - turned an atmosphere of positive vibrations to an audience that was TOTALLY disoriented and shocked, some very pissed off. One performer turning people’s minds into rubble at his will. In KC people didn’t know what was going to happen next, in Minneapolis the audience was in control, controlling Bennett, making HIM react to the audience and not vice-versa. Well after a short half-hour set they quickly dispersed. At best the audience of around 100-150 was slightly amused. At worst they thought ‘this was it?’ . . .

live action 37

todd's - detroit, usa

william bennett, kevin tomkins, peter sotos

great white death, rapemaster, you don't have to say please, ass-destroyer, shitfun, queen myra, bloodfucking, i'm comin' up your ass, right to kill, we've got the power

notes: audience 300-400 / large venue packed out with aggressive punks / whitehouse have permanent armed police presence as protection both on and off stage

live action 38

19jun84

kate’s studio - boulder, usa

william bennett, kevin tomkins, peter sotos

you don't have to say please, rapemaster, the second coming, coitus, ass-destroyer, shitfun, queen myra, bloodfucking, i'm comin' up your ass, right to kill, we've got the power

notes: audience 75 / venue is dance studio with mirrors everywhere / most of audience are female / whitehouse gets positive reception / live action videoed

live action 39

21jun84

bebop records - los angeles, usa

william bennett, kevin tomkins, peter sotos

you don't have to say please, rapemaster, ass-destroyer, shitfun, queen myra, bloodfucking, i'm comin' up your ass, right to kill, we've got the power

notes: audience 80 / live action videoed

live action 40

24jun84

ruthy’s inn - san francisco, usa

william bennett, kevin tomkins, peter sotos

rapemaster, you don't have to say please, ass-destroyer, shitfun, queen myra, bloodfucking, i'm comin' up your ass, death penalty, right to kill, we've got the power

notes: major problems with sound engineers / other groups on bill include rock band slayer