The Scotsman (7.5.02)

PICK OF THE DAY SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES

Fiona Shepherd

WHILE the recent Stuart Adamson tribute concert at Barrowland offered up the rather sad spectacle of old punk lags The Vibrators still rehearsing the same tired riffs and lame posturing, the return of their contemporaries, Siouxsie & The Banshees, to the same venue is a far more attractive proposition, not least because the Banshees left their own musical legacy and were more than bit-players in the history of punk.

Siouxsie Sioux, above, and bass player Steve Severin, both part of the self -styled Bromley contingent, were in the thick of things right from the start.

Siouxsie's early appearances have become the stuff of punk lore - spotted in the background during Bill Grundy's infamous live TV interview with The Sex Pistols, for example, or reciting The Lord's Prayer while Sid Vicious bashed away on the drums behind her.

Despite a tendency to shed guitarists at an alarming rate, the Banshees were able to outlive their peers, developing a more sophisticated sound which retained the fury, but toyed with the guitar effects pedal too. Their greatest hits album Once Upon A Time was essential listening for any aspiring young goth in the mid-1980s.

The band finally called it a day in the mid-1990s but, as Siouxsie married her drummer, Budgie, it was never going to be too difficult to reactivate the group.

Over the years she has maintained her steely and imperious stage presence, refused to abandon the elaborate eye make-up and continued to be a law unto herself. Now Siouxsie gathers her brood together one more time for this Seven Year Itch tour.

Siouxsie & The Banshees, Barrowland, Glasgow, tonight, 0141-332 4400.

Contributed by Jerry Burch.