September 2018-December 2018: A new season of gigs Part 2
2018 has been (and still is) a very generous year on what concerns the gigs that have been organised in London and it seems that next year will be similar, but we will talk about this in a few weeks’ time. For the moment let’s go through the reasons that will make us enjoy the end of this year and of another season.
Upcoming GIGS
The Dresden Dolls live at The Troxy on 30,31 October 2018: The Dresden Dolls made a huge impact on the audience (small at first, huge in the years that followed) when they released their 4 studio albums from 2003-2008. It was the sheer energy of Amanda and Brian on and off stage, the cabaret aesthetics, the ‘in-your-face’ attitude, the dare of the lyrics, the amazing lyricism on the piano and the voice, that captured our hearts from the very beginning.The band hosted design competitions for the artwork of their albums in which many fans participated without a second thought, the dedication of the fans that increased exponentially after each release was unprecedented. In other words, this was a uniquely different, beautiful underground band with a punk attitude and unparalleled musical magnetism. For some of us, The Dresden Dolls was one of the best bands that has ever existed. Many of us had not had the chance to see this band perform before they stopped collaborating for a while and before they stopped releasing new albums. Three years ago, on Record Store Day, a one-off show of The Dresden Dolls at Rough Trade in Brooklyn was announced and it made our hearts beat faster, as some of us considered travelling there to attend this performance. The band was kind and graceful enough to live stream the entire gig which we then reviewed.
Fast forward to 2018 and it would not be too much to say that the announcement of this year’s gigs at TROXY is a dream coming true for many fans of The Dresden Dolls. We will start counting the days to the end of October when we will be finally honoured to have been given the unique chance to sing along the lyrics to ‘Coin Operated Boy‘.
The Damned live at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, November 23rd 2018: We admit that we are a tiny bit biased when it comes to speaking about The Damned, as they are, after all, one of our favourite bands. We had the chance to see them perform live at Roundhouse a
few years ago, offering a powerful performance, visiting new and old favourite songs as if no time has passed since the 1980s. Following the release of their latest album entitled ‘Evil Spirits‘ in April this year (https://blaue-rosen.com/monthly-playlists-april-2018/), the band has already performed around the UK and will give us the opportunity to approach the end of the year, with a gothic rock, punk rock, rhythmically psychedelic and restless performance. We can never get enough of The Damned so we will be there and so shall you, whether to dance to ’13th floor Vendetta’ or shout out the lyrics of ‘Standing at the Edge of Tomorrow’. Grab your tickets from here.
Human League and Midge Ure’s Electronica live at Eventim Apollo,8 December 2018: There is one thing that distinguished and still does, the synthpop songs of The 
Human League from other groups both in the late 70s and now.It is the minimalism of their rhythms that have always made this band weave their own sonic fabric made up of minimal synth melodies and pop catchiness. Whereas at the beginning, there was a melancholy both in the lyrics and the synth melodies, in the more recent release of the band there is a preference for melodies of a lighter mood and lyrics, EBM/industrial synth melodies and more samples. The band has performed sold out shows in 2016 and is carrying on this ‘tradition’ also this year. We will not miss the opportunity to see them create a unique atmosphere on stage and neither should you. Grab your tickets from here.
BAUHAUS-40th anniversary show, O2 Academy Brixton, 9 December 2018…or else the most remarkable show of the year! I still remember booking my tickets to travel to London for the ‘Near The Atmosphere’ tour of BAUHAUS in 2006.I also remember the atmosphere outside of the O2 at Brixton, the mood, the people. It was one of these gigs that work like a magnet, bringing all these people together, those who were, still are and will 
always be part of a dark alternative music scene. The gig itself was mesmerizing in every sense, a ‘best-of’ setlist as you can imagine, Peter Murphy (as always) unveiling all his theatricality and performative strength bringing to life all the obscure/gothic characters that animate the lyrics of Bauhaus. But let’s stop talking about that gig because this gig will be a celebration of the band’s 40 years, and David J the original bassist of Bauhaus will also be on stage.David J who has released a beautiful album earlier in October with Duende (also features in our monthly playlist here: https://blaue-rosen.com/monthly-playlist-october-2018/), will make a pause from his solo work and will celebrate with Peter Murphy their reconciliation (as he has described this in a recent interview) and the fact that they both addressed ‘the elephant in the room’ regarding the band’s split.
During this gig , ‘In The Flat Field‘ the debut album of the band will be performed at its entirety alongside many of our all-time favourite songs of Bauhaus. Surely you already have in your hands the limited reissued versions of this album and ‘Mask‘, both of which were released to mark the 40th anniversary of the band, right?If not here is a link for you 🙂
The tour has already brought Bauhaus to New Zealand, Australia and South America and following the UK/EU tour, it will end in North America. We cannot wait enough for BAUHAUS to come to London again, their songs will definitely guide us towards the end of the year in a very special way!Grab your tickets from here.
Blaue Rosen 