BAUHAUS + HOPE – ALEXANDRA PALACE, LONDON 30.10.21
Bauhaus arrived in London a day early for Halloween, having played a couple of gigs in Mexico the week before. This concert was originally scheduled for the 8th April 2020 and thankfully it finally went ahead this evening.
Tonight’s support act is called Hope, and they hail from Berlin. Hope are purveyors of glacial art rock with overtones of electronica. Their punchier songs are somewhat more effective however. This is borne out by the cataclysmic ending of their last song which may or may not have been called ‘Don’t Touch Me’.
Find out more about Hope by visiting their ‘linktree’ HERE.
Bauhaus take the stage looking fit, lean and purposeful. Indeed, they barely seem to have aged since I last saw them twenty-three years ago. I almost wonder whether there is some kind of Satanic pact at work here. Daniel Ash is in full guitar hero mode, whilst Peter Murphy sports a black fedora for the first few songs.
For those who require some deep cuts to be played, they can’t ask for more than opening song ‘Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores’ – a John Cale song that Bauhaus covered as the b-side of their 1980 single ‘Telegram Sam’, which itself was a cover of the great Marc Bolan song of course.
The covers stop for a while as Bauhaus take us on a tour of their back catalogue recorded during the years 1980 to 1983. There is nothing from their 2008 album ‘Go Away White’ however. It’s striking how many great Bauhaus singles were stand-alone, and not included on albums: ‘Terror Couple Kill Colonel’, ‘Kick In The Eye’, ‘Dark Entries’, not forgetting of course their utterly classic debut, ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’. All were played tonight. None were included on the band’s studio albums.
Bauhaus make a spectacularly busy noise for four people. Much of this is down to the virtuosic playing of bassist David J, guitarist Daniel Ash and drummer Kevin Haskins. However, in addition to this, Daniel Ash puts down his guitar and plays saxophone on a couple of songs, whilst Peter Murphy entertains us with percussion, an ancient looking hand-held synthesiser, and on a couple of occasions a melodica.
The main set leans heavily towards the early part of the band’s career, with only one song each from ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ (1982) and ‘Burning From The Inside’ (1983). After the 1980 single ‘Dark Entries’, the band leave the stage for five minutes or so. Well, they are getting on a bit…. When they return Peter Murphy is wearing a splendidly glittery black jacket. Let it not be said that Bauhaus have no sense of showbiz!!!
At this point the covers re-commence, with a version of Iggy Pop’s ‘Sister Midnight’, which to the best of my knowledge Bauhaus have never recorded, although I could of course be wrong. This is followed by the aforementioned ‘Telegram Sam’, and David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’, which was a single for Bauhaus in 1982. The band briefly leave the stage and return for ‘All We Ever Wanted Was Everything’ from ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’.
At the end of ‘Ziggy Stardust’ Peter Murphy deliberately misquotes David Bowie at the Spiders From Mars’ last show at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973 by saying: “this is NOT the last show that we’ll ever play”. Well, that’s incredibly good news as Bauhaus were on blinding form tonight, and rocked like a band half their age. I look forward to seeing them again – don’t be strangers guys!
Bauhaus setlist:
‘Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores’ (John Cale cover) (from 1980 ‘Telegram Sam’ single)
‘Double Dare’ (from 1980 ‘In The Flat Field’ album)
‘In The Flat Field’ (from 1980 ‘In The Flat Field’ album)
‘A God In An Alcove’ (from 1980 ‘In The Flat Field’ album)
‘In Fear Of Fear’ (from 1981 ‘Mask’ album)
‘Spy In The Cab’ (from 1980 ‘In The Flat Field’ album)
‘Terror Couple Kill Colonel’ (from 1980 ‘Terror Couple Kill Colonel’ single)
‘She’s In Parties’ (from 1983 ‘Burning From The Inside’ album)
‘Kick In The Eye’ (from 1981 ‘Kick In The Eye’ single)
‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ (from 1979 ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ single)
‘The Man With The X-Ray Eyes’ (from 1981 ‘Mask’ album)
‘Silent Hedges’ (from 1982 ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ album)
‘The Passion Of Lovers’ (from 1981 ‘Mask’ album)
‘Stigmata Martyr’ (from 1980 ‘In The Flat Field’ album)
‘Dark Entries’ (from 1980 ‘Dark Entries’ single)
(encore 1)
‘Sister Midnight’ (Iggy Pop cover) (unreleased by Bauhaus)
‘Telegram Sam’ (T. Rex cover) (from 1980 ‘Telegram Sam’ single)
‘Ziggy Stardust’ (David Bowie cover) (from 1982 ‘Ziggy Stardust’ single)
(encore 2)
‘All We Ever Wanted Was Everything’ (from 1982 ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ album)
