[kj] (OT) Bauhaus Reunion

[T.B.]

I saw last nights 3rd show at the Hollywood Palladium.

Completely forgot that there was a big Hollywood Christmas parade literally blocks away from the Palladium going on this night until I heard about it on the news in the afternoon. Thinking I was going to be in for a hellish drive with closed freeway off ramps, street closures, parking hassles etc, I left much earlier in the afternoon than I normally do for a show in Hollywood and surprisingly lucked out taking a few side streets between Sunset and Hollywood Blvd and was able to park right across the street from the Palladium around 6pm way before doors opened. I did hear that a lot of people had a tough time getting to the Palladium and had to park over a mile away on Santa Monica Blvd.

The opening act was some goth chick and two musicians playing Brian Eno-esque ambient stuff. Music wasn't bad and would sound ok chilling on headphones but as an opening act, they were a snoozer. There was no playlist music between acts, just a pre-recorded near-ambient looped guitar drone that went on for the approx 45 minutes between bands. By the time Bauhaus came on around 10pm, I had managed to get a pretty good spot about 20 feet back from the stage dead center. They opened with Rosegarden followed by Double Dare and the main set was pretty similar to the previous two shows played last month including Passion Of Lovers minus Kick In The Eye. The other change was the encore was re-arranged for the 3 covers first (Sister Midnight, Telegram Sam, Ziggy) played, then a second encore with 2019 live debut Third Uncle as the closer.

Bauhaus sounded pretty great although the Palladium sound itself was a bit muddy at times. I can't say the show was as magical and mind-blowing as the 1998 Palladium reunion shows, certainly not as much a choreographed stage production as that tour. Much more like the 2006 shows I saw, just the guys on stage playing the songs with a few lights and strobes that Murphy would occasionally use for visual effect. And the band seemed pretty rough and rusty in spots, often falling out of time with each other or blowing cues. My impression is that they seemed under-rehearsed.

The first half dozen songs, they pretty much plowed through like they were on the clock but after about half an hour, they seemed to loosen up a bit. But individually, they all sounded and played as impressively as ever. Murphy was really strong on the vocals most of the show considering he suffered a heart attack last Summer as well as still being a commanding frontman, engaging the audience while toning down the silly twisty-goth posing from days past. Danny Ash remains one of my favorite guitarists and still has it. David J and especially Haskins (who imo was MVP of the band) were spot-on. Most of the show up to the encore, there was very little interaction between the band members, especially between Ash and Murphy - you get the idea they keep a healthy distance from each other.

The audience wasn't the (admittedly fun) Addams Family-esque freakshow like I saw on the '98 tour or even the '05-'06 shows I saw. Pretty eclectic mix of young and old although there were some amusingly gross, morbidly obese goth chicks here and there. Everyone was pretty into the show which ended almost 11pm straight up. Murphy made a few comments during the encores that seemed to indicate they've worked out their personal issues (again) and will do more shows in 2020. I'd bet they're going The Misfits route and will do occasional one-off shows here and there going forward so as not to blow up whatever delicate band politics with long tours.

I picked up a couple shirts and on a rather dumb whim, also bought the really nice band-signed big "Bauhaus Undead" $250(!) coffee table book that Kevin Haskins put out about the band a couple years ago that I later found out originally sold for about "only" $100 unsigned (Do'h!).