What: Skunk Anansie
Where: Bristol Academy
When: 22nd November 2010

As you know I go to many gigs and often get photo passes giving me access to the pit in front of the stage. Tonight was the first night I’ve ever been offered ear plugs by every bouncer as I passed each of them! I know how important protecting your hearing is when you love music like I do, so I own my own set of musicsafe pros. I’ve also seen Skunk Anansie before when ceiling tiles were falling down when they played, so I was pre-warned!

Skunk Anansie play with such energy and drive that it lifts up the crowd and bowls them along. The lead singer Skin moves about like a coyote on speed. Her voice though never falters from deep lows to emotional heart felt highs. The amount of energy Skin has would make me think she was in her 20s not, as she is, in her 40s.

Skin has built up a reputation for her wild outfits that she starts her set wearing. Tonight was no exception. On the top of her black pvc catsuit, Skin started out wearing an outfit that made me think of Icarus combined with a modern batman. It had feathers from the shoulders all the way down the arms. This was combined with long leather straps hanging under her wing span… I mean arms, as well as around her neck and hanging down her torso. You’d have thought the weight of this outfit would make her less mobile but she
would have nothing of it.

The last time I saw them they had just started out on a new tour having recently re-formed. This time they were near the end of their tour and promoting a new album called Wonderlustre. I mentioned in my previous review that it was good to see them talking about new material. I can now tell you that it’s also good to hear it too. There was a good mix of old and new with classic tracks such as “100 ways” and “Hedonism” as well as modern favs such as “because of you” and “Tear the place up”.

Many bands reforming after a hiatus do it for the money. I don’t think that applies to Skunk Ananasie. They seem to have the sort of energy associated with bands just starting out yet combined with the musical experience and ability to manage the crowd of veterans.

Skin is a charismatic singer but to concentrate on her would be to do a disservice to the rest of the band. Three musicians on drums, bass and guitar as tight as I’ve ever seen and who fill the venue with sound. They are a perfect compliment to Skin’s vocal and delivery and are very capable of knocking you off your feet with a wall of sound or leaving you breathless with subtle touch and feel.

Skin however is who leads this band and her presence is unmistakable. It’s also such a contradiction. During a song you can feel intimidated by her aggression and delivery however hearing her between songs she comes across as such a likable sweet person who is as vulnerable as all of us.

During “Weak” she puts herself in the hands of the audience as she gently steps on the shoulders and hands of the crowd and walks out to midway through the stalls. She then lets herself fall backwards and is guided safely back to the stage surfing on top of the crowd. If the crowd weren’t 100% behind her, they are now.

If I thought they were loud last time I saw them I was wrong, I obviously didn’t know what loud was. Now I’m all for rock, rocking the house and I love the bass rumble and shrieking highs from the guitar, however when it spoils the music I have to draw the line. Rock is loud by definition but being loud isn’t the be all and end all in my opinion it’s far more important to be heard as well. Tonight’s gig was so loud that it took the edge off my enjoyment (and that was with very good earplugs that bring the noise down without muffling any particular frequencies).

Skunk Anansie don’t need to prove they are a serious rock band - their track record already shows that. I hope their engineers can hear that message through their damaged ears. Skunk Anansie are one of the best live acts I have ever seen and would be even better with a minor reduction in sound levels.