Sorry, my brain is having a hard time assimilating back to normal time/space, so I totally forgot to tell y'all that I saw Bauhaus this past Sunday at the Roseland. I was a bit worried on what the crowd would be like-- would it be all middle-aged hipsters? Goth teenagers? Vampires and ghouls? It actually turned out to be a good mixture of everyone, so I think everyone felt in place. Because my husband and I had just returned from Maui (literally... we had arrived back home at 12:30 pm, and the show was at 9 pm), I wasn't sure I'd be up for the floor, so we originally planned to sit upstairs with all the other old fogies. Once we got there though, there was a huge line to get in, and there were no places for us upstairs. So we stayed downstairs. I told myself I wasn't going to push too hard to get closer up front, but with the way crowds are and my fixation on that beautiful, sexy Peter Murphy, it didn't quite work out that way.

There was no opening act, and they came on stage around 9:20. Daniel Ash came out first, and he was looking all sinister... black leather pants, black top, black sunglasses, and a long black coat. The only unfortunate thing I noticed was that he has a bit of a "rocker" comb-over going on. His hair was still chin length or so, but it looked like he had combed over his male-patterned baldness and cemented it with heavy use of Aqua Net. Later in the show, his face looked a little weird-- not like he's ever been normal-looking. It almost looked like he'd had plastic surgery done, but maybe he just looks different now that he's older. Next Kevin Haskins came out, and I swear that guy hasn't aged in 20 years. He still looks young. Then of course Peter and David J. Peter currently has blonde hair with a slim soul patch and mustache. He did a better job at masking his hair loss, ha ha. David J. still has the smallest mouth ever known to man, and while he was dressed coolly in his black turtleneck and black pants, I saw a little bit of a paunch. What are you gonna do? They're all approaching 50, right? (or are they older than that now?)

As rparis and I have said this in the past, typical non-responsive Portland crowd-- what is WRONG with these people? The only time people got really animated was during Ziggy Stardust, Kick in the Eye, She's in Parties and of course Bela Lugosi's Dead. They played a TON of recognizable songs (at least recognizable to Bauhaus fans), and most people just stood there, expressionless. I mean, I heard the opening bassline of Stigmata Martyr, and I started jumping up and down, and everyone was looking at me like I was crazy or something. "Uh, pardon me, but aren't YOU the one who's trying to pass off in your goth garb from the mid-80s, Mr. Investment Banker? Lemme guess, you used to have hair like Robert Smith's too?" As everyone has experienced in their lifetime, Portland's tallest man pushed his way in front of me and stood there. He was probably 6' or so (same as my husband, but my husband stood behind me because he can see over my shorty self). I asked him if he could make some room for me because he was blocking my view. And his response was, "Hey, I can't help it if I'm tall." And I said, "Well, I can't help it if I'm short, but you CAN help from standing in front of me." He relented. He and his buddy talked through the entire show, and the girl next to me had to shush them during "Hollow Hills."

So I don't remember the order of all the songs, but here's what I do remember they did:

God in an Alcove
In the Flat Field
Terror Couple Kill Colonel
Hair of the Dog
The Passion of Lovers
Dark Entries
Kick in the Eye
Stigmata Martyr (my personal fave)
Telegram Sam
Ziggy Stardust
In Fear of Fear
Slice of Life
Hollow Hills
Swing the Heartache
She's in Parties
and of course, Bela Lugosi's Dead, which they did as their third encore

Overall, an excellent show, and I was glad to have seen them. I can't boast seeing them perform in days of yore, so just being able to see these guys all together, on one stage, made me a very happy girl.

I hate people like that. I had one guy move in front of me and then stop. I actually said, "don't stop in front of me" while pushing past him.

Dana,
As a guy who stands aprox 6'5" who tries to be aware of those around him I can tell you that going to shows can be a little stressful at times.....just because we are blessed with height doesnt' mean that we want to stand in back, plus for some reason it seems that people tend to use tall people in crowds as a marker for where they should create a path through - for some reason I'm always having to move around to let people through.

Having said this, I do try to stoop down as much as I can at shows so that I can still see and so that the people behind me can see, and I don't tend to try to push myself to the front if I get there later - If I get to a show early I want to stand in a good place regardless of the people around me who come in later(this was obviously not the case with you)...

Sorry if this guy didn't pay you the same courtesy that I would have.

If standing directly behind ladies in crowded rooms is the mark of a manners, then I, dear sirs, am quite a distinguished gentleman.

I usually ask the people behind me if they can see if they are subhumanoids.

Unless, of course, I am with the Sen.; then its out of my hands.

Saw them in Atlanta when I was in High School. I went with a bunch of older friends who were really big fans, before the show, I had only heard the first "hits" collection.

afterwards I snatched up everything I could find by them, they were INCREDIBLE.

I'd love to see them again.

Closest I got was seeing Love & Rockets.

I'd love to head to Chicago to catch this tour as that's as close as they're coming to me, but I don't see my broke ass making the trip. Hell, they may have already been there as I knew I wasn't gonna be able to get there anyway and lost track of the dates.

Sounds like it was a great show.

I'm thinking I should've bought a ticket to one of this weekend's shows.

At US$50/ticket, I think I'm going to skip this tour -- I saw them 2ce on the reunion (DC and NYC), and that's just going to have to be good enough for me.

(Yes, that means I might just be on the Gotham video somewhere. I have it on laserdisc or DVD or something, and I still haven't checked.)

Laserdisc? They still make those?

Not sure if they were still making them back then, but I think they were...