Shakespears Sister at O2 Liverpool – by David Holden and Craig Hogan.
The much anticipated return to live touring by Shakespears Sister kicked off in Liverpool last nite at the O2. First up was support act Nadine Shah who performed a solo set seated at a keyboard which relied totally on her powerful vocal performance and haunting lyrics. After an approximately 30 minute set the crowd was primed for the arrival of Siobhan and band and at 9.15 the lights went down and suddenly the voice of Bette Davies speaking dialogue from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane filled the venue as the band took to the stage.
The introduction to Heroine started and the crowd went wild as the band launched into this fan favourite. Suddenly Siobhan appeared at the back of the stage and slowly moved her way forward. Looking fantastic in a new silver catsuit and the silver headdress she wore at the Underbelly gig she took to the mic with confidence and launched into a blistering vocal performance of Heroine. This was followed by the classic Goodbye Cruel World which really got the fans moving and singing along. The band then moved into newer territory with tracks from the new album Songs from the Red Room which worked well alongside the older material performed last night.
After delivering 12 songs taken from across the 4 Shakespears Sister albums the band finished on I Don’t Care and left the stage only to be brought back by the shouting and clapping of the fans to deliver an encore of Your History and Hello (Turn Your Radio On). These two fan favourites worked really well and the band and Siobhan gave a fantastic performance.
After leaving the stage once more the band returned for one last song which Siobhan explained was under rehearsed and they hadn’t really planned on doing but would have a go at and launched into an updated version of the Bananarama andFun Boy Three classic Really Saying Something. This proved to be a real winner with the audience and set the seal on a great night’s entertainment.
Setlist
- Heroine
- Pulsatron
- Bad Blood
- Trip
- Hot Room
- Man in Uniform
- Opportunity Knockers
- My 16th Apology
- Someone Elses Girl
- Bitter Pill
- I Don’t Care
- Your History
- Hello (Turn Your Radio On)
- Really Saying Something
There’s a great selection of merchandise available to buy as well, the black t shirt below , the white one from the Underbelly concert, a new lithograph and the one from The Underbelly, and the Its A Trip cd single and the album Songs From The Red Room.
There’s some great photo’s from Liverpool already on the official Shakespears Sister website. Don’t forget you can buy the album here, and the new EP here.
