- Music
- 30 Jul 08
After the bomb drops, there will be only our old friends the cockroaches and former Banshees ringleader Siouxsie left.
Tonight, the former member of the Bromley Contingent looks positively evergreen, scampering around the stage like a woman half her age. Most of her set is culled from her first ever solo record Mantaray, and this writer is happy to report that while she may be getting older, Siouxsie’s pipes sound as pleasing as ever.
It’s been well over a decade since the now Budgie-less Banshee played in Ireland, and thankfully she seems happy to give us the hits from yesterday too, which include a particularly ghoulish rendition of ‘Christine’ that sates the crowd’s thirst for the old stuff. Siouxsie, for her part, also plays the dutiful host to the assembled black-clad massive and at one point gleefully accepts a bunch of flowers from an especially enamoured fan before launching into a disappointingly flaccid version of ‘Hong Kong Garden’ that now sounds all of its 30 years, and positively creaks towards its climax.
Still, tonight is all about living in the present. On the strength of new songs such as ‘Into A Swan’ and ‘They Follow You’, her future is, rather ironically, bright: as she bids farewell to her fans she seems proud that she’s turned the Tripod into her very own ‘Happy House’ for the night. I’ll get me cloak….