Siouxsie & the Banshees - Seven Year Itch [DVD]

The DVD version of this concert is far superior to the CD. The sound quality is better and it's still fascinating to watch Siouxsie perform. The concert is shot in beautiful color and it's pace becomes almost hyper sometimes because of the multiple camera angles. The band appear after a 7 year hiatus from their break up in 1995. This time around the Banshees get back to being a four piece. Gone are all of the keyboards, cellos and accordians of previous tours. The band shys away from playing a greatest hits show. They stick to mostly early songs, the ones that made them famous in the first place. B-sides like "Lullaby" and "I could be again" and album tracks like the brilliant "Land's End" and "Nightshift" are represented. Just for good measure they throw in crowd pleasers like "Happy House", "Christine" and "Cities in Dust".Siouxsie's hair is a spiky verson of Janets from "Three's Company". She's still the coolest looking woman around and seems to be thrilled to be back on stage. She periodically jokes with the audience and band members. She does start the show off a little stiff and slowly loosens up as time goes by. By the time "Voodoo Dolly" ends Siouxsie has removed her top to reveal a black glittery bra and rolls around the stage like a madwoman. By the end of "Monitor" she's crawling off the stage in sweat soaked exhaustion. Yes, her voice is very hoarse but her cheering fans don't seem to notice or care.Drummer Budgie nearly steals the spotlight from Sioux on several occasions. His drumming is so intricate and he wears gloves since he hits so hard.Althought some of these songs are nearly 25 years old they still hold up and sound refreshing to hear again. This is a must see for anybody interested in a trip down memory lane or someone just discovering the band.

Overall, I was estatic when I heard about a DVD being released for a live version of the 'Seven Year Itch," so naturally I purchased it and then waited impatiently for it's arrival. I was extremely pleased with the inner workings of this DVD, even if I have never seen them live. I feel awful for saying this, but the "voice" thing really made me feel sad. I love all the songs that were offered, but i felt that it didn't get a kick start until it reached the song, "VooDoo Dolly." Only then did I start to feel the chills that were meant to be there from the start. I do admit to not blinking throughout the songs, "Metal Postcard" and "Redlight." The camera work is amazing and it adds a lot of umph to the songs. Siouxsie is great, from her ad lib conversations with the audience, to her usual provocative dance moves, and stage persona. This is why I love them so much. I recommend this DVD, and I think that the fans shouldn't be so shallow and just sit back and enjoy it, sour notes or not!!!

I've been a fan since Hong Kong Garden and I have to say the band does sound great on this dvd,but too many late nights and cigarettes have pretty much killed the vocal range of Siouxsie Sioux unfortunately.She just can't hit the high notes she once could. But it was great to hear the opening of the Scream LP (cd) once more as the opening of the show. I think this is worth buying just to see them in a recent light. I'd buy a new CD if they're gonna put new stuff out doing songs in a lower vocal range for S.S.,she can still pull it off with her voice as it is.It's just rough to do what she did 20 - 25 yrs ago now.

The Goth Queen being regal, haunting you with her distinctive voice 📴 a dark, mysterious Siren, drowning you in her spell.

Who doesn't love Siouxsie

GREAT!!!!

yup, she drops it all an octave and throws in some scratchin'.gotta love it.

After watching the Nocturne concert, this one is just painful. The Banshees will always be my favorite band but this release never should have happened. Siouxsie's voice has changed considerably over the years (what is a vocalist doing being a smoker!!), and she's lost her entire upper register. One of the biggest mistakes here was including so much material from the band's first few albums, back when Siouxsie had a considerably higher pitch. She struggles to hit notes that are now well out of her reach, and it sounds like someone gasping for air. A little care should have been taken to select songs to suit Siouxsie's more modern voice because hearing the amazing `Lullaby' struggled through in such a way is tragic. There are also some lyrical mistakes in `Monitor' and `I Could Be Again', so these songs should not have been included. The only real highpoint for me is `Icon'. Though the singing is still struggled and painful, the drumming and overall music is just so amazing. I've kept the DVD over the years only for this. I'm sorry but I cannot be one of those all-worshipping Siouxsie fans (of which there are entirely too many) that heap loads of praise on any release with the Sioux name, despite the flaws.As much as it would be a dream come true to have Siouxsie and the Banshees get their act together and start making music again (I mean, what else have they been doing aside from occasional bit parts, if even that), they would need to restructure a lot of their older material to suit Siouxsie's more... mature voice. Hearing Siouxsie perform at the Meltdown gig in 2013 reiterates that the older material is no longer within her reach as it was. If they wrote new music taking into account the current vocal range, I have no doubt it would be as amazing as anything the band had released previously.

スーツにネクタイで出てきたスージーを見て「おぉぉぉぉ～！！」って思ったけど、唄い始めたらこけた。声が全く出てない。バックの演奏と終始ちぐはぐしててかなり耳が痛かった・・・・・ってか、淋しかった。２０年前の来日公演を全て観てる自分にとって今を期待するのは確かに間違ってるかも知れない。本当に悲しかった。見方を変え、２０年経ってもこれだけやってるんだ！って開き直って観るのが精一杯。。。厳しいけど「疲れたおばさんの音痴なＬＩＶＥ」にしか感じられなかった・・・・・・

If, like me, you've been fan of the Banshees since the early days, you'll appreciate their decision to return to the voice/guitar/bass/drums format for this tour. Sadly, Siouxsie's vocal chords are not in good shape, but the scything guitar and thunderous percussion evoke memories of the classic line up that produced such wonderful albums as THE SCREAM and JOIN HANDS. Pleasingly, they virtually ignore their post-1987 output, but ruin everything at the end by encoring with the awful "Peek-A-Boo". This seems like an excuse to get X Girl, the irritating support band, back onstage in stupid frog costumes. Steven Severin is guilty of some VERY EMBARRASSING hand jiving on this one too. That said, it's wonderful to hear the Banshees charge through fantastic early songs like "Pure", "Jigsaw Feeling", "Metal Postcard" and "Icon". It's a shame they saw fit to give the dreary "Voodoo Dolly" another airing, but "Red Light" and "Cities in Dust" sound great in savage, stripped down-form. The camera work and editing is suitably frenetic, combining effectively with the tastefully designed light show to sometimes dizzying effect.EXTRAS: It's a pleasure to seen the JOIN HANDS soldiers on the menu, but I - like many others - have still not managed to access the audience vox pops. Maybe they'll be easier to find on the re-released version. "Getting Ready to Scratch" is interesting but too short and scrappy, while the less said about Budgie's backstage tour the better.Still, Siouxsie looks fabulous - a welcome return to her androgynous, glam hangover style of 78/79 - and the band attack their back catalogue with an energy that makes their contempories and many younger bands look positively mediocre...

I bought this video after reading the authorised biography on Siouxsie and the Banshees by Mark Paytress so it was great to see the band come to life. The four of them (Steven, Siouxsie, Knox Chandler and Budgie) have such energy on stage and the noise they create is thrilling. Budgie banging away on the drums really holds it together. Wow! This is no big budget do with expensive set designs and numerous costume changes. For those of you who are interested in Ms Sioux's costumes. There aren't many, if any, but Siouxie does strip down (well, her top half anyway) to a glittering bra and she looks great.

I waited with keen anticipation for it to arrive and I was not dissapointed on watching it!It felt like the band were giving you a very personal account of this live gig, The only thing that would have superceeded it would have been to have actually been there. For the unlucky ones who were not honoured enough, this makes a satisfying second best. A bit sad for loyal Banshee fans probably being their last ever performance. Siouxsie looking quite happy to perform for the camera (for a change), this is probably the friendliest I've ever seen her in 25 years!With three bonus songs more than the CD,for any fan, this DVD is an absolute must.Johanna Cladingboel

Incre!