Melody Maker (3.29.80)

Live Review

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES
Osborne Club, Manchester

The gig that should have been at Eric’s.

The Osborne Club is not the best of places to play a warm up gig for a tour. When Eric’s Roger Eagle is not hiring the club, it’s a roller disco - and it shows. "Guys" and "Dolls" written over the toilets. Notices telling us: "Speed skaters will be sat down for 10 minutes" and "No chewing gum".

The deejay announces that the PA is connected to the beer pump, so when the group are on, we won’t be able to buy any draught beer.

They enter the stage to the sound of children’s screams, distant yet claustrophobic, a venomous noise, and into the sinister lilt of "Playground Twist".

It’s all very dramatic. As the speed changes, Siouxsie becomes a pendulum swaying from side to side, one white spotlight on her face, shrieking in that typical Siouxsie way which seems hackneyed now. I don’t know about Gothic. These days it’s like a horror film without the suspense. The initial shock is still there, but no fear. It’s as if the horror images on your TV screen come alive but you know they won’t step out of it and touch your life. All you can fear is your own emotions, your own response. So is it possible to enjoy the Banshees?

On a purely musical level (if there is such a thing), yes. If you don’t bring out your emotions (and the gestures are still too large for warmth), you notice that the sound is good. The present line up works well. Although Siouxsie’s vocals still dominate, it’s closer now to a wall of sound than just rhythm plus screams.

And some of the new material shows possible changes. Siouxsie’s discovered a gentler tone in her voice, which comes as a relief, like the new cooing voice in "Happy House" which is mellower and less abrasive than of old. All promising signs, and there’s a chance that the people that missed the group due to the shattering events of the last tour will get a better deal this time.

PENNY KILEY