Pure
Jigsaw Feeling
Metal Postcard
Happy House
I Could Be Again
Night Shift
Cities in Dust
Christine
Trust in Me
Kiss Them For Me
Peek A Boo
Voodoo Dolly
| THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH - TOUR |
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| Support acts during 2002: | ||
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| DATE/VENUE | ||
| August | ||
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| 18/08/02
- Sonic Festival, Tokyo
Pure |
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| 17/08/02
- Sonic
Festival, Osako
Pure |
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| 13/08/02
- The
Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim
Pure |
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| 11/08/02 - The
Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles
Pure |
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| LA Weekly 16/08/02 | ||
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At the risk of giving in to silly clichés about a macabre madwoman, one can easily forgive such things as lousy acoustics after finally putting a voice to the face -- ruby red lips, kabuki pallor, blackened raccoon eyes -- that's become so iconic of a genre and generation. And now that the perpetually cranky Johnny Rotten has decided to roll out of bed for another vanity tour next month (to be shared with the likes of Blink-182 and the Offspring!), it's further proof that Siouxsie and the Banshees are the last great remnants of their time and place. To a crowd of dutifully shrouded dead men/women walking, Siouxsie used every trick in the showmanship book. Black-suited (later stripping down to a spangly bra) and mulleted à la Aladdin Sane, she thumped her chest, twirled her hands in flamenco-style passion, and rolled around the Palladium stage like toilet paper, as her drummer/husband Budgie, in a perfect display of one-upmanship, banged in holy terror. The song selection could've been more spectacular -- no "Killing Jar"? No "Spellbound"? Not a band that indulges fans with too many favorites (except for the rather odd finale of one of their few hits, "Kiss Them for Me"), they chose to stick to the older tunes, including "Happy House" and "Israel." The hall's mushy sound simply drowned out the rest of the set, including the Pompeii-inspired "Cities in Dust" and Kaleidoscope's great "Christine" with Steve Severin's most haunting of bass lines. The show was neither the most indicative of Siouxsie and the Banshees' versatility nor the best of their discography, but that kind of wishful listening is best reserved for home, or until they bless us with another visit. Until then, re-dissect Hyaena, from the mini-opus "Dazzle" to the sweeping "Belladonna," and pray there's a cover band out there that can do it justice. Siran Babayan |
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| July | ||
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| 10/07/02
- Shepherds
Bush Empire, London
Pure |
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| The Times 2002 | ||
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IF
THE Sex Pistols can do it, so can the Banshees. Seven years after they
split, Siouxsie Sioux’s punk pioneers were back this week for four
British gigs. Naturally, it wasn’t nostalgia that had brought them
together, but a Greatest Hits album. Still, punk was never averse to a
bit of fast cash, and compared to the Pistols Siouxsie’s crew looked
youthful. If
the fans who sold out two shows at Shepherds Bush Empire were worried
that the Banshees might embarrass themselves, they were soon put right.
This was no tacky reunion but a serious stab at proving their songs had
stood the test of time. The show opened to Budgie’s thumping drums and
a trademark wail from Siouxsie, although in a pitch black venue it was
hard to make out either. Five
minutes later the lights came on to reveal a slimline Siouxsie between
guitarists Steve Severin and Knox Chandler (the last to play live with
the band). She looked amazing. She was dressed in a tight grey silky
suit, white pinstriped shirt and skinny black tie, her face made up with
glittery eyeshadow and bright red lipstick and her cheekbones as sharp
as they were in the 1970s. When she indulged in Spanish-style dancing or
froze in an arty pose, she could have been twentysomething again. Only
later, when she knelt at the front, did she look a little like a mad
auntie let out for the first time in years. In
fact, all of the Banshees had aged well — more than can be said for
some of their fans. There was so much spare belly bouncing around it was
a wonder someone wasn’t hurt. Elsewhere
in the audience, there were plumages of brightly coloured hair, men in
kilts and too much make-up, some frighteningly high shoes, bosoms
bursting out of corsets and, of course, lots of black. As
for the music, it sounded as good as Siouxsie looked. The band worked
their way through one classic after another, each sounding better than
the last. Metal Postcard was raw and edgy, Happy House got
everyone jumping up and down and Cities in Dust became a mass
singalong. The gig ended with the strange sight of thousands of aging punks spilling out on to Shepherds Bush Green. Lisa Verrico |
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| More press... |
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| 09/07/02
- Shepherds
Bush Empire, London
Pure |
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| Boyz 2002 | ||
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The
gothic regalia and maquillage on the majority of the audience when I first
saw the Banshees in concert over a decade ago must have hid a multitude of
sins, 'cause the biggest surprise at this - Siouxsie and the boys' first
London gig for seven years - was that more than half the audience looked
to be of an, ahem, Boyz-reading persuasion. Siouxsie's gay following
should perhaps be no surprise - like any iconic female singer, from
Madonna to Tori, Kate to Courtney, Siouxsie's exoticism and individuality
were bound to have inspired more than a few boyz. Their presence was
just more obvious in tight T's and cropped hair than in winklepickers and
eyeliner...
Those changes aside, the faithful just had to come out for this, the Seven-Year Itch Tour, proof that their Creatures project aside, Siouxsie and Budgie must have missed their fellow Banshee Severin a little in the seven years since they last played with him. And, as Siouxsie puts it on stage, 'If you've got an itch, scratch it!' From the moment Siouxsie emerges on stage, letting out some trademark screams that put the band's namesake to shame, it's like they've never been apart. It has to be said though - Siouxsie looks better than she's ever done. The same age as Mrs. Ritchie, taloned hands aren't in evidence in Siouxsie's case, and when she strips down to a spangly bra, no-one could deny she's in good nick. Life in her south of France chateau must agree with her. Ironically, despite the fact that they have a greatest hits album due out in autumn, the band don't give us a predictable greatest hits set - typically refusing to play the record company game. What we get is a set that largely favours early albums The Scream and Juju. Album tracks 'Jigsaw Feeling' and 'Mittageisen (Metal Postcard)' (the latter's anti-Nazi sentiments particularly apt given Le Pen's rising popularity in France - a fact that can't be lost on Siouxsie, given where she lives) kick off the unpredictable set that's a shout-out to the band's punk roots. The stage set itself is even striped to the basics, with the band a four piece again, consisting of just Siouxsie, Budgie, Severin and guitarist Knox Chandler, and with stark lighting and a simple backdrop that doesn't distract from the band's performance. Of the band's singles, only 'Arabian Knights', 'Spellbound', 'Christine', Cities In Dust' and 'Kiss Them For Me' (the latter almost unrecognisable with jagged guitar taking the place of its former Eastern influences) rearing their heads, and a housed-up 'Peek A Boo' as the final encore. In fact its arguably the lesser-known 'Voodoo Dolly' and 'Night Shift' that get the biggest reaction from the faithful crowd. As the Banshees leave the stage, its obviously to an audience who hope the next time they have an itch, they don't leave is so long to scratch it. |
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| 06/07/02
- The
Octagon Centre, Glasgow
Pure |
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| 05/07/02
- Barrowland
Ballroom, Glasgow
Pure |
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| 03/07/02 - The Ambassador Theatre, Dublin (Cancelled) | ||
| 01/07/02 - Rockwave Festival, Athens (Cancelled) | ||
| April | ||
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| 27/04/02
- Coachella
Festival, USA
Pure |
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| 25/04/02
- Warfield,
San Francisco, USA
Pure |
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| 24/04/02
- The
Fillmore Hall, San Francisco, USA
Pure |
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| 22/04/02
- Vic
Theatre, Chicago, USA
Pure |
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| 21/04/02
- Vic
Theatre, Chicago, USA
Pure |
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| 19/04/02
- Roseland,
NYC, USA
Pure |
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| 17/04/02
- Nation,
Washington DC, USA
Pure |
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