CRASH WORSHIP (ADRV) - ¡Espontaneo! (1991) + What So Ever Thy Hand Findeth, Do It With All Thine Might (1989)

If you've already heard of Crash Worship, chances are you know something about their live performances.  A typical show might include blood, flour, milk, and fruits, firecrackers flying into the crowd, torches and burning barrels, a trapeze artist spinning from the ceiling by her neck, jugglers, naked firebreathers, drums being passed around, people stripping, dancing, or throwing mud, orgies breaking out, the club being shut down, and audiences keeping the show going even after the power's cut and the cops have arrived.  Strange, then, that the group began as a studio project from San Diego known as Crash Worship ADRV (Adoración de Rotura Violenta -- "crash worship" in Spanish).  They formed some time around 1985 with a revolving cast of players.  Original member, JXL, explained:

"We started realizing there's certain powerful elements that break things up as compared to a normal show, like intense drumming, relentless beat and fire that drives you. It all has a deep effect on people in different ways."

The group's sound consisted of a core trio of tribal drums added with keyboard and guitar effects and layered with tape manipulations and samples.  They eventually relocated to New Orleans where Quintron (inventor of the Drum Buddy) became a member of the group.  Like most bands, their sound is unique, but they share some similarities with Einstürzende Neubauten, Test Dept., Foetus, and Voodoo percussion music. 

Crash Worship directly involved the audience in their act with the help of "worshippers"-- provocateurs usually responsible for the initial mayhem.  As many as twenty drums were beaten or strapped to bodies and every member of the band had a wireless setup so they could move about in the crowd.   The idea was to envelope the audience with a certain atmosphere so that each person was completely engaged in the revelry.

Q: OK, in what way do you "manipulate the audience"?

A: Well, this one guy that used to come with us just used to do his own thing. He would be naked, or nearly naked, and run around coming up behind people and caressing them from behind and then disappearing hopefully without being seen. Or he would crawl around through people's legs and try to dislodge them one way or another. Some people will grab people who are standing around the walls, around the perimeter, trying to be cool and safe and clean, and drag them into whatever's happening in the centre.

Reputation of their live performances often preceded their arrival into town. Police and club managers were especially concerned about the rumors that the group were practicing Satanists. The group never practiced Satanism, but they were members of T.O.P.Y (Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth), a loose collective of artists and others interested in magic without mysticism and founded by members of Coil, Psychic TV, and Current 93.  Although Crash Worship may have been founded on certain philosophical precepts, they soon drifted from any kind of belief system: "Everyone has widely differing interests and we actually don't talk about it that much."

Their interviews were usually as wild as their shows. Read (here and here) more about, among other things, ideally working a crowd into such a frenzy that people start to spontaneously combust.  Real talk.

¡Espontaneo! (1991)













What So Ever Thy Hand Findeth, Do It With All Thine Might (1989)

New Orleans 1993- Lundi Gras

Kansas City 1996 – Old Train Bridge