Here Comes a Bikini Whale

Took a couple of days off work this week to celebrate the fact that the B52s were in town. So then what did I do? Drank a stupid combination of alcohol at Trannyshack on Wednesday night and completely fucked myself up, that’s what. I am an IDIOT. So rather than spend Thursday planning an outfit I lay in bed whimpering and wishing the grim reaper would take me, then practically crawled to the gig choking on a mixture of self-loathing and self pity.

Still, I truly enjoyed the show because really, how could anyone NOT enjoy a B52s show? It’s a dazzling spectacle of colour, kitsch and camp with fabulous party tunes and some of the smartest, wittiest lyrics.

My eyes seldom strayed away from Kate Pierson who is quite possibly the coolest man, woman, animal or bird like EVER, and who didn’t stand still for a single second. The half-ton of red hair on her head GLOWED as she pumped her arms and moved from one side of the stage to the other. I simply cannot believe she is sixty years old, I haven’t had that amount of energy since I was about 10.

The set was a mixture of old and new, with the older tracks predictably getting the best responses. I loved Give Me Back My Man, Love Shack, Rock Lobster, Channel Z and most of all Strobe Light and Planet Claire. I still adore those beautiful noises Kate makes at the beginning of Planet Claire that sounds like they’re straight out of the intro for a dodgy sci-fi B movie. They make me come over all unnecessary.

The set was complemented perfectly by an amazing light show throwing kaleidoscopic shapes up at the back wall that twirled and bounced reflections across the stage, the ideal backdrop for the circus-like interior of the Roundhouse. It was an evening of near perfection.