I am a massive aficionado of the great diva Siouxsie. We go back a long way. I first saw her supporting Johnny Thunders at Middlesbrough Town Hall and have been a fan ever since. It is a long time since I have seen the great lady live in concert so when she announced a few dates I was determined to see her again. I bought tickets to see her in Glasgow and was really looking forward to it.
Then she added a date close by at Tynemouth Priory as part of the Mouth of the Tyne Festival. So I passed on Glasgow and bought tickets for Tynemouth. I have vague memories of seeing her appear at Maxwell’s nightclub in Tynemouth around 1978 but I can’t really be sure if that really happened or if it is my mind playing tricks on me.
Tynemouth Priory is a lovely setting for seeing concerts. The backdrop on one side is the sea and on the other the ancient priory. We were situated up on a wheelchair platform with a good view of the stage. Jan and I took our place on the platform; Jan had brought along a small fold–away chair which was a good idea as there were only a few seats provided for carers and they were all taken. Siouxsie came on stage at 8:30 PM prompt as there was a 10 PM curfew, presumably to protect local residents from loud sound late at night!
She started with a surprise: “Voices (on the air)”. It is the B-side to “Hong Kong Garden”; a song that she performs very rarely. Siouxsie seemed genuinely pleased to be back in the north-east and took us right back to some of the old Banshees hits and the joyous, discordant clashing/metal sounds of the early Banshees noise. Wonderful. So next up was a personal favourite of mine “Israel”, followed by the swirling, wondrous “Arabian Knights”. It doesn’t get much better: but then it continued in a similar vein.
A few more songs in and we were treated to Siouxsie’s wonderful psychedelic treatment of “Dear Prudence” which easily matches the Beatles version. Then a mixture of Banshees material and Siouxsie solo songs which led into another favourite of mine “Cities in Dust” and soon “Christine” (the Strawberry Girl); another favourite.
Siouxsie looked resplendent dressed in a lovely blue; the screens at the side displaying black and white psychedelic images of the action on stage. She also told us how she went swimming in the sea earlier in the day. She really seemed to be enjoying herself throughout the performance and had obviously had a fun time in Tynemouth. The set closed with the jangling “Happy House” and “Into a Swan”; a quite appropriate description of the great lady herself.
Soon she was back for “Spellbound” and, in her own words “now let’s go back full circle” and “Hong Kong Garden”. The latter was a big, very welcome, unexpected surprise for me as I had read an earlier set list at a concert during which she did not perform this classic. The show finished at 10 PM; exactly on the curfew. We made our way along the meandering path through the Priory over some very bumpy cobblestones to the exit where my taxi carriage awaited me to whisk us homeward, the trills of “Hong Kong Garden” still swirling around my head.
Oh, I forgot to say I bought a lovely limited edition poster with a picture of Siouxsie and the date and location of the concert. An excellent momento of a great occasion.
Thank you Jan for taking some really good pictures to remind me of the evening.
Setlist: Voices (on the Air); Israel; Arabian Knights; Here Comes That Day; Kiss Them for Me; Dear Prudence; Face to Face; Loveless; Land’s End; Cities in Dust; But Not Them; Sin in My Heart; Christine; Happy House; Into a Swan. Encore: Spellbound; Hong Kong Garden
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