Siousxise And The Banshees
Orpheum Theater Minneapolis
May 25 1986
Here's how I remember it:
My then-girlfriend, Ms. Emma Rotgut, and I were stoked when we heard the news that one of the original punk bands was going to grace our fair burg with their presence. Siouxsie and the Banshees, the band that got together for the sole purpose of disbanding after a single show in 1976, were still kicking eight years later and we were going to see them. They were to play at the Orpheum Theater, so we had to actually purchase tickets, unlike the scads of free comps. First Ave. was known for handing out like cups of water at an all-ages show. I have no recollection of getting the tickets. I don't think either one of us skipped school to buy them. Maybe Ma Rotgut, who worked in the same building as the ticket seller got them for us... I really can't recall at all.
I really can't remember much of the lead-up to the show, except being an exited 18 year old.
I remember The March Violets were set to open (I had heard of them, never heard them at that point, but in the ensuing decades have become a MAJOR SUPERFAN of the band, and an even bigger fan of Simon D's post-Violets band The Batfish Boys) but apparently had broken up by the time the tour rolled into town, so a band called Mechanical Preacher opened up. Mechanical Preacher included some former member of Gang Of Four, but I was never really a fan and don't remember a single thing about their performance.
One very memorable thing was Ms. Rotgut and I making fun of the young woman and her dad in the seats either next to us or in front of us. Ms. Rotgut and I, in all our holier-than-everyone else attitudes were chortling to each other about how this girl had to bring her dad with her to the show, and how she must just be a weekend poseur in a grey flight suit. Ah, the fallacy of youth and what one does to make one feel better about one's self, even if at the expense of total strangers*.
Mechanical Preacher finish their set and after what seemed forever the lights dimmed, intro music started resounding from the speakers, and the crowd started going crazy. As usual with most concerts I really enjoy, I get lost in the moment and have a very difficult time recalling exact details. I just remember it being a great show, and especially the song Monitor.
Sadly Ms. Rotgut and I didn't last as a couple much more after that show, she moving on to greener pastures. I bummed around for a few years working whatever crap job would let me work with my hair all spiked up, and trying desperately to continue The Ed Gein Fan Club or start something completely new. Summer of '88 I was roped into singing for Iron Fist and got a job at a local health food store working at the frozen yogurt counter. There was another employee of the store who caught my eye, and eventually I screwed up the courage to talk to her. Having just joined my favorite band (Iron Fist) I was pretty cocky and told this young lady she should come to our show that Saturday. She did, sparks flew, and we were together for almost 6 years. Polly Purebread and I moved in together shortly after meeting and while we were unpacking our individual stuff I found my ticket stub from the Banshees show. I showed it Polly and told her it was a really great show. She looked at my ticket stub quizzically for a second and agreed that it was a great show. I was surprised she had been there.
*I told her about the young lady who had to go to the concert with her father and how Ms. Rotgut and I were making fun of her behind her back. Polly smiled, and dug out her own ticket stub from the concert, and EMPHATICALLY said that it was her STEP-dad, and that he was actually a big fan of the band as well as she, and he wasn't there solely to chaperone.
Yeah, Polly Purebread just HAPPENED to be the person Emma and I were ripping to pieces under our breath.
A little while after Polly Purebread dumped me I was trading tapes with J. Free, who just happened to have taped that Siouxsie show.
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