Seattle Weekly (September 22, 2004, Wednesday)

PREVIEWS

AN EVENING WITH SIOUXSIE

Showbox at 8 p.m.

Sun., Sept. 26. $27.50 adv/$30.

Sometimes wish fulfillment plays out perfectly. In Mark Paytress's excellent oral history of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Siouxsie said of herself when younger: "I enjoyed being the freak in a middle-class suburb." It's a fly-in-the-ointment role that in some ways she's perfected for nearly 30 years in and out of the Banshees, creating an absolutely iconic image via a totemic voice and a crackerjack series of singles that should only be called "goth" by limiting default. After putting the Banshees firmly to bed with a one-off reunion tour in 2002, she and musical and personal partner Budgie (the Banshees' drummer) continued together as the Creatures with numerous dramatic albums. Their latest album, Hai! (Instinct), a collaboration with famed Japanese taiko drummer Leonard Eto, is a monster of a release, with rolling, stomping drum jams providing the bed for her still-powerful voice. For this American tour, however, she'll be working with both the Eto/Budgie drum team and late-period Banshees guitarist Knox Chandler to perform songs from both her main bands, the first time she's done such a combination. Reports from earlier in the tour indicate that the show will unsurprisingly be focused more on the Creatures, but songs like "Christine" and "Happy House" will likely make welcome appearances.

NED RAGGETT

Contributed by Jerry Burch.