Paul Barker brought his industrial project Lead into Gold to the Roxian as support for Skinny Puppy. Barker is best know as the former bassist for Ministry but has been working on his side project Lead into Gold since 1988. After releasing 2 singles and an LP between 1988-1991, Lead into Gold was put on hiatus until its revival in 2015. Since then, they’ve released two full albums, the latest of which, The Eternal Present, released April 21st.
Lead into Gold had a relatively basic stage setup wth two projector screens, though Barker made the stage his own. The set started off relatively calmly with projected colours and some flashing lights to match the chill atmousphere of the music. But as the set neared the end the music got darker, heavier, almost distorted. To match, the projected displays also got darker and resembled static and distortions seen on old televisions. The combination of the music and screen perfectly captured the mood being conveyed with the music. The dual projector screens also allowed for an incredible display of shadows that really utilised the small stage setup well.
Meant to support Skinny Puppy on their final tour that also marks their 40th anniversary, Lead into Gold ended up getting a solo show in Pittsburgh. After their incredible set, the stage normally would have been reset for the headline act, but nothing was being moved. Shortly after 9, Skinny Puppy’s guitarist Matt Setzer came onto stage and delivered the news that Skinny Puppy’s co-founder and vocalist Nivek Ogre was extremely sick and the show would have to be cancelled. Ogre is notorious for doing shows while sick or injured, and Setzer regailed stories of Ogre performing with a broken jaw and even throwing up on stage before, so the band waited until the last possible minute to cancel. Ogre is feeling much better now after a few days’ rest. The band promised that they would do their best to reschedule the Pittsburgh show. Though disappointing that Skinny Puppy couldn’t perform, at least Pittsburgh got a wonderful evening with Lead into Gold!
