Barbican, London
Spots from Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth can’t overshadow the duo’s strange camaraderie on what could be a discordant and uncompromising last hurrah
As former Black Flag singer Henry Rollins explains in an introductory talk, Suicide gigs during the 1970s were frequently violent affairs. Martin Rev and Alan Vega’s enthusiasm for extreme electronic minimalism wasn’t appreciated by Manhattan rock audiences, who’d respond with a fusillade of bottles. Although they’d end up lacerated and bleeding, Suicide never left the stage.
Over four decades later, this refusal to compromise comes in a determination to defy their age. Vega, now 77, moves hesitantly around the Barbican with the assistance of a cane. “I can hardly walk ... it’s just like the old days,” he quips. The evening, like an early 1971 performance, is billed as a “Punk Mass” – suggesting that, with Vega’s health failing, a circle has been closed. Could this be their last hurrah?
Continue reading...by Luke Turner via Electronic music | The Guardian
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