SF Weekly (10.27.99)

Night & Day

Heather Wisner

Sunday

October 31

A Gal Named Sioux

It's a good night for goths; besides the annual reprieve from cracks about their Halloween costumes, they can look forward to a visit from The Creatures. Goth high priestess Siouxsie Sioux and bandmate/helpmate Budgie have aged more gracefully than goth itself; while the first wave was wrinkling under its whiteface and the younger set was fending off unsavory charges pertaining to vampiric cults and the like, Siouxsie & the Banshees amicably split, wary of the nostalgia trap that sent so many other bands of their era on some ill-advised reunion tours. The pair dipped into England's electronic underground club scene, setting Siouxsie's spine-chilling cadences against primal percussion; with Hybrids, dance music experimentalists have taken their turns remixing her mournful instrument with dance beats.

Switchblade Symphony and Karen Black open the show at 8 p.m. at the Maritime Hall, 450 Harrison (at First St.), S.F. Admission is $25; call 974-0634. Prepare for the gothic delights with a Creatures autograph-signing session 2 p.m. today at Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight (at Stanyan), S.F., or at New Wave City's Vintage Goth Gala, held the night before the Creatures show. DJs from area goth clubs will be spinning Bauhaus, Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, and yes, Siouxsie & the Banshees as pallid lovelies in lace and velvet parade past the costume contest judges. The party starts at 9 p.m. Saturday at 550 Barneveld, S.F. Admission is $15-20; call 864-4689.

Contributed by Jerry Burch.