| BOOMERANG - TOUR |
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| Support acts during 1990: | ||
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| DATE/VENUE | ||
| September | ||
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| 07/09/90 - Padova, Stadio Communale (Cancelled) | ||
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06/09/90
- Rimini, Perestroika |
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05/09/90
- Pisa, Arena Grande
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| 03/09/90 - Rome, Teatro Tendastrisce | ||
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02/09/90
- Perugia, Giardini del Frontone
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| 01/09/90 - Milan, Festival de L'Unita | ||
| March | ||
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31/03/90
- Irvine, Crawford Hall |
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30/03/90
- Tijuana, Iguana's
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29/03/90
- Los Angeles, Wiltern Theatre
Thumb |
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27/03/90
- San Francisco, Warfield Theatre
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| 24/03/90 - Chicago, Cabaret Metro | ||
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23/03/90
- Detroit, St. Andrew's Hall Thumb |
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22/03/90
- Cleveland, Phantasy Theatre
Ice House |
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20/03/90
- Toronto, Diamond Club
Thumb |
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19/03/90
- Montreal, Rialto Theatre |
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18/03/90
- Boston, Citi Club Thumb |
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16/03/90
- Providence, The Living Room |
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15/03/90
- Philadelphia, Theatre of Living Arts |
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14/03/90
- New York, The Ritz
Thumb |
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07/03/90
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Paris, Bataclan
Thumb |
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06/03/90
- Utrecht, Tivoli Thumb |
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05/03/90
- Dusseldorf, Tor 3 Inoa Ole |
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03/03/90
- Gand, Vooruit So Unreal |
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02/03/90
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London, Town and Country Club
Thumb |
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| Melody Maker 1990 | ||
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What sort of people go to see Siouxsie these days? In 1990? And what do they do once they're there? On entering I make straight for the gents (it's very cold) and embarrass a couple of not-so-pallid goths who are fornicating in the sink. It's hardly my fault, I wave at them to carry on, it's no problem. Nevertheless this is an unnerving first scene. Scene two at the bar, a minute later, involves a very big squaddie demanding 50p from me because he needs to buy a pint. He says this if I should comprehend instantly, as if it would be ludicrous for me to weigh up the merits of stubbornness or cowardice. A pint! In that case, take all my money, take my house..... in gratitude he slaps me on the back and my own pint takes residence down the front of my jumper. I am beginning to have grave doubts about the sort of people who go to see Siouxsie these days, in 1990. Shimmying to the front because perhaps there no injury or blushing will befall me, I am allowed to settle into what is generally known as an objective critical perspective. There was never any rationale by which The Banshees could be intellectually condoned. Recent attempts by some members of the press to praise The Creatures', uh, experimentation, remind one of nothing so much as, revering Peter Gabriel for building an underwater studio. Such perversity! Such imagination! Such limitless financial resources! The Banshees, though, coloured many a grey night for me and my scuzzy cohabitants some years back, and glamour and narcissism and swirl (the most important elements of magic, and the ones which serious critics invariably overlook) were theirs in abundance. The Creatures' music is simple R&B laced with cod flamenco. It's never irritating but never inspirational. It's about one third as interesting as Danielle Dax's last record. It's about one hundredth as special as Nick Cave's new glory. Watching Sioux boss the stage tonight I lapse into a cosy nostalgic reverie and wouldn't be wrong in assuming most of the rest of the house does too. There's little sense of event or contemporary buzz. Yet the star (make no mistake) in question is compelling. Sioux, dressed as a jackbooted anorexic zebra, works her ass off in the true tradition of British theatre, never mind the lip service to Spain. Rarely naturally graceful, she crafts happily away with her tents-in-the-desert/tomahawks/earrings-as-pyramids physical imagery till her every wiggle and strut is a happening hieroglyphic. Without her persona's self-belief, this would have been indulgent party pieces from tow cuddly musos. With this presence, her indisputable charisma (utterly invisible when offstage), there's something going on. The Creatures as an inkspot on the map of the history of rock may be negligible, but Siouxsie's brain-turning peacock guile remains a major indomitable city. She locks into an intensely asexual pride (thus ferociously sexually desirable) which shames most of the crop of trainee pop divas (but they're young, they'll learn), casts them as naive Emilys or Cathys (literary references which I can't be bothered to annotate). A Salome who stops at the third veil and spits, Sioux's great strength has always been that she has some suss, which in this arena is tantamount to vast wisdom. 'Don't just stand there like lemons waiting to be squeezed!' Siouxsie knows what sort of people go to see Siouxsie these days, in 1990. And loathes or tolerates them accordingly. A fine woman. Possibly the Olivia Walton of my generation. Chris Roberts |
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01/03/90
- London, Town and Country Club
Thumb |
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| February | ||
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27/02/90
- Keele, Keele University
Thumb |
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| 25/02/90 - Norwich, University of East Anglia | ||
| Unknown source 1990 | ||
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The Creatures may possess the same low key, serious intent as XTC's alter ego, The Duke's Stratosphere, but they aren't another self-indulgent, post-punk B-side band. And tonight, a die hard Banshee crowd warmed to Siouxsie's Bromley karaoke, suggesting that perhaps they've finally hardened to dance music's practice of using backing tapes and complex melodic and rhythmic patterns. Budgie, snug inside a white sweatshirt, remains his modestly reliable self. Mingling live and pre-produced Burundi beats sprinkled with measured amounts of timbal and glockenspiel, everything clatters away nicely under that idiosyncratic vocal delivery. Meanwhile Siouxsie - draped in a mottled Peruvian-look housecoat and lacey, thigh-length waders (later to be revealed as a suspender set) - alternates between a prowling Eartha Kitt and a shrieking mistral. More recent recent material from 'Boomerang' parallels the Banshees evolution and revels in the spacious experimentalism, whereas older songs, 'Mad Eyed Screamer' and 'Miss The Girl', betray an earlier, densely cluttered rock feel. The newer sense of abstraction extends to a bizarre set of visuals flickering on an outsize triangular backdrop. Collapsing pop into art, skyscrapers and saxophones fleetingly do battle with clapping hands projected, seemingly, from nowhere. Unlike The Damned's Naz Nomad or The Purple Helmets née Stranglers, the Sioux and Bud project works alongside the creative nucleus of the Banshees. As variegated as the musical jungle they've chosen to retreat to, The Creatures emerge from their retreat, integrity intact. |
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24/02/90
- Manchester, Salford University
Thumb |
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23/02/90
- Glasgow, Queen Mary Union
Thumb |
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21/02/90
- Nottingham, Rock City
Inoa Ole |
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20/02/90
- Liverpool, Liverpool University
Inoa Ole |
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| Unknown source 1990 | ||
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There is something beautifully simple about the idea of just a voice and a drum kit. There's something beautiful about The Creatures but its not as simple as the idea. Yet what you get still seems simple, despite the understanding of unseen sophistication. Siouxsie sweeps the stage as elegant and exotic as the music. Budgie wanders in white from drumkit to drumkit and somehow earns a few laughs on the way. Behind them, images of hands clap and lips kiss and trumpets burst into song. In front of them, rows of tall men unconsciously echo the images of "Standing There". It's all very simple. Siouxsie and Budgie go intimate? Its an odd idea, and an attractive one, after the spectacle and distance of the last Banshees tour, and the spectacle and distance associated with Siouxsie. A club-like crush adds a new dimension to the proceedings. Snatched glimpses of the music makers reflect the unseen sources of snatches of sound. Budgies percussive orchestra adds new meaning to "one man band". Even Siouxsie's voice cant match its variations. "Untied Undone" is a perfect example of The Creatures' less-is-more sensuality; "Willow" is stripped down to blues; "Mad Eyed Screamer" is rhythmic enough for dancers; "Fury Eyes" playful and sinister; and the Dr-Who-meets-Goth of "Pluto Drive" is hailed like a hit. The sounds are as evocative as what you don't see, and the hidden complexities of the process as evocative as the sounds. Something about the use of machines matches the coolness of The Creatures; and something about using machines also gives a sense of risk that matches what's beneath the surface of the songs. Creating The Creatures on stage means something that feels charmingly coolly different and something quite accessible at the same time. Its difficult to be different. Its even more difficult to be different and intimate too. And Siouxsie says at the end, "You should have seen us yesterday, everything went wrong", and "Thanks, you've been great" and you cant get much more accessible, or much more simple, than that. Penny Kiley |
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19/02/90
- Exeter, Exeter University
Inoa Ole |
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