I was never a big fan and they were always on the periphery of what I found exciting but Friday nite we made the journey to a rammed Brixton Academy to watch the wonder that is Bauhaus.
I always hated 'Goth' broadly speaking. The 'Fields of the Nephilim', 'The Mission', 'Christian Death', 'March Violets' and tens of other bands left me cold in the '80's. And they always seemed to belong to a sect that had more to do with Wayne Hussey being drunk and sluttish on James Whale and pulling birds than any sort of artistic endeavour. I also hated any sort of anti-christian posturing (unless they REALLY HAD sold their souls in which case I'd have got interested), and it all seemed a bit, well, empty really.
My biggest passions were The Cure and The Banshees, the Sex Gang Children, Getting the Fear and a little known Midlands band called Ausgang (you can get a great best-of, finally), and early Sisters (before that awful Patricia Morrison got involved with her bird's nest hair). Andrew Eldritch (quite possibly the most well educated man in music with more degrees and languages than you can shake a stick at) used to quote T.S. Eliot and have Bacon paintings on the covers of his singles. THAT grabbed me.
All of these bands referenced books and films and wrote artful lyrics. It was never about rolling round in graveyards pumped full of dry ice. Berlin-informed Glamour, vodka and tonics and 70's Bowie was the order of the day. And big hair and make-up, and why not. But they were more late-nite Soho cabaret than vampire walks in Whitby.
And so although I was never a big fan Bauhaus always caught my attention because they seemed more art-band than goth-band, and it was great to finally see them.
We were stuck at the back, having lost a pal who never emerged, but had a good enough view of pantomimic Pete Murphy who prowled the stage in evening dress. I loved the wonderful 'Hollow Hills' and disco thumping 'Kick in the Eye'. 'She's in Parties' was my favourite. 'Ziggy Stardust' and 'Telegram Sam' were great and they played 'Transmission' by Joy Division. I groaned inwardly when Pete donned a massive black cape and catsuit for 'Bela-Lugosi's Dead' (the final encore of three) but it's so playfully dark he couldn't have done anything but. None of it sounded tired or old, to me at least, and it had a strength and an energy that I rarely hear. It was a great gig and as always with these bands the crowd was an interesting mixture, ranging from the fans who've been there all the time to teenagers who've only just found out about them. I don't know if they're back for new projects or just need to pay some bills, but it must have been exhilarating to play to such a packed and enthusiastic crowd.
