This year punk turned 30 years old. Also this year the punk matriarch Siouxsie Sioux turned 50 and released her first solo album in her 30 year career. To showcase the new album, Mantaray, to adoring fans (some who had entered competitions over 10 times to get in with a chance) and press, she took us half way up the Eiffel Tower. And why not? A fucking spanking view and a fucking spanking show.
She minced onto the stage in full make up and bizarre leather harlequin costume, which belied nothing about her age. In fact, judging from her high kick shenanigans raucous rock stances her age hasn’t effected her at all. In 5 inch heels and on a tiny stage not a totter or a falter from Siouxsie.
She started us off with the single from Mantary, Into A Swan, with trade mark stalking of the stage and elegant punk stand off with the crowd and proceeded to play every song off Mantaray (except Drone Zone and Heaven And Alchemy). The new material has a more cabaret and circus-like feel to it but there’s still the voodoo booming of her former incarnations, the only difference now is that the songs sound a bit more tempered and controlled. She’s more like PJ Harvey than Can.
The rather odd choice but perfectly rendered cover of The Doors Hello I Love You lead us out and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
“Hello, Goodbye, Merci” and she was gone.
