Scissor Sisters

Earlier this week, NME named Jake Shears as the artist who had most lost it during the past year. How does he respond? By keeping the audience waiting for 50, yes 50, minutes, after the tiresome support act [see below] had finished. By the time the Scissor Sisters hit the stage, I was already bored enough to go home.

And the sad thing is that, against my expectations, that situation never really improved. Yes, 'Tits on the Radio' is still a hilarious hi-energy campathon and 'Comfortably Numb' still makes hardened Floyd fans cry [hurrah!], but the biggest cheer of the night goes not to a song, but to Shears' dedication of 'Laura' to Laura Bush, with the wish that "...she goes to Hell and gets chopped up into iddy biddy pieces".

Part of the problem lies with the new songs. There is no other way to say this, but that bit in Return to Oz where the paradise all turns sour? That's the live version of the new songs. 'I Don't Wanna Dance' and 'Everybody Wants the Same Thing' apart, the new numbers are not so much 'Ta-Dah' as 'Ta-Duh'. And there are nine of them in the first twelve songs.

The result is that the set never really climbs out of this sludge. The high spots are the likes of 'Take Your Mama Out' and 'Filthy/Gorgeous', but to that extent there are no surprises. On the other hand, new song 'Light' starts promisingly and turns into a sludgy dirge. Even the stage set and light show are tame by comparison with past, Henson-esque, efforts. It is no surprise to see a good proportion of the crowd leaving early and, for the first time in many a year, I joined them.