Forty years ago, the legendary Black October tour debuted in Scotland in Edinburgh, with a gig pairing headliners The Sisters of Mercy (whose debut album First and Last and Always had been scheduled for release at this time but delayed because of health and recording issues) with fellow West Yorkshire goths Skeletal Family (touring their indie chart number one debut album Burning Oil) in a show at a venue (the Caley Palais) which is now a Wetherspoons pub.
The gig itself was moderately well-attended, with the local
student newspaper relating that “Skeletal Family struggled against a terrible
mix and the apathy of a half-filled hall…As with The Sisters, they did not seem
to have any desire to communicate with the hall at all…All that I can say is
that they were more inventive than The Sisters,” an inauspicious start to a
tour whose fame continues to resonate down the decades.
Roll on one short year and both bands had imploded, with Gary Marx forming a new band called Ghost Dance with Skellies’ vocalist Anne-Marie, and bringing with him a headful of tunes originally intended for The Sisters of Mercy’s second album (as discussed in this previous post on my other blog, which looks back at the early years of Leeds' finest). This project lasted four years but remained dormant until 2019, when Anne-Marie reformed the project (without Marx this time, but with his blessing) having spent the previous six years with a reformed Skeletal Family with fellow original members Stan Greenwood (guitar) and Roger “Trotwood” Nowell (bass). Both bands released well-received new albums in 2023, Skeletal Family’s Light From The Dark (featuring new vocalist Anneka Latta) and Ghost Dance’s The Silent Shout, and it was in support of the latter that Anne-Marie had brought her band back to the Scottish capital for a show at the famed Bannerman’s venue.
As at most gigs I review these days, support was provided by
another legendary name from the 1980’s scene who never achieved the wider fame
their music deserved, Twisted Nerve, whose attitude and performance are as
refreshing today as they were back in 1983. I recently unearthed old fanzine
interviews from that year which included the following quotes from surviving
members which could have been made much more recently. Veteran bassist Norbert:
“When we first started it was the early punk scene that influenced us but now
…we tend to get more musical…Our set doesn’t remind anyone of a certain band
because our songs are so different from one another”. This was to prove the
band’s undoing, with goths dismissing the Edinburgh quartet as chancer ex-punks, and old punks derisive of the band’s new direction, although fortunately modern audiences
are more accepting. Talismanic frontman Craig said in 1983: “We always make an effort, because you don’t
want to see [on stage] someone you’d see on the street, you expect more. If you
look really good it can make a difference, as people can relate to an image.
Even if they don’t like your music, they’ll still stand there and come in to
see you.” Younger bands sharing the bill with Twisted Nerve in the 2020’s will
note that is still very much the case, and they can learn much from the band’s infectious
joie de vivre.
On familiar home turf in a sweaty and pleasingly full Bannerman's, they are again on top form as they blitz through a familiar set, starting with Scaramouche, Strange Sensation and Medusa from different releases from their early 80’s heyday. Craig Paterson’s energy and enthusiasm and the band’s tight and powerful backing elicits a similarly positive response from the crowd, and the only real surprise is that they don’t stay for an encore after the famed countdown of obligatory set-closer 5 Minutes of Fame. As usual, the highlight of the set is a typically stunning rendition of Twisted Nervosis, the slow-burning classic from 1984’s Séance mini-album, the title track of which is also very well-received once more. Twisted Nerve are playing in Leeds on June 1st for a much-anticipated date at Carpe Noctum with support from Chaos Bleak and Black Rain, and are back in Edinburgh later that month.
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Although neither Skeletal Family nor Ghost Dance enjoyed the mainstream success of the likes of The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission or All About Eve, Anne-Marie Hurst’s powerful and pure vocal made the bands compelling live attractions, and despite the fact that she is the only surviving member of Ghost Dance in the current line-up, her stage presence and the quality of her singing make the band’s set just as enjoyable as shows I recall from the 1980’s, so you could say it’s a case of (atrocious pun ahoy!) Yesterday Again. Guitarist Tim Walker nails Gary Marx’s legendary riff for the latter song, which is typical of the slightly jangly, psychedelic, folky, melodic goth pop rock that Ghost Dance specialised in. Anne-Marie’s control and range on the anthemic choruses of crowd pleasers like River of No Return, When I Call, Last Train and A Deeper Blue ensure a rapturous reception, whilst songs from the recent album such as Jessamine, Goodbye and (an old Marx composition) A Town Called Sympathy also kept the tempo high, with new touring band members Sam Wilson on second guitar, Dave James on bass and Billy Lockwood on drums all doing sterling work on songs both new and old. As at other recent gigs, the final encore of Skeletal Family’s Promised Land sent the faithful home happy, delighted to have seen one of the foremost female performers of the original 80’s scene still at the top of her game. A consummate frontwoman, no-one in 2024 could accuse her of not engaging with her audience!
Ghost Dance play at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool in early August, and will be touring both the UK and Mexico later in the year.
