Saturday, May 30, 1998
London
The Garage

by Mark Ellins

All in all a 50 minute gig with a 10 minute encore [a bit on the short side considering the crowd (of about 1,000) waited until 21.50 for them to come on stage (no support acts)].

The crowd were the usual motley crew--tattoos, body piercing, old punks and "straights" like myself. I even saw this woman in her late 40's dragging a guy around on a dog lead. He had a leather mask on. The crowd were appreciative but only Prettiest Thing, B-side Ourselves, and Exterminating Angel got the hardcore up front going.

The stage was small and when they came on it looked like a scene from "Cabaret." A tinsel background with Sioux resplendent in a black glittery one-piece with a bow tie. She sang well and looked good. Her hair looked like Sioux circa 1979. For the encore she sported a silver Stetson! It was also nice to see her being more relaxed with the crowd (no barbed comments), and she augmented her singing with occasional keyboards and percussion.

Budgie looked really well. Decked out in a black vest, he really worked hard on stage (as always). He came from behind his drum kit (which the crowd loved) to play Prettiest Thing and then to play acoustic guitar on I Was Me and B-side Ourselves. He seems to be someone everyone warms to.

The two bassists (both of whom looked like Alanis Morrisette's older twin sisters) made a much more marginal contribution. I don't know how important they are to the band.

All in all an enjoyable gig, but, considering those were the only 2 UK dates, I felt everyone felt a bit short-changed. The two Banshees' b-sides they played were interesting and Prettiest Thing has to be a single somewhere down the line.

by Sandra and Michael Murkaster-Cascade

Last night, the gig was amazing. They came on stage @ 9.50 & played for 50 minutes, then did two encores.

They again played with the same two female bass players as mentioned on Jools Holland Show. Budgie played acoustic guitar on a couple of songs--B-side Ourselves and (I presume) Exterminating Angel. Siouxsie did the keyboard stuff, some percussive stuff, and some drumming. We noticed that one of the bass players was still reading from bits of sheet music! I wouldn't say that any cock-ups happened, though!

As for how they are looking, Budgie was Budgie & Siouxsie was looking great--very sexy! Her new curvier figure was shown off to great effect in a cleavage-revealing pvc top worn with pvc trousers and to start with a cropped pvc jacket--no spikey heels, though. At the start of the encore she came on with a red sparkly fedora hat which she promised to pay someone from the audience for! (£20 if you want to know!)

Playing B-side Ourselves got a shout from the crowd of 'We're too old for this, Siouxsie!' Yep, I reckon everyone had a good time.

Two t-shirts were available (might have been three). One had sad c*nt on it--the other had male & female signs like on toilet doors on it (how sweet!); the other one had The Creatures just written on it, but I'm not sure if this was a back print or separate t-shirt. There was a badge set as well, but we didn't look at the stall very closely.

by Nigel Williamson
The Times
6.3.98

TWO years ago Siouxsie Sioux announced that she was folding the Banshees "with dignity," a barbed comment on the Sex Pistols reunion tour which was winding its cynical way around Britain. Since then she has concentrated on the Creatures, the side project first launched with her drummer husband Budgie in 1981. These two London shows were a warm-up before a two-month American tour, preceding a single in July and an album in the autumn.

The denizens of the London night turned out in force in their latex and leather and they were not disappointed. Against a shimmering backdrop, a PVC-clad Siouxsie strutted her feline stuff while Budgie manufactured a percussive storm behind her.

Siouxsie, 41 last week, has blossomed from the gaunt, scary waif who set out to shock us with her bondage and swastikas into a strikingly beautiful swan. Over the years she has also learnt to sing properly and at times unveiled an almost cabaret-style croon. Thankfully, however, she has no desire to turn into Celine Dion yet and her edgy, half-screamed, half-spoken poetic rants peppered with those distinctive cat-like moans were as effective as ever.

The opener Disconnected sounded more like New York art rock than Bromley-contingent punk and Siouxsie seemed oddly subdued, but she hit her stride on Take It Off. This is what the Creatures do best--sparse, stripped-down melodies that are little more than a subterranean rumble underpinned by the hell-for-leather rhythmic patterns of Budgie's pounding drums with Siouxsie's deconstructed vocals sashaying over the top. The spooky Miss The Girl was revisited magnificently and Black Holes was broodingly intense with Siouxsie spitting out every word with an icy clarity.