WORDS & PHOTOS BY FIESTABAN PHOTOGRAPHY!
From out of the shadows of a 13-year hiatus, Bauhaus rocketed back to life at the Hollywood Palladium with two sold-out shows on 11/3 and 11/4 (with a future show added for 12/1), along with opener Automatic. This was the show that was never supposed to be, with the band’s history of interpersonal conflict and Murphy’s recent heart attack in August. Even still, all four returning original members (Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J. and Kevin Haskins) brought the house down with their unique sense of dark glam theatrics, wall-of-sound guitars and dash of dub-funk.
Opening act Automatic, a minimalist krautrock/dreampop synth band consisting of Izzy Glaudini, Lola Dompé (Kevin Haskins’ daughter) and Halle Saxon are a paradox of light and darkness. Not necessarily a breakthrough band (see Ladytron, Blonde Redhead, Le Tigre, Kraftwerk, Human League, etc), there is still a layer of lightheartedness wrapped tightly around a vibe that our robot overlords have completely taken over. Songs like “I Love You, Fine” “Signal” and “Highway” are rife with throbbing grooves and dancey hooks all delivered in ethereal deadpan. Even their decidedly slower, funkier cover of Chicks On Speed’s “Mind Your Own Business” has something sweet lurking beneath the doomy electroclash veneer.
Close to five thousand undead fans got their fill of the goth-rock pioneers Bauhaus, opening with a thrashing “Rosegarden of Funeral Sores,” right into a jaw-dropping “Double Dare” and “In The Flat Field.” Ash’s guitar work is what would happen if Bowie never came out of his Diamond Dogs period and continued writing guitar riffs like a danceable car crash on songs like “A God In An Alcove” and “The Spy In The Cab,” while David J’s Bootsy Collins-esque funk bass licks on tracks like “Kick In The Eye,” “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” and “Passion Of Lovers,” give the band its proper position in the post-punk pantheon. You would never know it, but Murphy had a stent inserted into his heart less than three months ago, yet he still commanded a huge presence and often played far to the edges of the stage, flapping his coat like a human-bat hybrid and glowering with his piercing eyes on hits like “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” “She’s In Parties,” “The Man With The X-Ray Eyes” as well as their closing covers of Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” and T. Rex’s “Telegram Sam.” The dark battalion of Hollywood’s vampiric goths and punks feasted upon their idols’ chops, having waited decades for this moment. There is no news about a further tour, so if you didn’t catch them this week, you’ll only have one more chance to do so before the bats leave the bell tower, possibly forever.
BAUHAUS
AUTOMATIC
NOVEMBER 4TH, 2019
THE HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM, HOLLYWOOD, CA
PHOTOS BY FIESTABAN PHOTOGRAPHY!
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