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Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany
3rd November 2007
Siouxsie Sioux & Tripoli

Susan Janet Ballion is a true musical legend and one of the pioneers of the British post-punk era of the late 1970s and early 1980s. You think now “Susan who??”? Well, you surely know her under the pseudonym SIOUXSIE SIOUX, don’t you? After three decades in the music biz and helping to create a whole new genre with her former band SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, the Grande Dame of New Wave and British Goth finally released her first solo album ‘Mantaray’ and toured in selected European cities.


Tripoli

Mrs. Sioux didn’t come alone, she brought a fresh Belgian act with her called TRIPOLI, fronted by female singer Femke De Beleyr and completed by Bram Maes, Pieter Vermeiren, Ward Vermeiren, and Frederick Bogaert. http://www.tripoli.be/ / http://www.myspace.com/tripolimusic



Music
Melodic Indie Rock with clear influences from early (post-) punk acts like THE BUZZCOCKS, THE DAMNED and (just maybe!) SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, that’s TRIPOLI from Belgium. Fronted by the gorgeous and talented front girl Femke and driven by swirling guitars certain parallels to the back-catalogue of the main act of tonight can’t be denied, at least in some of the songs of TRIPOLI. But the Belgian five-piece are no copyists, they just share a particular attitude and influences and bring a fresh taste to not-so-new musical elements and add their own edge to shape what constitutes TRIPOLI’s very own sound.



Performance
I wasn’t aware that there would be a support act for the SIOUXSIE SIOX show so it was a nice surprise to have TRIPOLI opening for her, especially as their musical style seems so apt to what Mrs. Sioux did in the last three decades. One very apparent parallel between the BANSHEES and TRIPOLI is the presence of a very charismatic female singer with a punk-rock-ish attitude without being afraid of great Pop tunes and gestures; maybe a bit like two different generations of the same kind, especially as Femke De Beleyr’s voice is sometimes a little reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux’s. But the parallels are surely not intentional, the booker just proved to have the right touch for an adequate support act.



Since 2003, TRIPOLI have gained a lot of experience on stage, including some festival gigs and support slots for acts like STEREOPHONICS or HARD-FI. Technically a very respectable performance and TRIPOLI also proved that their catchy songs are just as good as on record. The eye catcher of the show is of course Femke De Beleyr, although she seemed to take not much notice of the audience. Very introverted, but still very energetic too, she got lost in the music and apparently didn’t care if there’s no one listening or an almost sold-out, medium-sized venue. The response from the crowd was polite but not overly enthusiastic, but then most people surely weren’t familiar with TRIPOLI anyway and waiting for the main act. I enjoyed TRIPOLI’s gig and hope that we will hear more from this Belgian outlet.

Setlist
01. Couldn't find
02. New rose
03. Rocky roads
04. Nieuw hond
05. Mastermind
06. Nieuw zacht
07. Bye bye
08. Some hearts

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 7.3




Siouxsie Sioux


From an alleged Sex Pistols-groupie to the Grande Dame of British Indie music - it’s been a long way for Susan Janet Ballion aka SIOUXSIE SIOUX, and quite some career. Is it ironic or just strange that her first real solo album was released exactly 31 years after her first live appearance in September 1976? Anyway, after a long and genre-defining career with SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, which yielded classics like ‘Israel’, ‘Happy House’, ‘Spellbound’ and ‘The Passenger’ (a cover version originally performed by IGGY POP) and a fistful of releases with the side-project THE CREATURES (in which she collaborated with her husband and BANSHEES-drummer Budgie), it was about time to finally realize the long-announced solo album. http://siouxsiemantaray.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/siouxsiemantaray

Music
Her divorce from Peter “Budgie” Clarke, who was also her musical partner in THE CREATURES and SIOUXSIE & THE BANHSEES, gave Susan Janet Ballion aka SIOUXSIE SIOUX the opportunity to open a completely new chapter in her career and to finally produce the long-awaited solo effort, which was named ‘Mantaray’ and released on the major label Universal. ‘Mantaray’ comprises exactly what you would expect from SIOUXSIE as well as surprises and new influences. It is a pop record but with a dark cutting edge, strong cabaret-like influences in some of the songs and drums and percussion-driven Electronics in others. SIOUXSIE’s voice and personage has more space and presence on her first solo work, as one would have expected. It is a luring and dark album, perfect for listens at night, which has the potential to please old fans and recruit new ones.



Performance
The fact that the audience had to wait for a full hour for SIOUXSIE after Tripoli’s gig implicated that one has to do with a true diva. Well, at least no-one could argue that this would contradict SIOUXSIE SIOUX’s image! ;-) The crowd became a little nervous, and roadies entering the stage pretending to re-check this or that didn’t help much, and it surely didn’t help that a roadie crossed out one or two songs on the handwritten setlists which were displayed at the musicians’ respective spots on stage. It was a Saturday night, which means a strict curfew because of the club night after the concert, so this unexplainable delay was really unfortunate.

But finally the band entered the stage to play the intro, followed by SIOUXSIE SIOUX herself. All troubles were forgotten and the audience - including many long-time fans - was mesmerized by the strong presence of this music legend. SIOUXSIE and her band performed a couple of the ‘Mantaray’ songs, which sounded impressive despite the opener (‘They follow you’) sounding a bit muddy. SIOUXSIE’s voice was in good shape, although it sounded a bit deeper and rougher as in the early days of her career. ‘Arabian Nights’ was the first BANSHEES song of the night, something many people really were hoping and waiting for, so the response was enthusiastic. Vocally ‘Arabian Nights’ wasn’t the best performance of the gig but still many people were simply happy to hear it live finally.



With ‘Nightshift’ another BANSHEES-track followed, this time a less obvious choice from the band’s back-catalogue. All who had hoped for lots of Banshees songs, like at SIOUXSIE’s solo gigs in the UK where she performed only four tracks from her solo album and a set full BANSHEES classics, might have been disappointed that another series of ‘Mantaray’ songs followed. As much as I love the old classics I have to admit that live on stage the new songs sounded more impressive and sonically fuller. Especially ‘Loveless’ and the single ‘Into a Swan’ were awe-inspiring and very dynamic. With songs like ‘If It Doesn’t Kill You’, SIOUXSIE also delivered the balladesque cabaret moments from ‘Mantaray’, in which she turned into kinda gothic version of Marlene Dietrich.



Those who waited for more BANSHEES stuff got what they wanted in the encores. ‘Israel’, a true must, opened the first encore, followed by the most energetic and punk-driven song of the night, the classic ‘Spellbound’. For many people surely the highlight of the show. The second encore was just one song, and a surprising choice. ‘Cish Cash’ is originally a collaboration of SIOUXSIE with BASEMENT JAXX in 2003, and it was nice to hear it performed by SIOUXSIE SIOUX and her live band. I would have loved to hear more songs, and I surely wouldn’t have minded if more BANSHEES classics like ‘Happy House’ or ‘Hong Kong Garden’ would have followed. But after mere 65 minutes the show was over. But better a short but throughout good to excellent show than a longer concert with fillers! Let’s hope that SIOUXSIE will return to European stages soon - maybe even on the bills of the 2008 open airs!?

Setlist
01. They follow you
02. About to happen
03. Here comes that day
04. Arabian nights
05. Nightshift
06. Drone zone
07. Loveless
08. If it doesn't kill you
09. Sea of tranquility
10. One mile below
11. Into a swan
---
12. Israel
13. Spellbound
---
14. Cish cash

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.2



All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
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