Tonight was the turn of Viv Albertine to play at Yoko Ono's Meltdown to open Siouxsie's gig. I didn't know that Viv was supporting Siouxsie when I got the tickets so it was a lovely surprise to find out that Siouxsie and Viv were playing on the same bill. As Viv said herself, whoever would have thought they'd be playing on the same stage all this time after their punk years?Viv had a four-piece band backing her and they sounded really good, helping Viv create a lovely noise on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall. All of the songs were from Viv's 'The Vermillion Border' album except 'If Love' (from her 'Flesh' EP). Well, when I say her album, I mean her double 12" vinyl LP since the set included two new songs only released on vinyl, 'Life's Too Short To Be Shy' and 'Couples Are Creepy', and both are excellent! Luckily, the vinyl LP was available to buy in the foyer so I snapped it up.
Viv had a good line in patter when talking between songs, telling us about them, what they were about and where they came from. Introducing 'In Vitro' she explained her three ages of punk theory of heroine needles to IVF needles to knitting needles. She gave us a stomping version on 'I Want More' (which she said was one of the cardinal sins of women, wanting more) with its jagged guitar and the lovely and liberating 'Confessions Of A MILF' to close the show.
Well done on a great show, Viv. Looking forward to seeing you on Monday!
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