Bauhaus, Alexandra Palace, 30th October 2021

I’m pretty far from my usual stomping ground. Coming all the way to London to catch a one off UK show from post-punk goth legends Bauhaus. It’s my first time seeing them, but I go way back with this lot. They, along with Sisters of Mercy were the pillars of my goth years in the 90s, despite both bands being past their recording years. We’re in the era of bootleg cassettes and my copy of The Skys Gone Out got hammered. It’s not unfair to say I was a little obsessed. I even made a short film called The Skys Gone Out. It did quite well at festivals, but please don’t look for it. What I’m getting to is expectations are high. Not least as I’m in a new venue too, new to me that is. Ally Pally has been here a while, but doesn’t look like it and it doesn’t sound it either! From the opening guitar shreds I’m a little taken aback. Venues this size often sound a bit muddy, but here it’s razor sharp, sounding clear and spacious. This suits Bauhaus perfectly. Their starkness is celebrated by the minimal lighting of just spots and strobes with the occasional blue or red gel as Peter Murphy prowls the stage with a cane. More for aesthetics than stability, like Alice Cooper but less theatrical (only slightly). He sounds phenomenal. This was my worry coming in. For as great as the music is, for me Bauhaus is Murphy, his vocals are everything. Take him away and you’ve still got a glorious sound, but with him you’ve got magic. His voice is still on point, haunting and evocative. This band always felt more challenging than most to me, never afraid to push against the notion of structure and god forbid what might be popular. It’s wonderful to watch a sold out 10,000 strong Alexandra Palace, brought to a tingling halt in their more reflective moments and get a bit loose as the band delve into dub and basslines to shake your mohawk too. They’ve got the lot. To be honest, as we get into the set, I could be anywhere, it’s fantastic. Although the £7 pints do remind me I’m in London. That said the bars all shut well before 22:00, I kid you not, making Alexandra Palace officially the shitest venue I’ve been to in the country! Thank fuck Bauhaus are brilliant. I could do without the Ziggy cover, I’m just not a fan of bands playing other bands songs, but they do it well and Telegram Sam of course sounds great. Perhaps to explain the early bar call, the band are done just after 22:00, which after just over an hours set, feels okay but not quite enough. That said it does get me back on the road home an hour earlier than expected. Blasting goth classics all the way back up the motorway.