Document of
Delusion
An in-depth look at Skinny Puppy's Last Rights
tour
Introduction
and Pre-History
Skinny Puppy's Last
Rights tour of 1992 is well known among fans for
being the band's last tour before their 1995 breakup.
It was also their most extensively realized
theatrical presentation and one of their musical
triumphs. Featuring bizarre, grotesque props and
coordinated with a spooky, ethereal backing film, the
tour was Ogre's own "document of delusion".
Ogre had recorded his
vocals for the album during a period of severe drug
addiciton. Such problems had been long standing and
very public, yet on Last Rights he seemed to have
reached an even more extreme low. He has described
this period as being disconnected from reality,
reporting of visions of paranoid fantasy. Ogre has
also said that it was during this period that his
relationship with his wife ended. These daily
experiences, fueled by so many drugs that he would
later express surprise that he survived, were brought
into the vocal booth and clearly form the lyrical
basis of Last Rights.
After having recorded
the album, which quite typically involved a great
deal of conflict between Ogre and his fellow
musicians in the band, cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel,
Ogre toured Europe as a member of the 'super-group'
Pigface. His drug abuse continued on this tour,
culminating in his contraction of Hepatitis A. He
then finally sought drug treatment. He credits this
experience and the people involved in Pigface with
allowing him to finally get clean.
Overview
Skinny Puppy's Last Rights album
was released in early 1992 amidst long-persistant
rumors of a breakup. It was not without some surprise
that fans greeted the announcement of a world tour.
Ogre's return to the fold sans his habit seems to
have rejuvenated interest and energy in the band that
many had assumed was gone for good. Having been to
the edge of death and back, Ogre now seemed
determined to report on his experiences.
Ogre enlisted Tim Gore, who had
worked on the previous Too Dark Park tour, to design
the creatures and props that would form the basis of
his presentation. The Too Dark Park tour had shocked
many with its quick-cut backing film compiled from
thousands of film and video clips. The explicitly
gorey footage had earned the band infamy, however,
Ogre seemed somewhat dismayed that people enjoyed it
for the wrong reasons. He did not want his
performances to tickle the audiences fetishistic
sense of shock alone. Indeed, one of the most common
criticisms of the band's performances were that they
relied on shock value. This time around Ogre seemed
intent on making it understood that his presentation
held a message beyond gore for gore's sake. To this
end, Ogre enlisted William Morrison to create a
backing film that would create an unsettling and
spooky atmosphere but not hit the audience over the
head with shocking scenes of brutality. This film
would also be 'interactive', connecting directly to
the live events on stage.
The film was created at the same
time as the video for Killing Game. Morrison said
that the video was intended to be somewhat of a
sample of the live show. An early sketch by Tim Gore
for a creature in the video shows a completely
different concept. It is unknown to me at what point
in the production this sketch dates from or how far
along the idea got. Tim's sketch is of a character
based upon Ogre's conceptual description of the
video, which itself reflects his description of the
song's origin given in interviews.
 |
"...silent
listeners, watchers with ears, faces, camera,
microphone. their limbs graphically connected
to these devices..." Ogre's description
inspired this sketch for an unused Killing
Game video idea. |
The film was rear-projected and
provided a close to full-stage backdrop for Ogre's
activities. At either side of the film stood cEvin,
behind his drumosaurous, and Dwayne, surrounded by
keyboards. Near Dwayne was a small TV set, which
played what seems to be another pre-made film
compiled from video footage in the vein of the TDP
backing film. Each side of the stage was also
occupied by the main props of the show, a virtual
reality machine and the 'Tree of No Cares'.
Ogre's concept for the stage show
clearly had a narrative progression. And while Ogre
has talked at length about the show in abstract terms
he has rarely spoken concretely about what each
element represented. Clearly the show dealt with his
battle with addiction and the fractured sense of self
he experienced during this deluded period. On stage,
Ogre's addiction was represented by a virtual reality
helmet. At various key points in the show, Ogre would
enter the apparatus. The show was timecoded to
coordinate with the backing film so that while he was
inside the machine, the audience could see Ogre's
face appear onscreen. The audience was witness to
Ogre's gradually intensifying torture each time he
entered. Something could be seen attacking his face
inside the virtual world. When he emerged from these
bouts of indulgence, Ogre returned to the stage
somehow altered from the experience.
 |
A
shot of Ogre being attacked in the backing
film during one of his V.R. excursions. Photographer
unknown, please email me for credit.
|
Yet the virtual reality machine was
not Ogre's only means of torture. On the other side
of the stage stood the Tree of No Cares. This was a
towering horrific creation which evolved directly out
of some elements of the Too Dark Park show (the set
of which involved decayed trees and an organic 'Chair
of No Cares' in which Ogre was abused). The trunk of
the tree was adorrned with ghostly faces, moaning in
pain and scrawled with words such as 'Greed', 'Sex',
and 'Survive'. The branches of the tree extended out
and down from the top like the limbs of a spider.
Hanging from these limbs were various objects on
hooks including a variety of monstrous 'Torture
Heads'. The limbs of the tree spun a full 360
degrees, dangling these images of torture above the
audience and in front of Ogre. Throughout the show
Ogre spun the tree, dodging the heads as they passed
and stopping to manipulate particular ones for
specific songs and portions of the show. This tree
gave Ogre the ability to highlight particular
elements of imagery for certain moments and then
return them to the spinning collective of painful
imagery which haunted him throughout the show.
Ogre was consistently driven to use
the virtual reality machine, perhaps to escape the
tortures of life represented by the Tree of No Cares.
As he continued to use the machine, Ogre was slowly
transformed by it. He remerged with a new costume or
prop element each time. This conception of
transformation and fracturing of self ran throughout
the show. Ogre first took the stage at the moment
when his image on the backing film seemed to split.
At this point his limbs were attached to his body,
cocooned in plastic like a corpse pronounced dead.
His arms painfully ripped themselves free in a bloody
mess. His face was painted in two equal sides of
solid black and white. As the show progressed, he
pushed syringes and/or shards of broken mirror
through hands and wrists and pulled organs from his
torso. At times he seemed to be entranced by his own
image on the screen behind him. Before Tin Omen, Ogre
came onstage wearing some sort of belt that let him
appear to tear pieces of his own flesh from his body.
Before VX Gas Attack, he emerged as a mutated,
hunched over creature wearing a gas mask and with an
arm and face growing out of his back. The false arm
was manipulated by Ogre's real hand and the screaming
face was actually Ogre's own; it was made from a cast
of his face. During Second Tooth, he slipped this
costume halfway off, covering his head with the
false-face while he sang. At the end of the song he
tossed it aside, returning to his normal self. During
Kiilling Game he shrouded himself in a blanket,
performing the song partially hidden from the
audience. Eventually the blanket became drenched with
the stage blood which he was by now covered in. Other
elements of the show touched upon a seeming
disconnect from sexuality. At one point Ogre pulled a
pornographic magazine from a hook on the tree and
tore pages from it. During the penultimate song of
the main set, Circustance, Ogre held up a crucifix on
which two figures were engaged in sex. Eventually,
blood poured from their bodies and dripped down his
arm.
The most infamous element of the
show was only present on stage for one song, the last
of the main set. The Guiltman was the most elaborate
and bizarre creation ever to appear in a Skinny Puppy
show. Guiltman was a full-body suit that Ogre wore
during Left Hand Shake that mixed drug and sexual
imagery to create the monstrosity that the virtual
reality helmet had ultimately transformed him into.
Guiltman looked like a cross between the underground
horror films that had always been part of the Puppy
aesthetic and more outlandish monster movies, but
with a slightly deranged edge. At the end of the song
Ogre exited the suit from behind and his spectral
silhouette appeared on screen as the final samples of
Timothy Leary described "the billion year
voyage". The band later returned to the stage
for a propless encore.
The band held a special
press-conference/ promotional mini-show before the
tour kicked off. The performance was for press and
invite-only guests and featured Ogre, Tim Gore, and
William Morrison discussing the show before the band
performed a segment of the set. A recording of their
introduction can be heard below.
| Click here for audio |
The introduction to the
press-only show of May 20, 1992, featuring
Ogre, Tim Gore, and William Morrison.
Recorded and provided by Matt Kolata. File
hosted by Scott Graham. |
The tour took the band across North
America (and included a stop in Hawaii). A European
leg was planned (some posters even exist for certain
dates), however Ogre injured his knee and it was
cancelled, making the final stop at Chicago Skinny
Puppy's last live performance ever before cEvin and
Ogre reunited for Doomsday in 2000. A full tour
itinerary can be found here.
Music and Songs
Amidst all the theatrics, it is
easy to underplay the musical side of Puppy's live
shows. The Last Rights tour, however, was one of the
strongest musically of their career and should not be
overlooked. cEvin had been playing more live drums
during their shows on each successive tour. On TDP he
played live drums almost exclusively throughout the
entire show. This was continued on the the Last
Rights tour. cEvin's drum kit should not be confused
with the typical rock set up. A massive integration
of electronic and acoustic drums, the drumosaurous
became legendary and added a new and unique dimension
to Puppy's live sound (listen to BF vol. 4 to hear
some of cEvin's amazing work on it from the TDP
tour). With cEvin playing only drums, Dwayne was
responsible for all of the live keyboards, samples,
etc. Early on they were apparently planing not to use
backing tapes but to use a Roland SoundBrush to
provide the prepared music from MIDI sequences. This
idea seems to have been scratched and Puppy did use
backing tapes for this tour (ones newly mixed by Dave
Ogilvie), however they seem much sparser than those
they'd used previously. Though bootleg audio may be
distorting history here, it seems that on the Last
Rights tour they pulled back on the dense meshes of
sound and instead relied on a few main parts, both
played live by Dwayne and on the backing tape, to
give life to the songs. They sounded anything but
thin, however. Between the drumosaurous, Dwayne's
keys, the backing tape, Ogre's voice (which sounds
less reliant on effects than on previous tours), and
Rave manning the soundboard, Skinny Puppy had never
sounded better. This is never more in evidence than
in their Braps. They had always had sections of
improvisation during their shows. This tour featured
a number of sections of Brappage (some programmed for
particular points in the show when Ogre needed to be
offstage for a costume change). Dwayne often
countered his singular melodic sensibilty on one hand
with harsher sounds on the other, weaving inbetween
cEvin's rhythms. Some of their Braps on this tour
rank among their most incredible moments; it's a
shame that so far none have been officially released.
The Last Rights tour also had a
more comprehensive and varied setlist than Puppy
usually offered. The set included five songs from the
new album, including the missing tenth track which
the audience heard for the first time live. Having
played almost the entire TDP album on their previous
tour, they included no songs from it in the regular
set (Spasmolytic was sometimes included as an
encore). They did perform a number of their standard
'classics', the songs which were singles and/or which
they had previously performed live, such as
Addiction, Harsh Stone White, and Worlock. Also
included, however, were a few less well-known album
tracks like Second Tooth (which had never before been
performed live) and Anger. They only performed one
song from before 1987, The Choke (though at a few
shows they also performed Assimilate during the
encore). This time around the song was given a new
pounding drum beat during the choruses, a simple
element that transformed the song. Another highlight
was Circustance, the churning guitar and drum section
of which was given a new dimension by cEvin and
Dwayne's performance. The encore performance of
Testure breathed new life into one of their trademark
songs, including Ogre's new semi-improvised lyrical
introduction which compared historical worship of
animals such as Bast in Egypt with their modern day
treatment. The final show of the tour saw Puppy come
the closest that they ever have to performing a cover
as Ogre intoned some of the lyrics from The End' by
The Doors during the encore's Brappage.
Setlist:
Props, Make-up, and Costumes
 |
A shot of various molded props
drying. |
 |
A shot of various molded props
drying. |
Ogre's
Make-up
Below is a design sketch for Ogre's
make-up. I don't think this was ever planned to be
something he'd wear onstage but was rather used in
the backing film.
 |
Tim Gore's design for Ogre's
facial make-up. |
Below are some shots of Ogre in
facial make-up. I believe this was used in the
backing film while Ogre's face is being attacked
while in the V.R. machine. Note the mechanical /
cyborg components along the jaw. Was the V.R. drug
turning him into a machine?
 |
Ogre's mutilated and bloody
side. |
 |
 |
More of Ogre in make-up. |
Here's what Ogre's makeup looked
like during the actual performance (though it wore
off quickly). The split down the middle continues the
theme of the fractured self carried throughout the
show.
 |
Ogre live. Photo provided
by Markus Siegert.
|
Mirror
Glove
This glove would allow Ogre to give
the appearance that shards of broken mirror were
penetrating his arms and hands. Mirrors are a common
motif for Ogre, having figured into his theatre since
at least the Bites tour.
 |
Tim Gore's sketch of Ogre's
Mirror Glove, which seems to have been used
in the show in a somewhat simpler form. |
In practice, it's difficult to tell
if the glove was brought to fruition. While it is
clear that something is being pushed out of Ogre's
forearms early in the show, that's about all one can
see (at least on video). In photos these objects look
more like syringes (which also show up on Ogre's
extremities after his transformation into Guiltman).
 |
A live shot that illustrates
Ogre's basic costume, seemingly consisting of
a lot of Saran-wrap. Note the syringe-looking
object near his wrist. Photographer
unknown, please email me for credit.
|
The shot below, however, does seem
to show him pushing the triangular mirror-like object
through his wrist. Perhaps this element was changed
during the course of the tour or both ideas were
featured during the show.
 |
Ogre live. Photo provided
by Markus Siegert.
|
Split
Persona
Below is a shot of the prop Ogre
wore to give the impression of a face and hand
growing out of his back. He wore this while bent over
and partially shrouded. This masked the fact that his
real arm was manipulating a false limb, bringing this
second fake Ogre to life.
 |
Ogre's emerging twin as it is
now. This was made from an actual mold of
Ogre's real face. Note the hand trying to
claw its way free. Photo contributed by the
current owner. |
 |
A live shot of Ogre shedding his
'twin', the false arm dangling. Photographer
unknown, please email me for credit.
|
Cross
Below is the crucifix that Ogre
held up during Cirustance and which seemingly bled
spontaneously. Unfortunately my xerox eliminates most
of the detail, but you can make out some of the
figures.
 |
This bleeding crucifix is
adorned with two figures engaged in sex. |
Here's a live shot of Ogre holding
the prop from the Boston show.
Below is a great live shot of
Dwayne at the keyboards. To the upper right you can
see the crucifix, where it hung until Ogre grabbed it
for Circustance.
 |
Dwayne live. The TV monitor
above him played a pre-recorded tape separate
from the large backing film. This also
apparently had an audio track which he was
able to punch into during the show. Photo provided
by Markus Siegert.
|
The
V.R. Machine
The V.R. machine consisted of a
helmet and set of gloves hanging from a cable-covered
swing set-esque armature. Perhaps coincidentally,
this form mirrors Ogre's live percussion setup of the
Bites tour.
 |
The V.R. machine is set-up next
to a barbecue. |
 |
Some guy in a Skinny Puppy shirt
takes the V.R. machine for a test run. |
 |
A close-up of the helmet and
gloves. |
The
Tree of No Cares
Below is a design sketch for the
Tree of No Cares.
Note the brain wired in to the top of the trunk and
the tentacles at the base, neither apparently part of
the final prop.
 |
Tim Gore's sketch of the Tree of
No Cares. |
Below are some shots of Tree's
sculpted trunk being painted. Note the faces
screaming in agony and the scrawled words like
'vermin' and 'selfdissect'.
Below are some shots of the tree,
unpainted, set up with the torture heads in a
backyard. In the show, the tree was drapped with
netting and had additional objects (like a severed
human arm) hanging from it.
 |
 |
Whatever did the neighbors
think? |
Below are some shots of the Tree of
No Cares taken during the shows.
 |
A close-up of the Tree's base
reveals the attention to detail paid to each
of the agonized faces. Photographer
unknown, please email me for credit.
|
Torture
Heads
Below is a sketch of a pair of
heads to be hung from the Tree of No Cares. While I
don't believe the one on the right was ever made, the
one on the left, severed just beneath the eyes is one
of the tour's most memorable and effective images.
 |
Tim Gore's sketch of a pair of
the Torture Heads to be hung from the tree
limbs. |
The above sketch becomes realized
as the remarkably life-like Torture Head is shown
below in production.
 |
One of the torture heads comes
to life. |
 |
I've got a headache...this big! |
 |
The early trials of laser eye
surgery were less than successful. |
 |
The torture head gets its
life-like paint job. |
 |
Ogre amidst the Torture Heads
and a pornographic magazine. Photo provided
by Markus Siegert.
|
The Torture Head below, which
evokes a melting or spectral creature, may have been
an extension of an unused design for the Guiltman's
head (see below). Note that the section of the body
below the face is head-shaped and appears to have
openings, allowing it to be used as a mask. I don't
know if Ogre ever actually used this one as such
during a show or not.
 |
One of the torture heads in
unpainted form. |
The detail put into these props was
extraordinary. Note the texture on this one's
oversized tongue! These shots were taken in the
garage in which many of the props were created. Note
some of the film posters and model kits along the
shelves.
 |
Another torture head in
unpainted form. |
Below is a live shot of Ogre
wearing one of the heads as a mask.
 |
Live photo of
Ogre wearing a torture head at the May 30th
Detroit show. Photo by
Jennifer Jeffery from her collection here.
|
This torture head was often used
during VX Gas Attack, for obvious reasons.
 |
The gas mask torture head gets
painted. |
 |
Detailed shot of the gas mask
torture head provided by its current owner. |
Guiltman
The Guiltman suit was a complex
creation that evolved from a number of other ideas.
The 'Infection suit' was an idea for a sculpted,
full-body suit to be worn by Ogre. This suit never
materialized, but the concept of such a prop became
Guiltman. Guiltman also utilized some of the design
concepts from this suit. It is unknown to me at what
point during the show this suit would have been worn,
but the concept of such a sludgy, mutated creature
perhaps fits with the chemical warfare motif of VX
Gas Attack.
 |
Tim Gore's sketch for the
'Infection Suit', an idea that went unused
but evolved into Guiltman. |
The Syringe Spider
was to be a full-size suit worn by Ogre, suspended
from above. It was likely to take the place in the
finale of the show that would be later held by
Guiltman. Perhaps it was considered too difficult
logistically to pull off. Many elements of the
costume became part of the Guiltman, however.
 |
Tim Gore's sketch for the
'Syringe Spider', an idea that went unused
but evolved into Guiltman. |
The Guiltman suit itself integrated
both of the above ideas and more. Rather than an
amorphous liquidy creature, the Guiltman resembled
decaying flesh in monstrouous perverted shapes. In
addition he was covered with such drug related
imagery syringes (which were integrated into the form
much like the Syringe Spider above), IV tubes,
tourniquettes, and belts. Taking a motif from the
spider, the Guiltman's shoulders are exagerrated and
reach a peak well above his head. The sketch below
also illustrates how the limbs of the Syringe Spider
have now become phallic appendages while the center
of the chest holds a gaping quasi-vaginal opening.
The Guiltman also has words carved into his flesh
much like the Tree of No Cares. The various religious
symbols, blades, and other objects seen here (and
planned to be removable) were largely absent from the
final suit. The head of Guiltman seems to have
undergone a number of transformations during its
development. Here it is dominated by a giant toothed
mouth with the flesh of the lips pulled back and held
taught by hooks at the back of the head.
 |
A detailed Tim Gore sketch for
the Guiltman suit. |
The sketch below illustrates the
function of the hooks and adds the idea of shifting a
facial feature below the mouth. In the end, the
Guiltman's head would look much more human. Note the
various gashes in the flesh that are sewn shut.
 |
Tim Gore's sketch of the
Guiltman's head in detail. |
This detail-less sketch shows a
side view of the suit. The phallic / spider leg
extensions would largely be absent from the final,
streamlined suit.
 |
Tim Gore's Guiltman sketch,
minus details. |
This later sketch illustrate more
changes that would be present in the final version.
The phallic extensions are now largely replaced by
droopy masses of flesh. The vaginal opening in the
chest now has a wagging, serpentine tongue. The head
has been completely changed into something which
resembles a separate child-like mutated individual
growing atop a mindless sludgy mouth. The basic form
of this head is similar to, and may have inspired the
design of, one of the Torture Heads (see above).
Though this sketch is labeled 'Final Draft', the suit
would still undergo more changes in its final
realization.
 |
Tim Gore's 'final' sketch of the
Guiltman. |
This sketch is the closest to the
final suit. In fact, I'm not sure if this was a
production sketch at all or something Tim created
after building the suit. It was given to Mike
Vinikour and published as the cover of his zine, Spontaneous
Combustion.
 |
Tim Gore drawing of Guiltman,
used as the cover to Spontaneous Combustion Issue #14. Contributed by
Mike Vinikour
|
The best look at the
final Guiltman comes from Screamer Magazine, which
published the interview with Tim Gore below written
by Heidi Lynne. Included is an extraordinarily
detailed look at the Guiltman suit as well as a shot
of Ogre receiving the body cast treatment. Included
in the final suit are the chains, IV tubes, syringes,
words carved in flesh, etc. discussed above all in a
more streamlined and less cumbersome design. Not
visible here are Guiltman's backwards-bending knees.
Here's some photos of some guy
(whose name I've lost) modeling the front of the
Guiltman suit partway through its construction.
Below is a group shot of the band
taken on the tour by Sandra C. Davis that features
the Guiltman.
 |
From left to right: Dwayne, Ogre
(holding a Torture Head), Guiltman (the quiet
one), and cEvin. Guiltman later felt that SP
was too restrictive for him and left to
pursue a solo career. |
Below is the Guiltman suit in
action.
 |
This live shot
shows some nice detail, including the
spider-limb projections on the lower right.
Did these break off sometime during the tour? Photographer
unknown, please email me for credit.
|
Below are photos of the Guiltman
suit in his final resting place. He seems to have
lost his head sometime in the intervening years, but
his singular personality remains intact.
 |
Detailed shot
of Guiltman as he is now. Photos provided by
the current owner. |
 |
Current
Guiltman close-up. Photos provided by the
current owner. |
Credits
and Thank Yous
This page owes a great deal to a
number of people including Kevin L. (who provided me
with many of the sketches and images of the props
years ago), Mike Vinikour, Scott Graham (for letting
me co-opt things contributed to Litany for this page), Jennifer Jeffery (whose
excellent photos of the Detroit show grace this
page), the posters of the Boston shots, Markus
Siegert, Andy Gowans, cQ, and many others. The
sketches are of course the work of Tim Gore. He,
along with a team of people whose names I
unfortunately do not have to give credit to, created
the props. The backing film is the work of Bill
Morrison. And, of course, the whole presentation is
the brainchild of Ogre and the music was created by
cEvin Key, Dwayne Goettel, and Dave Ogilvie.
Many of the images above were
contributed by (or taken from the sites of) people
who I've lost contact with and therefore could not
get permission from. I also could not get in touch
with either Tim Gore, for permission to use his
sketches, or the publishers of Screamer Magazine.
Hopefully everyone will understand that this page was
created for the fans in tribute to the tour and that
I have no intention of stealing anyone's work. If you
know the identity of any of the photographers whose
work I have used here, please let me know.
This page last updated on Thursday, March 20, 2003
by Corey Goldberg
|
