1978

 
 
  Support acts during 1978:  
 


Spizz Oil
Manicured Noise
The Human League
Nico
The Shirts
White Cats
Reggae Regulars
The Unwanted
The Table
Gang Of Four
Johnny & The Self Abusers
Cabaret Voltaire
The Hot Points
The Bleach Boys
The Pre-Des

 
     

 

     
  DATE/VENUE  
     

 

     
  December  
 
 
  19/12/78 - Purley, Tiffany's Club  

Tiffany's Club, Purley Gig Advert 19/12/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Placebo Effect (Live debut)
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  November  
 
 
  22/11/78 - Liverpool, De Montfort Hall

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  16/11/78 - Plymouth, Locarno Club 

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  15/11/78 - Malvern, Winter Gardens

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer....(Not complete or in correct order)

Malvern Winter Gardens 15/11/78 Flyer - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
   

 

     
  14/11/78 - Blackburn, St. George's Hall (Cancelled)    
   
  12/11/78 - Croydon, Greyhound (Cancelled)  
   
  11/11/78 - Essex, University of Essex  
   
  10/11/78 - Canterbury Kent, The Odeon  
   

 

     
  09/11/78 - London, Hammersmith Odeon

Hammersmith Odeon 09/11/78 Gig Advert - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer
Love In A Void

Hammersmith Odeon, London Click Here For Bigger Scan
 
     
  NME 18/11/78  
     
 

Banshees: too much control?

Station to Station with The Feline Dance... in this case the terminus being the Hammersmith Odeon; at best a renowned mausoleum, at worst a deathspot. The difference is minimal. The only absolute it elicits is a denial of both atmosphere and instinctual communication.

Even so, both parties came probably hoping for something, though not expecting much, and getting only a messy, muggy evening of celluloid, vicarious pleasure. The Banshees, you got the distinct vibe, hated the whole affair - much as they have probably hated this whole tour - and consequently turned in a dour, lousy set; the audience needed to enjoy it. One had paid, after all. But no primacy, only speculation, and more nostalgia for ages round the corner...Time disobeys us.

Why here, then - apart from, that is, finance? A need to prove something? Worthiness? Manhood? A sense of Russian Roulette? Or the most obvious, arrival? A point, perhaps, of this whole tour, to emphasise this arrival. So this review can warble "to be reckoned with," "a major force," ad infinitum.

Because ascendancy for The Banshees has been nothing if not swift. Because "Hong Kong Garden" has found the "pop" market. Because the album, have no doubts, will be massive. And finally because they’ve been the unfortunate recipients of the most bloated media overkill since... well, probably the Clash.

A confused and misleading hype, too. For whilst the easiest of descriptions may well be "Ice Queen," "The Cold Wave," they fully deny the - albeit chilling - passion of the Banshees’ wail. For whilst Manson and Neill are references of sorts, they just pander to the obvious - these are far more children of Christopher Isherwood and Marc Bolan. And although the accuracy of their major debt - the Velvets - is undoubted, it isn’t contained to the music. One had, and the other has, the same tingling sense of reminder, a similar threat of darkness to their respective generations. If the Velvets - and the Doors - were the original sin of psychedelia, then the Banshees are this to punk.

The band, three asexual stick insects dressed black for a funeral march, never for a moment assume hysterics, but a visual reverse; the strength in reserve. A workmanlike posture. Another kind of dominance.

After them, Siouxsie - the feline dance. Predatory and stalking, she exudes a dominant, isolated sexuality.

As with the visuals, so too the music. From the opening "Helter Skelter" to the closing "Pure", the power of repression, whether guitar, voice or drums, is extreme. And sometimes extraordinary. John McKay’s guitar blisters and tingles with obsessive precision. Kenny Morris’s drumming, the exquisite conclusion of punk’s revaluation of the instrument as a tribal, metallic, rolling backbone, remains immaculately controlled.

The sound is a conjunction of Bowie, Roxy and Television, a mutation from the Pistols - the latter particularly so on their much overrated "Carcass" and "Metal". Still, it’s main stimulant is the Velvets, sharing a mutual distrust of melody. In it’s place comes an emphasis on a spartan rhythm. And in texture too, as in best moments of their best numbers: the fragmented rush of "Switch," the spiralling claustrophobia of "Overground," the hypnotic melancholy bass and guitar intro to "Pure." They also cry out for the subtle augmentation of viola, but John Cale’s got hepatitis, and who else would understand?

Only in the encore, the neglected "Love In A Void," is there a moment of dissolution. Otherwise the control is impeccable.

Which may be the reason for the audience’s shimmering unease at knowing it is submissive to this band and their singer.

But the audience will always let the Banshees down. They never demand more than a spectacle. A night at the Odeon. Alternative family entertainment.

Tonight then, overground from normality, a severe case of miscasting. The Banshees looking nothing if not out of place, and a venue rethink is a necessity.

Oliver Lowerstein

 
     
  BOOTLEGS  
     
 

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT 

Capital Punishment CD - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
     

 

     
  04/11/78 - Manchester, Manchester University    
   
  03/11/78 - Liverpool, Liverpool University (Cancelled)  
   
  01/11/78 - Lancaster, Lancaster University (Cancelled)  
   

 

     
  October  
 
 
  31/10/78 - Sheffield, Top Rank Club  
   
  30/10/78 - Newcastle, City Hall  
   

 

     
  29/10/78 - Middlesborough, Town Hall 

Middlesborough Back Stage Pass - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
   

 

     
  27/10/78 - Glasgow, Apollo Theatre

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  25/10/78 - Hanley, Victoria Hall

Gig Poster Victoria Hall, Hanley 25/10/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  23/10/78 - Birmingham, Mayfair Club

Mayfair Club, Birmingham 23/10/78 Advert - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Felling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  21/10/78 - Leeds, Leeds University

Switch
Mirage
Suburban Relapse
Metal Postcard
Hong Kong Garden
The Lord's Prayer... (Not complete or in correct order)

 
     
  NME 04/11/78  
     
 

Hello Siouxsie! Good to be back, huh?

Well, not that good. The Banshees’ third or fourth trip to Leeds was the first time the city had seen the band since they finally put their cards on the table, generated some capital investment and decided to take their music to the people.

It took a lot of time, sporadic fracas, dry frustration and several rounds of ‘Sid Vicious Is Innocent’ before Siouxsie introduced herself to the gathered multitudes at the university. When she did, it seemed to have been worth the wait.

Moving like an impassioned Marionette (her critics would say sub-Patti Smith), dressed almost haute couture in various permutations (and layers) of black and white, Siouxsie rightfully presented herself as another Star for the New Age.

The rest of the band are no stooges: black-dressed, implacable guitarist John McKay, the last recruited Banshee, hair falling like a German egghead’s thrummed some interesting up-tempo dirges, while drummer Kenny Morris (employing the same wrist action as the guy from Sham) treated concepts like ‘convention’ and ‘orthodoxy’ like they were dirty words.

Bassist Steve Severin, of course, is a different player in a different ball game. Co-architect of The Banshees’ integrity putsch, Severin has come a long way since the days when the band was contract-less, their music was ‘copyright control’ and he used to dedicate "Helter Skelter" - the first number here - to Roman Polanski. (Alienation is up for grabs in this band).

But if you can’t believe everything you read about Siouxsie and The Banshees, you still have to believe something - and if only 10 per cent of their much-vaunted obsession with ice-honesty and complete control is really true then that’s 10 per cent more than on offer most other places.

They got a bad deal here. Apart from having their road crew busted after the gig, the roughnecks here were even more boorish than usual.

The songs are a problem, too. "Switch", "Mirage" and "Suburban Relapse" are pretty good live numbers, but they came over as computerised punk to the people who had no previous experience of the band.

Similarly, "Metal", ‘for John Heartfield’ (the legendary anti-Nazi montage propagandist) meant little to the uninitiated: like the others, this song really needs to be recognised, which is why (in the provinces, anyway, and before the release of "The Scream") the band seem to distance themselves into an identity crisis.

"Hong Kong Garden" - received ecstatically - proved the point: much of this audience (if not the bulk) thought of The Banshees as an avant-garde singles band (with a very nice-looking cantatrice). Which is why, after average responses elsewhere, the band played their traditional "Lord’s Prayer" finale and declined to encore.

Siouxsie had sensed all along that the circumjacent mood wasn’t too cool. Deprived on the night (at Siouxsie’s request?) of canned grog, there was nothing for the loons to fling but huge quantities of slanderous abuse and multi-coloured sputum. (Your lensman for the night paid the price for coming between Siouxsie and the line of fire).

She tried hard to get them to "calm down" (and it was no punk put-on) but, as she said, she couldn’t "feed" off us such was the aggressive, distasteful attitude.

Siouxsie probably thought she’d seen the last of this number a long time ago.

The Banshees have played better and they will bring it on home again. It was suggested that they couldn’t handle an audience of this size. Or that even Snow Queens can have off-nights. But I’d guess that The Banshees really are trying to rip the perimeters of Radical Art, and that they recognise they’re not going to achieve that without intelligent support.

Emma Ruth

 
     

 

     
  20/10/78 - Hastings, Pier Pavillion  
   
  19/10/78 - Bournemouth, Village Bowl  
   
  17/10/78 - Bristol, Locarno Club  
   

 

     
  16/10/78 - Plymouth, Fiesta Club 

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  15/10/78 - Cardiff, Top Rank Club  
   
  12/10/78 - Bath, Pavillion  
   

 

     
  11/10/78 - Hemel Hempstead, Pavillion 

Helter Skelter
The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  September  
 
 
  23/09/78 - Aylesbury, Friars

Hong Kong Garden
Pure
Overground....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
     
  Melody Maker 23/09/78  
     
 

Siouxsie's on the warpath

Aylesbury Friars is one of those complexes that warm the heart of any local council.  A relatively new piece of slightly quirky modern architecture, it screams out for fringe theatre productions and rugby club dinner - dances.  Amazingly, it's also very sympathetic to rock 'n' roll.  Last Saturday was a good case in point.

...Siouxsie & The Banshees took up their places.  They were superb.  Since I last saw them (peace, Nils), they have evolved into a toughly integrated, hard-hitting and experimentally fearsome unit.  Really.  The nature of their performance, their interaction, their musicianship and astringent material have all meshed and the effect certainly impaled me.  They were like a resistance movement, challenging but concerned, true to themselves and faithful to the people who had helped give them that well-deserved chart smash in "Hong Kong Garden."  "My, my - Top Of The Pops" smirked Siouxsie by way of an intro to the song, which she incidentally sang in the strangest key.

Kenny Morris drums with incisive determination, creating an indomitable backbone which is further highlighted and expanded upon by Steven Severin's rigorous bass.  John McKay seems to have done much to co-ordinate and solidify the overall Banshee vision.  His guitar directed as it threw out shards of tungsten thrills.  Siouxsie's voice was a daunting mixture of ice and fire, though I wish I could have heard many more of their excellent lyrics.

With the minimum of between-number patter, they soared through several stage faves, including a wonderful version of "Overground," plus various new songs which one hopes will be on the forthcoming album.  One that HAS to be singled out is "Pure," a momentous slice of escalating power.  Forget all the silly ice-age marginalia that has been forced on the band:  nearer the truth is their ability to harness, dovetail and put over so forcefully emotions that might seem to conflict.  Like scorn and sensitivity; anger and subjugation.

Siouxsie & The Banshees confront what they see, and re-direct it to us.  Their paradoxes are as simple and unnerving as the art of savage love.

Ian Birch

 
     

 

     
  August  
 
 
  18/08/78 - Edinburgh, Clouds Club

The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Switch
Hong Kong Garden
Metal Postcard
Jigsaw Feeling
Suburban Relapse
Pure
The Lord's Prayer
Helter Skelter

 
   

 

     
  July  
 
 
  23/07/78 - London, Roundhouse

Roundhouse, London Gig Advert 23/07/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Roundhouse 23/07/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

The Staircase (Mystery)
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Switch
Hong Kong Garden*
Metal Postcard*
Jigsaw Feeling*
Suburban Relapse
Overground
Pure
The Lord's Prayer
Helter Skelter

 
     
  NME 29/07/78  
     
 

If Punks are currently being brushed off by "official sources" as a speedily-becoming-extinct species, why then is it damn near impossible to find a comfortable location here in the Roundhouse on a blisteringly humid Sunday night in order to watch billtoppers Siouxsie and the Banshees rising victorious before a capacity crowd?

Why the "sold out" sign spread grandly across the bill which, aside from the imperious Siouxsie & Co., has nothing *that* striking on offer (The Shirts from New York scarcely warrant a fraction of this turnout, while The White Cats, Chris Miller's past persona nothwithstanding, are still bound to club level status)?

That this was the Banshees' big breakthrough shot was obvious when John Curd first announced the billing for this gig, coming as it did hard on the heels of their record deal with Polydor. But I, for one, certainly never held out expectations for such a tumultuous turnout, nor did I expect to be as impressed by their current musical form.

From their initial baptism as non-musicians--the Bromley contingent plus Sid Vicious on drums--skiffling through a cacaphonus 20 minutes at the 100 Club during that official New Wave week in the summer of '76, the group have consistently maintained a feisty hard core punk image that, combined with their own musical deficiencies and particularly icy vision, has created them a niche that few other bands can lay claim to.

Parallels with Adam and the Ants seemed initially agreeable until said band became bogged down in a shallow outrage schtick. They were transcended by the Banshees when the need to shock was overpowered by the founding of a musical ambience and attitude that cut far deeper.

The Slits are another group the Banshees have been compared to, but the former's apparent lack of direction paired with only the barest hints of musical progression can now be viewed as being directly at odds with the Banshees' career thus far of constant gigging and self-improvement.

That's what hit home most forcefully on Sunday, see? Not merely that the Banshees' maverick attitude has reaped an army of support, but that the support is totally warranted. Here is group in the intriguing position of having started with all manner of musical shortcomings but with a coherent vision, who've worked consistently to overcome their liabilities and who've succeeded moreover in forging a style that is at once riveting and absolutely their own.

The air of amateurism apparent in the initial stages of The Banshees' career has been peeled away like so much dead skin to reveal a group whose music is stark but deadly effective, drawing the listener irresistibly into its aural cocoon.

Parallels and comparisons can now be drawn with gothic rock architects like the Doors and, certainly, early Velvet Underground.

The latter's sense of constructing a music implementing monotonous phrasing with icy granite-hard precision, each instrument forming a complementary layer, is certainly a strikingly kindered form. The Banshees' current repertoire contains material that sounds close to a mating of "Venus In Furs" and the juggernaut power of "Sister Ray."

Individual titles of these self-penned songs were hard to catch, although "Switch" certainly fitted the latter description well while "Hong Kong Garden," with its oriental guitar riffs, is the perfect introductory single as well as an inspiringly accessible example of the Banshees' particular musical pitch.

In fact, although their own songs now sound far more potent, the Banshees' chosen encore of The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" showcased just how far they've advanced this past year. What once seemed a number merely chosen for shock-horror associations with the Manson gore-in is now weilded out at the audience like it was created solely for the Banshees' style of vicious "heart-of-glass" rock action.

In conclusion, Sunday was memorable, not primarily for the lemming-like kamikaze stupidity of those clowns sequestered directly in front of the stage, or even for disproving any notion that punk is dead (the police outside the gig demonstrated that the force is still acknowledged and a cause for concern) but for the cool, clear victory scored by this band.

A word too about Siouxsie herself: forget all those facile performance comparisons with Blondie or any other female rock star extant for that matter, and start thinking in terms of a woman with the potential of a female David Bowie.

A more impressive coming-of-age celebration I've never witnessed.

Nick Kent

 
     
  BOOTLEGS  
     
  LIVE AT THE ROUNDHOUSE*

Live At The Roundhouse 7" Single - Click Here For Bigger Scan
 
     

 

     
  20/07/78 - Manchester, The Factory 

Jigsaw Feeling (Live debut)
The Staircase (Mystery) (Live debut)
Switch (Live debut)....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
   

 

     
  May  
 
 
  07/05/78 - Croydon, Greyhound

Greyhound Flyer 07/05/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Croydon Greyhound 07/05/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Overground
Hong Kong Garden
Carcass
Suburban Relapse
Pure
The Lord's Prayer
Love In A Void
Mirage

 
     

 

     
  05/05/78 - Bristol, Stars and Stripes

Helter Skelter....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
     
  Unknown source 1978  
     
 

Do you want to find out what's left of punk since the new wave broke over it?  Then check out Siouxsie and The Banshees.  Their set started with the Beatles 'Helter Skelter' and the type of static frenzy in the song was a good indication of the turbulence to follow.

Siouxsie described their songs as "uninhibited music", which I suppose it is; it is also uninhabited by anybody but themselves... in other words I didn't like what they were doing.

Not so much because it sounded awful (okay it was maybe not the Nashville, and the PA was moving bricks in the walls) but because it was meant to sound that way.  They have been together for 18 months now, so it is not inexperience.  In spite of this the rhythm section occasionally displayed more than competence.

What made it so unlistenable then?  Well, the lead guitarist was loud enough to bore a hole in your head and John McKay played it like an emergency.  Subtle it was not.  Siouxsie's voice for the most part was unintelligible.

I can't even find a reason to justify the excesses of this band.  There seems no justification for their seemingly calculated vivisection of music or their contempt for the audience.  And yet, a lot of people are surprised that no recording contract has appeared.  Remember the story of the Emperor's New Clothes?

Fred Williams.

 
   

 

     
  04/05/78 - Plymouth, Metro Club

Flyer 04/05/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Metal Postcard
Make Up To Break Up
Hong Kong Garden
Overground
Carcass
Suburban Relapse
The Lord's Prayer
Love In A Void

 
     

 

     
  03/05/78 - Newport, Stowaway Club  
   

 

     
  April  
 
 
  28/04/78 - High Wycombe, Town Hall   
   

 

     
  25/04/78 - Birmingham, Barbarella's Club 

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Metal Postcard
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Hong Kong Garden
Overground
Carcass
Suburban Relapse
Pure
The Lord's Prayer
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  22/04/78 - Huddersfield, Polytechnic   
   

 

     
  21/04/78 - Liverpool, Eric's Club 

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Hong Kong Garden
Overground
Carcass
Suburban Relapse
Pure
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  19/04/78 - London, Music Machine

Music Machine 19/04/78 Advert - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Metal Postcard
Hong Kong Garden
Overground
Suburban Relapse....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
     
  NME 29/04/78  
     
 

A peace-offering of flowers from a fan in the dressing-room and what seems like the millionth debut for the great unsigned...

Yeah, you’ve probably heard all of this before with regard to The Banshees, but tonight’s advance ticket sales were only out-done by the Tom Robinson Band when they appeared at the same venue recently.

A full-scale attraction without a contract!

Off-beat combo The Table deviate just for the sake of it and the redoubtable Spizz Oil harangues the audience to a standstill, but both he and the tabloid-trio end up sinking without a trace in the mire of anticipation. Tonight belongs to the headliners.

The Banshees take to the stage in a twilight of spotlights, crystalline, dissonant guitar splinters heralding the intro to "Helter Skelter", a song that’s been in their repertoire for nigh-on a year, but of which they acquit themselves with energy and enthusiasm, forestalling any bitterness they might feel for a blinkered and unresponsive industry with stoical perseverance.

"Mirage" follows, then "Nicotine". The crowd call for "Captain Scarlet" (still!) but the Banshees don’t pander. Instead we get "Metal" and "Hong Kong Garden".

"This one’s for all you A & R men at the bar..."

Their mood becomes apparent...

Remaining still is the primeval, anchor-beat of the drum sound, over which the Bromley chanteuse pins her starched, catatonic vocalese. Between these two extremes the guitars cover the middle-ground.

Mixers and P.A.s permitting, they steer well clear of post ‘77 wall-of-sound conformity, every instrument maintaining an identity of it’s own in the overall sound pattern.

And so a band who started life as a ‘ragged and naive’ figment of post-Pistols’ punk euphoria, develop through experience into a force to be reckoned with. Possibly not esoteric enough for ‘New Musick’ snobs and dilettantes to drool over, certainly not dumb enough for the boneheads, The Banshees may find themselves lost in limbo unless they surface in this year’s vinyl stakes. But I see no reason why not.

Though this sound was marred by bad sound they proved themselves capable of delivering the goods (as they say in the business) and their ability as songwriters cannot be doubted as recent material like "Overground" and "Suburban Relapse" goes to show.

As Siouxsie says, "Here’s something for all the record companies, ‘cos it’s their loss not ours..."

It’s time someone listened.

Steve Walsh

 
     

 

     
  15/04/78 - Durham, Denim Club  
   
  14/04/78 - Tynemouth, Maxwell's Club  
   

 

     
  13/04/78 - Manchester, Rafters Club

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Hong Kong Garden
Mittageisen (Live debut)
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Overground
The Lord's Prayer
Pure
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  12/04/78 - Leeds, F. Club  

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Suburban Relapse
Metal Postcard
Carcass
Make Up To Break Up
Overground
The Lord's Prayer
Hong Kong Garden

 
   

 

     
  09/04/78 - Chelmsford, Chancellor Hall   
   

 

     
  07/04/78 - Margate Kent, Dreamland  

Dreamland - Margate - 07/04/78 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
   

 

     
  05/04/78 - Reading, Bones Club

Gig Advert Bones Club, Reading 05/04/78

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Suburban Relapse
Carcass
Hong Kong Garden
Overground
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  March  
 
 
  30/03/78 - Sheffield, Limit Club  
   

 

     
  27/03/78 - Kingston, Coronation Hall 

Coronation Hall, Kingston 27/03/78

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Make Up To Break Up
Suburban Relapse
Metal Postcard
Carcass

 
   

 

     
  16/03/78 - London, Alexandra Palace

Gig Advert Alexandra Palace, London 16/03/78

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Make Up To Break Up
Suburban Relapse,
Metal Postcard
Carcass
Hong Kong Garden
Overground
The Lord's Prayer
Pure
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  03/03/78 - Liverpool, Eric's Club  
   

 

     
  February  
 
 
  25/02/78 - Exeter, Exeter Technical College  
   

 

     
  14/02/78 - London, 100 Club

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Hong Kong Garden
Metal Postcard
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Overground
The Lord's Prayer
Pure
Love In A Void
Mirage

 
     
  Sounds 25/02/78  
     
 

"Happy Valentine's Day" was the first thing she said; then "What is it the sheep like now? Power pop innit?"

You knew from the start that it was not to be a gig for the faint-hearted.  The mad love of butcher's for their slabs of dead meat is hardly consistent with the sending of valentines.  Unless of course Siouxsie's butcher sent his own heart.  Pause to consider the hideous possibility.

(this little fantasy has been inspired by their song 'Carcass' which also contains one of the great alliterative catch-phrases of all time "limblessly in love".)

This was about the fifth (and best) time I saw the Banshees.  I can't pretend to be an early advocate; faint interest at first and in the end, total capitulation.

What they're really good at is building a song from a slow, sparse beginning to a doomy climax.  No hysteria though: just a steady thorough working over with all the impact of a well-placed heel in your inner ear.  'Helter Skelter' is like that; also 'Pure' which leads into 'Love In A Void'.

With hundreds of people turned away (and a brief visit from the police), it was bound to be weird.  Lot of Sham fans too and a phase of people getting onstage and yelling things about The Moor Murderers.  Siouxsie came back and settled that one ('castrate Myra Hindley').  It's a pity if people associate her with every sicko creed going, but hell she can handle it.

And no one who writes a song with the subtlety of 'Mittageisen' or the brilliant new 'Overground' should be shoved away for people to inflict all their little private fantasies on.

Enough has been written about Siouxsie's extraordinary voice, but just a few general points about the gig: good sound; the songs seemed more varied than in the past without losing any of their starkness; Siouxsie frosty but looser, more confident; still can't hear the words though, bleat bleat, and I know they're worth hearing.

ATV, the Banshees and the Buzzocks form  the triumvirate of British bands.  And as for Siouxsie - you don't really mind that she probably regards you as a sheep too.  You don't even mind when, on the way home, your old man announces he's "definitely in love" with her!

Lindsey Boyd

 
     

 

     
  12/02/78 - Croydon, Greyhound 

Gig Advert Greyhound, Croydon 12/02/78

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Hong Kong Garden
Metal Postcard
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Overground
The Lord's Prayer
Pure 
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  11/02/78 - Brighton, Polytechnic 

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Hong Kong Garden
Metal Postcard
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Overground
The Lord's Prayer
Pure
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  04/02/78 - Hitchin, Hitchin Technical College

Gig Advert Hitchin Technical College 04/02/78

 
   

 

     
  January  
 
 
  28/01/78 - Bristol, Barton Hill Youth Centre

Hong Kong Garden (Live debut)
Overground (Live debut)....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
   

 

     
  14/01/78 - Bishop Stortford, Triad Centre  
   
  13/01/78 - Doncaster, The Outlook   
   

 

     
  11/01/78 - Nottingham, Sandpipers 

Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Suburban Relapse
Love In A Void....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
     
  NME 28/01/78  
     
 

The Banshees' second visit to Nottingham, but my first to the Banshees.

The stage was too small for any band to really work out, but at the moment this is a necessary evil.  Siouxsie makes the most of the space she's got, but there is considerably less strutting than I'm told is usual.  Pity, she's a great mover.

The main grouse about the stage, however, is not the size but the height, or lack of it.  Floor-level means ecstasy for the first three rows, and frustration for everyone else.

The Banshees play with absolutely no visible sign of enjoyment, or indeed emotion.  The only thing which comes across is fierce intensity, very fitting considering the stuff they play, which is austere, stark and jarring.

By now, their material is well-established.  Songs like "Make Up To Break Up", "Metal", "Suburban Relapse" and "Love In A Void" are certainly not danceable, but they do demand attention, so that the band's music at least elicits some kind of response from the listener, be it good or bad.

Considering the virtual identikit nature of almost every second band signed up these days, it's shameful that no one has yet had the taste to snaffle the Banshees.  Over 50 gigs to their credit, lots of press, and still the only-a-few-people-are-interested story.

Of course, they are not "a safe bet", but if this limbo situation is the only future that awaits any band that strays from the straight and onetwo-threefour narrow, then let's all shape up Boredom City.

Supporting were The Pre-De's, and if they can focus sufficiently they won't be a million miles from the trail the Banshees are blazing.

They were, however, greeted with the usual response from an audience lacking enough information to decide what's cool.  Tricky when you've got to work these things out for yourself

Stephen Gordon

 
   

 

     
  07/01/78 - London, Nashville Room

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Captain Scarlet
Bad Shape
Pure

 
   

 

     
  06/01/78 - London, Nashville Room  
     

 

1977

 
 
  Support acts during 1977  
     
  The Slits
Adam & The Ants
The Unwanted
Spizz Oil
Aurtie Pus
The Void
Richard Hell
Levi & The Rokats 
The Crabs
Wrist Action
 
     

 

     
  December  
 
 
  26/12/77 - London, Music Machine    
   
  22/12/77 - Colwyn Bay, Dixieland Showbar    
   

 

     
  18/12/77 - Manchester, Elizabethan Hall  

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer

 
   

 

     
  11/12/77 - London, Roundhouse

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Bad Shape

 
     

 

     
  06/12/77 - Leeds, F. Club     
   
  05/12/77 - Doncaster, Outlook Club    
   

 

     
  November  
 
 
  30/11/77 - Newport, Stowaway Club  
   
  30/11/77 - Newport, Stowaway Club  
   

 

     
  25/11/77 - Brighton, New Regent  

New Regent, Brighton Gig Advert 25/11/77 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
   

 

     
  17/11/77 - Nottingham, Katies Club  
   

 

     
  15/11/77 - Manchester, Belle Vue

Manchester Bell Vue Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
     

 

     
  10/11/77 - Leeds, Polytechnic

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Carcass
20th Century Boy
Suburban Relapse
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Bad Shape

 
     

 

     
  08/11/77 - Birkenhead, Mr. Digby's Club  
   

 

     
  October  
 
 
  31/10/77 - London, Vortex Club

The Vortex Poster - Click Here For Bigger Scan  

The Vortex Gig Advert 31/10/77 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

The Vortex Club - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
     

 

     
  27/10/77 - Coventry, Locarno Club  
   
  26/10/77 - Liverpool, Eric's Club   
   

 

     
  25/10/77 - Birmingham, Barbarella's Club

Barbarella's Club Birmingham 25/10/77 - Click Here For Bigger Scan
 


Scrapheap
Psychic
20th Century Boy
Carcass
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Suburban Relapse
Bad Shape
 
     

 

     
  21/10/77 - Colchester, Technical College  
   
  20/10/77 - London, Rainbow Theatre    
   
  18/10/77 - Cardiff, Top Rank  
   
  17/10/77 - Stafford, Top of the World Club    
   
  15/10/77 - Manchester, Umist    
   
  14/10/77 - Edinburgh, Clouds Club    
   
  13/10/77 - Middlesborough, Town Hall    
   
  11/10/77 - Sheffield, Top Rank Club  
   

 

     
  09/10/77 - Croydon, Greyhound  

Greyhound, Croydon Gig Advert 09/10/77 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
   

 

     
  September  
 
 
  26/09/77 - Amsterdam, Paradiso

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Make Up To Break Up
Scrapheap
20th Century Boy
Carcass
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Bad Shape

 
     

 

     
  24/09/77 - Paris, Gibus Club   
   
  23/09/77 - Paris, Gibus Club  
   
  22/09/77 - Paris, Gibus Club  
   
  21/09/77 - Paris, Gibus Club  
   

 

     
  20/09/77 - Paris, Gibus Club 

Gibus Flyer - Click Here For Bigger Scan

Suburban Relapse (Live debut)....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
   

 

     
  15/09/77 - Leicester, Bloo Bloo Club  
   
  14/09/77 - Manchester, Electric Circus   
   

 

     
  13/09/77 - Birmingham, Barbarbella's Club 

Helter Skelter
Make Up To Break Up
Mirage
Scrapheap
Psychic
20th Century Boy
Carcass
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Suburban Relapse
Bad Shape

 
   

 

     
  08/09/77 - London, Nashville Club

Helter Skelter
Love In A Void....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
     
  NME 17/09/77  
     
 

You wish they all could be SS girls?

Okay, but Ilse the She-Wolf never was my cup of barbed wire - and besides, Siouxsie Q don’t swoon for swastika armbands anymore. Now maybe someone will throw up a contract...

Etched in red and black (good marching colours) the Bromley madchen hits the Nashville... such a lousy locale for one you’d expect to trade seig heils with down in the last bunker. In fact, the biggest shickhorror from the mire of Siouxsie’s allegedly Nietzchean nature was the frail, coy passes she made at the air with a raised hand in search of a Nazi nuance.

Songs such as "Helter Skelter" and "Love In A Void" resound with automation rather than National Socialist partialities, neat beat songs of sick, slick love structured around machine-man scenarios or callously culled from dehumanised headlines.

The normal Chinaman-in-a bull-shop barnstorming tedium of all the legions of honorary bored teenagers is liquidated in deference to the Banshees’ hollow Lou Reed-as-Sally Bowles chords, chords connect into bars around which Siouxsie swings her siren-whine - the whine to open your head...

Her voice is sharp and stark, her eyes are dead and dark as she paces out her ascribed lebensraum hand-in-stand with the microphone, her human-failings dance routine snappily executed - if a little repetitive. Her movements seem to be a muted erosion of Debbie Blondie’s chrome-blooded clockwork dollbaby patent.

While lacking the mass appeal of Gaye Advert or the real glee of Arianna Slit, Siouxsie has half a soft-core following and a band that doesn’t clutter the bare bones with the frills, as well as being handsome in a stretcher-case kind of way and a much neater conversation piece than all those fledgling punk pains festering down the Roxy and Vortex.

If goosesteps give you a buzz you’ll have a ball, though I fear that whatever heights of minimalist muses she comes to capture, Siouxsie will never top her Sun centrespread.

Julie Burchill

 
     

 

     
  07/09/77 - London, Vortex Club  
   

 

     
  05/09/77 - Birmingham, Boar's Head Pub

Make Up To Break Up
Helter Skelter
Mirage
Scrapheap
Psychic
20th Century Boy
Carcass
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Captain Scarlet

 
     

 

     
  August  
 
 
  30/08/77 - Plymouth, Metro Club    
   
  28/08/77 - London, Sundown Club (Cancelled)    
   

 

     
  25/08/77 - Devon, Tiverton Motel 

Mirage (Live debut)....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
   

 

     
  22/08/77 - London, Vortex Club 

Make Up To Break Up
Helter Skelter
Mirage
Scrapheap
Psychic
20th Century Boy
Carcass
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer
Captain Scarlet

 
   

 

     
  04/08/77 - Birmingham, Rebecca's Club  
   

 

     
  July  
 
 
  21/07/77 - London, Roxy Club  
   

 

     
  11/07/77 - London, Vortex Club

Helter Skelter (Live debut)....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
     

 

     
  09/07/77 - Shad Thames, Butler's Wharf, London (private party hosted by Derek Jarman and Andrew Logan.

Helter Skelter/The Lord's Prayer (Private live debut)....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
   

 

     
  May  
 
 
  24/05/77 - London, Dingwalls   
   
  19/05/77 - London, Music Machine   
   

 

     
  17/05/77 - Manchester, The Royal Oak

Helter Skelter
Mirage
Nicotine Stain
Make Up To Break Up
Metal Postcard
Overground
Carcass
Suburban Relapse
The Lord's Prayer
Love In A Void

 
   

 

     
  14/05/77 - Liverpool, Eric's Club   
   
  10/05/77 - London, Enfield Polytechnic  
   
  05/05/77 - High Wycombe, Nag's Head Pub  
   

 

     
  April  
 
 
  23/04/77 - London, Roxy Club

Roxy Club, London Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
     

 

     
  March  
 
 
  26/03/77 - London, Roxy Club

Captain Scarlet
Scrapheap
Psychic
20th Century Boy
Bad Shape
Love In A Void
The Lord's Prayer

 
     

 

     
  13/03/77 - Worchester, Bank House  
   
  03/03/77 - High Wycombe, Nag's Head Pub   
   

 

     
  February  
 
 
  24/02/77 - Croydon, Red Deer Pub 

Captain Scarlet (Live debut)
Scrapheap (Live debut)
Psychic (Live debut)
Bad Shape (Live debut)....(Not complete or in correct order)

 
     

 

1976

  September  
 
 
  20/09/76 - London, 100 Club

100 Club Poster - Click Here For Bigger Scan

The Lord's Prayer

London, 100 Club Click Here For Bigger Scan