May 16th marks the 20th anniversary of the first reunion performance in 2004 by Throbbing Gristle, after a near exact 23 year gap since the band's original "mission" was "terminated". The event also saw the release of a brand new mini album of studio recordings by the group, TG NOW, which was available for sale at the show and sold online in a limited edition afterwards.
The unlikely reunion of TG began in 2002 with the release of the massive TG24 CD box set of live recordings, which was effectively a reissue of the group's self released cassette box set, 24 Hours of TG. The process of putting that release together facilitated communications between the group members which had not occurred since their breakup. An art exhibit of TG memorabilia, custom gear and other artifacts offered an opportunity for the group to get together in the same place for the first time in years. Things went well enough that Mute proposed the group reform and an agreement was made to do a single, one-off performance as part of All Tomorrow's Parties annual music festival to be held in May of 2004 at the Camber Sands resort. A great deal of publicity was put into the event, with TG fans bursting with excitement at the possibility of the band's reunion, but those balloons were burst when the news broke that the event had to be cancelled due to organizational issues with the promoter, a situation that was entirely outside the control of the band.
But TG had built up too much momentum by this point to simply let this reunion be stifled by circumstance. They'd issued a collection of remixes, Mutant TG, and a new "Best Of" album, The Taste of TG, and had even recorded new music to release on special limited edition CDs and perform at the show. So the group quickly managed to secure an alternate venue at the Astoria in London where they could perform their set on their own on May 16th. The event was promoted as something rather similar to when they recorded Heathen Earth in front of an invited audience in their Studio back in 1980. For this, guests who had purchased tickets for RE:TG could use them for the Astoria show and, during the event, no one was allowed to enter or leave the building while the band performed, and the entire performance would be recorded and videotaped.
The band had prepared a set that mixed brand new compositions with impromptu live improvisations and a sprinkling of classics from their original incarnation. Above all, they were determined that this would NOT be about nostalgia or looking back. This, as the album of new recordings proclaimed, was TG NOW! They were taking all of their skills and experience they'd gathered from the intervening 23 years and applying them to the essence of the band in order to create something fresh and new, Industrial Music for the 21st century. Their determination paid off and when you observe the audience reaction to the band in the live video, you can see why. There are people who are visibly moved to tears by the immense sound of the band as their pulverizing PA system throttled them with sounds.
The TG NOW CD clearly demonstrated that there was still chemistry between the four members and that the sound of TG in the 21st century was capable of going in some surprising new directions. The tools had changed and the level of skills had evolved, but nonetheless, there was that "thing", that recognizable essence coming through that was unmistakably Throbbing Gristle, a whole that was unquestionably greater than the sum of its parts.
Though this was intended to be a one-off performance, ATP eventually rescheduled their festival at Camber Sands for December of that year, though tragedy would befall the group with the accidental death of Jhon Balance (Geoff Ruston) after a drunken tumble from his home's balcony that summer. The group would then embark on a renewed collaboration that would last until the end of 2010, abruptly coming to a halt when Genesis P-Orridge walked away from a European tour without explanation. That event was followed by Peter Christopherson's sudden death in Bangkok a few weeks later, effectively sealing the group's fate and terminating its renewed mission, yet again.
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