Skinny Puppy are one of the few bands that still put on a very theatrical performance, with Ogre wearing costumes and projections through out the show. It's always interesting to see what they'll do, and this show did not disappoint. When tour dates were put out, they announced a DC show, and a show in Baltimore. I decided to go to the show in DC, as the 9:30 is a superior venue compared to Sonar in Baltimore. Apparently, many others thought the same thing, as the promoter canceled the show in Baltimore the day of the DC show due to low ticket sales, and the 9:30 Club was packed. Doors opened late, but it was made up for later. Otto von Schirach was the first opening act. He opened for SP the last couple of tours, and is somewhat entertaining. He had a superhero/black metal thing going on, which was amusing. His set was better than the last time I saw him back in 2004. The next opening act was White Mice. 
They are a grindcore band that use some electronics. What's cool about them is they have mouse costumes. Imagine if the Animaniacs were from an evil insane asylum and Disney made character costumes for their theme parks, then you'd have something close to what the White Mice were wearing. Their set wasn't that long, probably cutting it short so that SP could have a full set.
Skinny Puppy finally took to the stage, which was a very different setup from the last tour. Cevin's setup was one side, with the drum kit in the middle, and to the other side was a two panel screen with white fabric and blood splattered on it. The projection video started up and Cevin Key and Justin (tour drummer) took to the stage and did a very short intro before going into Anger. Once Ogre started singing, there was rear projection behind the screen he was behind, illuminating the screen and leaving his silhouette there. He had some pretty cool costumes and headpieces that he wore behind there, which looked really cool with the projections. Next up was Ugli, and the projections were compiled of pictures of Jesus, (the chorus of the song being "Jesus wants to be ugly"). Orge had a rosary, and with his hair at the length it is, he actually looked like Jesus behind the screen. 
Orge came out from behind the screen for Tormentor, wearing an eye patch and another costume with tubes running everywhere. The blood made it's appearance later, along with black "oil". He went back and forth behind the screen through out the show, which made for a nice mixture. Overall, the projections were very psychedelic in a way, like an hallucination. I wouldn't be surprised if Cevin was hanging with the Green Guy when working on the projections. The sound was extremely loud, the loudest show I think I've ever been to. I ended up putting the earplugs in during SP's set, which helped cut out the high end distortions. 
Usually I only where plugs for the opening acts. I think I'm going to invest in some professional earplugs designed for concerts. The encores for this show were Far Too Frail and Blue Serge, which couldn't have made me happier, though I do which they would have added Testure.
Highlights of the show were Ugli, Rodent, Amnesia, and I'mmortal, which was better without the live guitarist, allowing Cevin to do some master keyboard action. They only played 4 songs that they played during the last tour, so it was really cool to have a completely different setlist. I was surprised there wasn't much brapping going on, but overall, this show was better than the one I saw in 2004. I probably would have gone to the Baltimore show as well if they hadn't canceled it. Hopefully they'll do a tour in the fall, as SP are one of my favorite live acts to see.
Setlist:Anger
Ugli
Dogshit
Tormentor
Politikil
Rodent
Pedafly
Worlock
I'mmortal
Dig It
Amnesia
Hardset Head
Fascist Jock Itch
Haze
Encores:
Far Too Frail
Blue Serge
