Afinal de contas, só o tenho em VHS, 2xLP e CD...
Almost seven years to the day since they opened for the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club Punk Festival, Siouxsie And The Banshees were back on a London stage for another memorable two-night stint. Only this time, The Banshees were no longer defiantly under-rehearsed unknowns. Their audience had changed too. The sweaty throng of punk rock in-crowders and bandwagon-jumpers had now miraculously transformed into a several thousand strong army of acolytes, many draped in T-shirts bearing the band's name and mouthing the words to every song in an act of trance-like devotion. More extraordinary still were the Siouxsie lookalikes, their crow-black hair crimped into long, jagged crowns, their chalk-white faces impeccably painted with black kohl and blood-red lipstick.
The performances at London's Royal Albert Hall, on 30 September/1 October 1983, marked the climax of an era set in motion by 'Juju', the band's fourth album released in June 1981, "Juju was the first time we'd made a 'concept' album that drew on darker elements," says bassist Steven Severin. "Because the imagery we used for 'Juju' was the most confident and fully realised up to that point, it's also one of the most enduring in people's perceptions of the band. That's when people started saying it was the first ever 'Gothic' album."
The dark, often oppressive sound of 'Juju' made perfect sense in a post-punk world. Since 1977, an entirely new wave of largely amateur musicians had emerged, many of whom chose to articulate everything that was angry and uncomfortable about their lives. From Throbbing Gristle to Joy Division, the message was no longer 'Anarchy in the UK' but something more private and disturbing. By the early '80s The Banshees, who had specialised in sonic psychodramas from the start, had perfected the art of darkness, as 'Nocturne' so spectacularly captures.
The two shows filmed for this release capture The banshees at the peak of their post 'Juju' powers. Already an icon, Siouxsie now had the voice to match, a thrilling hullabaloo from hell that would occasionally break out into a gorgeous, lyrical romanticism. Drummer Budgie brought sophisticated textures and colour to the sound. Bassist Steven Severin created giant, nagging riffs that provided the motor for much of the band's best material. And on guitar The Cure's Robert Smith, who first guested with the band in 1979, after guitarist John McKay had walked out with original drummer Kenny Morris in a spat that threatened to destroy the group.
In a nod to the venue's classical tradition, the 'Nocturne' shows were unveiled with a dramatic extract from Stravinsky's 'The Rte Of Spring', itself a shocking piece of musical iconoclasm when premiered back in 1913. Inevitably, perhaps, The Banshee's set draws heavily from their two most recent albums, 'Juju' and 'A Kiss In The Dreamhouse. Among the 'Dreamhouse' songs ('Painted Bird', 'Cascade') is 'Melt!', a sumptuous, delicate waltz that deserved more than its lowly Top 50 placing the previous December.
'Juju' yields two centrepieces of the band's early '80s repertoire. 'Night Shift' starts out at punishing horrorshow pace, gets engulfed in some harsh, expressionist lighting, and builds to a tormented climax amid howls of feedback. A similar incantatory spell is weaved on the self-referential 'Voodoo Dolly', which builds sinisterly as a fabulous fog of fear descends down on the stage prompting further musical derangement. Also from 'Juju' is the hit single 'Spellbound' and 'Sin In My Heart', with Sioux strumming some of her own rudimentary guitar chords.
Another stately sounding single, 'Israel', opens the set, though The Banshees always undermined any hit machine tendencies by including a couple of lesser-known B-Sides. Completing the set are 'Switch' and the inevitable rousing finale, 'Helter Skelter', two epic pieces from the band's 1978 debut album, 'The Scream'.
Extras: Play At Home; Dear Prudence (Promo Video); Melt! (Old Grey Whistle Test)Painted Bird (Old Grey Whistle Test)
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