Throbbing Gristle were noted for their live performances, which were often experimental and quite different from their pre-recorded work. In addition to studio albums, a large number of recordings of live shows were released, of varying sound quality. A concise history of Throbbing Gristle and COUM Transmissions can be found in Simon Ford's book Wreckers of Civilisation (ISBN 1-901033-60-0). A 25 CD boxed set, TG24, documenting many live Throbbing Gristle performances was released in December 2002. A follow-up to this boxset chronicling the last 10 performances was released as TG+ in January of 2004. These releases accumulated recordings that had originally been released on cassette-only boxed sets and individually released vinyl albums of official and bootleg status. Long out of circulation, the new releases sparked a renewed interest in the band.
Throbbing Gristle were scheduled to play a live show in May 2004 at the RE~TG festival, but the festival was cancelled due to poor ticket sales, rising costs and scheduling complications. They decided to play anyway and set up a show at The Astoria in London on Sunday May 16th 2004, which was the same day they were to play at RE~TG. The show was free but open only to those who had tickets to RE~TG, whether they had obtained a refund or transferred the ticket to a later concert at All Tomorrow's Parties, in December 2004. The show was filmed by the band, and was released as part of the DVD box set TGV. It was Throbbing Gristle's first live performance in nearly 23 years to the day.
The reformed band (with all four original members) then played a concert in Italy in June 2005 and two concerts at the Volksbühne, Berlin, Germany on December 31, 2005 and January 1, 2006. The first show was a live performance and the second an improvised live soundtrack to Derek Jarman's film In The Shadow Of The Sun. On December 29, 2005, an exhibition entitled 'Industrial Annual Report' opened at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin-Mitte. It was a major retrospective exhibition of artworks and historical documents produced by Throbbing Gristle, curated by Markus Müller, in collaboration with Cosey Fanni Tutti.
| Date (Year-Month-Day) | Country-Province-City | Venue | Event | Release status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-08-21 | UK-England-London | Air Gallery | IRC3; TG24 | ||
| 1976-07-06 | UK-England-Winchester | Attic Theatre | Hat Fair | IRC3; TG24; "No Two Ways" on Live Volume 1 | |
| 1976-10-18 | UK-England-London | I.C.A. | "Prostitution Show" | IRC2; TG24; "Slug Bait" on The Second Annual Report; "Industrial Introduction", "Very Friendly", "Dead Ed" on Live Volume 1 | |
| 1977-02-11 | UK-England-High Wycombe | Nags Head | IRC4; TG24 | ||
| 1977-03-26 | UK-England-Brighton | Polytechnic | IRC5; TG24; "Slug Bait", "Maggot Death" on The Second Annual Report; "Last Exit" on Live Volume 1 | ||
| 1977-05-07 | UK-England-Southampton | Nuffield Theatre | IRC6; TG24; "Slug Bait", "Maggot Death" from The Second Annual Report; "Forced Entry", "National Affront" on Live Volume 1 | ||
| 1977-05-22 | UK-England-London | Rat Club | IRC7; TG24; "Maggot Death" from The Second Annual Report | ||
| 1977-09-29 | UK-England-London | Highbury Roundhouse | IRC8; TG24; Live at Roundhouse; "Hit by a Rock" and "Blood on the Floor" on D.o.A: The Third and Final Report | ||
| 1977-11-11 | UK-England-Winchester | Art College | IRC9; TG24; "A Nod And A Wank", "Feeling Critical" on Live Volume 1 | ||
| 1977-12-17 | UK-England-London | Rat Club | IRC10; TG24; "Tesco Disco", "Knife In My Side", "Urge To Kill", "Assume Power Focus" on Live Volume 2 | ||
| 1978-02-28 | UK-England-Brighton | Polytechnic | IRC11; TG24 | ||
| 1978-03-03 | UK-England-London | Architectural Association | IRC12; TG24 | ||
| 1978-05-18 | UK-England-London | Goldsmith College | IRC13; TG24; "IBM", "It's Always The Way", "Hamburger Lady", "D.O.A" on Live Volume 2; "Dead on Arrival" on D.o.A: The Third And Final Report | ||
| 1978-07-01 | UK-England-Wakefield | Industrial Training College | IRC14; TG24; "Mother Spunk", "Cabaret Voltaire" on Live Volume 2 | ||
| 1978-07-06 | UK-England-London | London Film-Makers' Co-op | IRC15; TG24; "New After Cease To Exit Soundtrack" on Live Volume 1 | ||
| 1978-11-11 | UK-England-London | Cryptic One Club | IRC16; TG24; Special Treatment; "Introduction", "Whistling Song", "Industrial Muzak", "Weapon Training" on Live Volume 3 | ||
| 1979-01-21 | UK-England-London | Centro Iberico | IRC17; TG24 | ||
| 1979-04-12 | UK-England-Derby | Ajanta Cinema | IRC18; TG24; Thee Psychick Sacrifice, Sacrifice | ||
| 1979-04-25 | UK-England-Sheffield | Nowsoc | IRC19; TG24 | ||
| 1979-05-19 | UK-England-Manchester | Factory | IRC20; TG24; Live at the Factory; "See You Are", "Convincing People", "His Arm Was Her Leg", "What A Day" on Live Volume 3; "Five Knuckle Shuffle", "Wall of Sound" on Live Volume 4 | ||
| 1979-05-26 | UK-England-Northampton | Guildhall | IRC21; TG24; "Ice Cool Down", "They Make No Say" on Live Volume 3 | ||
| 1979-08-03 | UK-England-London | Y.M.C.A. | IRC22; TG24 | ||
| 1979-12-23 | UK-England-London | Butlers Wharf | IRC24; TG24; "Wet Weird & Smeared" on Live Volume 3 | ||
| 1980-02-24 | UK-England-Leeds | Fan Club | IRC25; TG24 | ||
| 1980-02-29 | UK-England-London | Scala Cinema | IRC26; TG24; The Kill | ||
| 1980-03-13 | UK-England-London | Goldsmiths College | IRC29; TG24; "Russ" on Live Volume 4 | ||
| 1980-03-16 | UK-England-Peterborough | Oundle School | IRC30; TG+; "Wall of Sound" on Live Volume 4 | ||
| 1980-06-10 | UK-England-Sheffield | Sheffield University | IRC33; TG+; "Introduction", "Punished", "Heathen Earth", "Tortured Smiles", "We Said No" on Live Volume 4 | ||
| 1980-11-07 | West Germany-Berlin | SO 36 Club | TG+; Funeral in Berlin; Editions... Frankfurt... Berlin...; "An Old Man Smiled", "Trained Condition Of Obedience" on Live Volume 4; Blood Pressure | ||
| 1980-11-08 | West Germany-Berlin | SO 36 Club | TG+; Funeral in Berlin; Editions... Frankfurt... Berlin...; "Discipline" on 20 Jazz Funk Greats | ||
| 1980-11-10 | West Germany-Frankfurt | Kunsthofschule | TG+ | ||
| 1980-12-04 | UK-England-Manchester | Rafters | TG+; Rafters; "Auschwitz", "Devil's Gateway" on Live Volume 4; "Discipline" on 20 Jazz Funk Greats | ||
| 1980-12-23 | UK-England-London | Heaven | TG+; Funk Beyond Jazz | ||
| 1981-02-08 | UK-England-London | Lyceum | TG+; Once Upon a Time; Destiny | ||
| 1981-05-22 | USA-California-Los Angeles | Veterans Auditorium | TG+; Dimensia in Exelsis | ||
| 1981-05-29 | USA-California-San Francisco | Kezar Pavilion | TG+; Mission of Dead Souls | ||
| 2004-05-16 | UK-England-London | Astoria | TGV | ||
| 2004-12-03 | UK-England-Sussex | Camber Sands | Live December 2004 A Souvenir of Camber Sands | ||
| 2005-06-29 | Italy-Turin | Traffic Free Festival | (2 sets performed) "What a Day", "P.A. Destroyer" from second set on untitled 3" CD; "Convincing People" on Brainwaves. | ||
| 2005-12-31 | Germany-Berlin | Volksbuehne | (unreleased) | ||
| 2006-01-01 | Germany-Berlin | Volksbuehne | In the Shadow of the Sun - live soundtrack | (unreleased) | |
| 2007-04-29 | Austria-Krems | Donaufestival | (unreleased) | ||
| 2007-04-30 | Austria-Krems | Donaufestival | In the Shadow of the Sun - live soundtrack | (unreleased) | |
| 2008-06-06 | France-Paris | La Villette Sonique | 2nd Annual Report re-interpretation | (limited release TBA; audience bootlegs already exist) | |
| 2009-06-19 | Denmark-Copenhagen | Statens Museum for Kunst | The Sky is thin as Paper here - |live soundtrack | (2 sets performed) soundtrack + concert (unreleased) |
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