Kelvingrove Bandstand Summer Nights can end now. Last night was the first of this years run of gigs in the iconic and impressive venue, but they may as well not bother with the rest of them, as the equally as iconic and impressive Siouxsie unleashed a performance that, until it actually happened, I could never have even dreamed of witnessing and will be nigh on impossible to beat no matter who follows her.
I need to try to explain just how much this gig meant to me, and I imagine from the response last night there were people in a similar position to me. There was, no doubt, many there who had witnessed Siouxsie with her Banshees live. I was one of those who had never witnessed a live show by the high priestess of punk, the glam goddess of goth, the closest I’d got before was having a ticket for the Mantaray gig in Glasgow which at the last minute I was unable to attend. After missing out on that I had resigned myself to the fact that Siouxsie was the one that got away, I had missed my one opportunity and would now never witness the mistress of the night in the live arena.
Then there were a few Siouxsie gigs was announced here and there, I could only anticipate what may happen. Then it did. Siouxsie, one of my teenage crushes, alongside Toyah Willcox and, of course Siouxsie wannabe, Clare Grogan (every Scottish teenagers crush after Gregory’s Girl surely?) was going to be playing the Kelvingrove Bandstand. The only thing between me and a Siouxsie gig was the stress of getting a ticket in the now cutthroat world on online purchasing. With my heart in my mouth I logged in on the morning of the ticket sales, fully expecting to be disappointed, and so it would initially have appeared, only I persevered, and eventually reached the holy grail, seeing the “You’re In” e-mail. It was finally going to happen, I was going to see Siouxsie.
Fast forward to the morning of the gig. A shopping trip to B&Q & purchase of last minute bits and pieces for the weans gymnastics trip beckoned. Normally the thought of shopping fills me with misery. Not so this time. I had a bounce in my step, more than that, I was genuinely excited, like a child anticipating the visit of the jolly bloke in the red suit. This time though it was the visit of the heroine in the hooded silver jumpsuit that was creating the excited air of anticipation.
There had been much talk across social media in the run up about there being no support band, and a late start from Siouxsie. Then, despite the majority of the day being dry and bright, the rain visited just in time for the gig. That’s outdoor summer gigs in Glasgow for you. Surely any gripes or grumbles that anyone had dissipated instantaneously as the band, followed by the shimmering sparkle of a be-hooded Siouxsie, took to the stage and crashed into the perfect opener for the gig, Nightshift. It was actually happening. Siouxsie was on stage, live, in front of my very eyes…
Rain, what rain? What followed in the subsequent 90 minutes was nothing short of epic, the rain mattered not a jot as we bathed in the glory of the extraordinary spectacle unfolding in front of us. This was much more than just a gig. This was the culmination of 40 odd years in the waiting, This was Siouxsie disproving the dissenters as she performed, energetic and spirited reeling out all the Siouxsie moves, and more importantly, a robust and powerful vocal performance, more than that, she, and the band, were having a blast. Siouxsie was on top form, her between song banter indicating just how much she was enjoying herself, the perfect synergy between crowd and music icon allowing each to feed off the vitality of the other.
And what an inspired setlist. A felicitous choice of songs from across the Banshees back catalogue and solo album Mantaray, crowd pleasing hits alongside devilishly rousing deep cuts. The first three tracks a case in point, the aforementioned grippingly rousing and perfect set opener Nightshift, followed up with Arabian Nights and, very fittingly, Here Comes that Day setting out the stall for what was yet to come before Kiss Them For Me had her blowing kisses to one and all as she let out yelps and samba trills, clearly having a ball.
What followed was more of the same, crowd pleasers in the form of Dear Prudence, before she, and her remarkable band, laying waste to Glasgow with a muscular bulldozing version of Cities in Dust, later in the set showcasing Christine and Happy House alongside, what probably for me revealed the highlights of the evening, the Mantaray tracks and deep cuts from across the Banshees back catalogue. Interestingly, there was a mass exodus for the bar when she kicked into her “Cats and Bats” song from Batman, Face to Face, probably an indication of the make up of the crowd looking for the older version of Siouxsie, but it was their loss as they missed a superb performance. A trio of the bombastic Cities in Dust, followed by, “a song with no strings”, the superb tribal drumming of The Creatures, But Not Them, completed by a mind-blowing Sin in the Heart augmented with Siouxsie on a Vox Teardrop, was undeniably a highlight, but for me the set closer, the heavy industrial electronica of Into a Swan won the night for me, stunningly good.
The night wasn’t quite over as a seemingly overwhelmed Siouxsie returned for a double whammy of About to Happen thanking the crowd for sticking around in the rain before her final encore, keeping us all Spellbound to the very end. The rain was off, who knows it may have gone off earlier, I don’t know, all I do know is, as I walked back to the car in a bit of a daze, a lifelong dream had finally come to fruition. Nearly 24 hours later, I’m still buzzing right now. 25th July 2023, Glasgow, Kelvingrove Bandstand is a night that will live long in the memory.
