Messed!Up
It was 1988 and I was a young teenager about to go to my fourth Depeche Mode gig ever, on their Music For the Masses Tour, when they stopped off in Gothenburg. As much as I can remember (with a few exceptions), Depeche Mode always brought weird support bands, and most of the time I left after a few songs to go merch shopping while they finished off a disappointing set. However, at this gig they brought with them a young band from Chelmsford that had released an epic debut album called That Total Age a year earlier, a record that pushed the boundaries of the Electronic Body Music (EBM) genre to new levels. It was DAF on speed, plus a frontman that could match DAF’s Gabi Delgado-López in terms of charisma and stage presence.
Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas McCarthy turned into an icon in the EBM scene through his passionate and aggressive performances across Europe and in the US, where the band toured several times with Depeche Mode. And behind McCarthy, there was an equally passionate songwriter and live drummer – at times a vocalist, as on “Alarm” – named Bon Harris. And then last summer, Douglas McCarthy died from the consequences of cancer. The band had already faced the problem of McCarthy’s absence during the festival season 2024 when he had to pull out because of his treatment, but rather than bringing in someone completely new to the band, Bon Harris took over the mic – and rumors said it was good.
So, here I was at Markthalle in Hamburg to watch my twelfth Nitzer Ebb show since 1988 and the first with Bon Harris as frontman. As many before me have announced, I was a bit in doubt – would this really work out without Douglas McCarthy? The short answer is yes. And not only a vague yes, but Bon Harris also fills the shoes of the frontman excellently as he transpires the Nitzer Ebb vibe and aggressiveness we’re used to seeing.
First, it’s a set of bangers, and bangers only. Since the start of the MP3 era, I save my favorite songs off albums in a special folder on my hard drive, and when I compare the Nitzer Ebb songs in that folder with tonight’s setlist, thirteen out of seventeen songs on the setlist are among my favorite Nitzer Ebb songs. It can’t get better than that, right?
The gig starts with no introductions, no theatrics, just the unmistakable militant stomp of Nitzer Ebb to the beat of “Hearts and Minds”, and people started moving slowly just to push it to the next level in the follow-up, and one of my absolute favorites, “Control I’m Here”. What’s striking is how effortlessly Harris fills the frontman role. As the architect of Nitzer Ebb’s sound since the beginning, programming the beats, synths, and rhythmic backbone, he already embodied the band’s DNA. He doesn’t attempt to imitate McCarthy’s famous ‘shouting and pointing’ preacher-style delivery. Instead, he channels the same commanding intensity in his own way. My greatest fear that Bon Harris can’t deliver the vocal range as McCarthy could was just stupid. Anyone at Markthalle could hear that Harris is an amazing singer, especially in the songs where a good voice is really needed, like “I Give To You” and “Once You Say”.
I have one all-time favorite song called “For Fun”. Not one of the most famous songs they’ve released, so it’s understandable they skip it on the setlist most of the time. But as the fourth song starts and you hear the first lines of the lyrics and then ‘Take it to the top’ followed by ‘Drive it on the edge’, it was a rippin’ off the shirt-moment (no, I did not – no one wants to see a +50 man half-naked). By the time the set rolls through classics like “Join in the Chant”, “Let Your Body Learn”, and the EBM anthem of the 80s, “Murderous”, Harris is commanding the crowd with the same clipped urgency that defined the band in the late 80s. The chants echo back from the audience with almost ritualistic force. Sure, we’re all old and have seen our youth pass decades ago, but we move beyond our capacity tonight (and will take full responsibility on Monday when we visit our chiropractor) to honor the band that gave us unforgettable memories as teens.
Harris & co leave the stage after “Murderous” just to come out a minute later for the encore, and start with a completely new and beatless version of “Violent Playground”, just to wrap it up with the epic “I Give To You”. And that’s it, my first Nitzer Ebb show in more than a decade and the first without Douglas McCarthy – and I can’t see why they ever would stop touring because it works just as well as before.
The real revelation of the show is how aggressive Nitzer Ebb still sound in the 2020s. Their formula has always been brutally simple: pounding sequencers, mechanical percussion, and slogans delivered like orders from a megaphone. What could have aged into nostalgia instead feels strangely contemporary. The current lineup also underscores that this is a transition moment for the band. Harris himself has described this period as a transformation, with the goal of giving audiences meaningful final memories of the music and the shows. That sense of purpose hangs over the concert, but it never feels mournful. Instead, the performance feels like a celebration of the band’s enduring power.
If anything, the show proves that Nitzer Ebb’s music might be even more relevant now than it was in the late 80s. In a decade marked by tension, unrest, and relentless digital noise, their stark, commanding sound feels perfectly aligned with the mood of the times. What could have been a fragile continuation instead feels like a reinvigorated chapter. Bon Harris doesn’t merely keep Nitzer Ebb alive; he proves the band still has teeth.
Thanks for this, and please come back soon!
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Photographer: Niko Schmuck
