Soon after Peter Murphy had a severe heart attack and surgery requiring 2 stents put in, Bauhaus shocked the music world with news of a reunion show on November 3rd – which immediately sold out. They added a 2nd show on November 4th several hours later. I was out running errands when that show was announced and put on sale and shocked at how quickly prices rose for it. After that show sold out, they announced a 3rd show on December 1st – which I was finally able to get a ticket for!
A couple years ago, I decided to fully explore Bauhaus’s music and was surprised to see they had a much wider range than the dark goth sound that they’re known for. David J’s book was a fast and interesting read, but I almost felt his stories of Peter Murphy were too ridiculous to believe! Though most people’s accounts of Peter don’t seem to disagree, he seems very affable and encouraging in interviews. Public and private personas aside, it was about time that I finally see the Gothfather in action.
As a “younger” Love & Rockets fan, I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing them live twice. (Yet for some reason, named my Xanga and Tumblr after their songs!) I’ve seen them all playing with other bands on several occasions, more recently Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins playing a retrospective of their bands together as Poptone. Several months ago, I had David J sign my first printing of his book at a DJ night for a friend’s birthday gift. She had told me that she had seen Bauhaus 30 times following them on tour as we did with BRMC.
I ended up as a last minute replacement for another mutual friend, who was flying in just for the shows. It was an unfortunate twist of fate for the friend who managed to get tickets for the first night, but had to work and a magical stroke of luck for me! Not trying to be too greedy, I mentioned that we should offer a ticket to our friend who I’ve known as a Bauhaus follower. Unfortunately, she was unable to make either of them. Again, lucky me!
We got in line around noon and were 5th and 6th. However, there were many fans who paid a lot for VIP in addition to Palladium VIPs. We still got a pretty good spot in the 2nd row slightly off center, though my view was slightly blocked as the above photo shows. Anyhow, my first Bauhaus concert did not disappoint. Peter Murphy didn’t show any signs of slowing down and still has the powerfully deep voice and dramatic flair that sets him apart from most frontmen. Unfortunately, there were some sound issues which he seemed frustrated by, though it never hindered his performance.
Though it has been 13 years since all four band members shared the stage together, they sounded as good if not better than ever. (Though I’m only guessing based on recordings and the Gotham DVD, which is also pretty great.) Individually, they’ve had extremely impressive and distinguished musical careers and influenced many other great artists. I can see why they continue to have a large fanbase of devoted followers despite not having played together for so long.
On the 2nd night, we decided to not try to compete with the VIPs and still managed to get on the rail to the far right! It proved to be an excellent spot despite Daniel’s monitor blocking Kevin (not unlike where I stood at the first Poptone show!) My friend even managed to get a setlist that night, which was identical to the first night except for “Passion of Lovers” – which was skipped possibly due to sound issues. Though they also did a dub version of “She’s in Parties” on the 2nd night, which followed “Swing the Heartache.”
We were both a little sad to see that there was a possible 2nd encore that would have included “King Volcano” and “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything”, a song that has brought tears to my eyes just in recordings. Perhaps, it was for the best, the last thing anyone needs at the end of a show is running mascara and eyeliner…
My photos from the 2nd night are much better due to the unobstructed view and I got a lot of great iPhone videos in addition to photos, but they’re also live photos – which really makes me want to make a bunch of 3 second videos!
