Cabaret Voltaire, Glasgow review: 'irresistible'
This was a timely reminder of the pioneering role Cabaret Voltaire played in taking alternative music onto the dancefloor, writes Fiona Shepherd
Cabaret Voltaire, SWG3, Glasgow ★★★★★
In the late Seventies, Cabaret Voltaire sounded like the future, a band synthesizing the clatter of Sheffield industry alongside brooding post-punk soundscapes. Marking both 50 years as a band and the life of founder member Richard H Kirk (who passed away in 2021), they were looking and sounding good for their age - “they” being frontman Stephen Mallinder, returning after an absence of 30 years, and fellow founder member Chris Watson, following an even longer impasse.
They were joined by multi-instrumentalist peer Eric Random and drummer Oliver Harrap, deputising at such late notice that he had bought a ticket for the first reunion show in their native Sheffield. Taken aback by the level of interest, a full tour was booked, with Glasgow as the opening date. Mallinder paid tribute to the city, adding a dedication to the recently passed DJ, producer and massive Cabaret Voltaire fan Twitch to his simple salute to Kirk.
The appropriately austere surroundings of SWG3’s Warehouse space reverberated to 24/24’s proto acid house strains (albeit with slower bpm) and the more industrial edge of Animation with agreeably creepy vocals from Mallinder. The hectic synth pop of Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself) allied the headiness of gay disco to Teutonic stridency.
Watson contributed the one “new” track of the set. Tinsley Viaduct, composed a decade ago as part of a sound map of Sheffield, changed the tone with foreboding ambience and terse syndrums before they geared up once more with the keening cacophony of The Set Up and disturbing tinny gothic vibes of Landslide.
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A post-industrial take on a fruit salad lightshow illuminated the venue during the terse funk of Crackdown and there were further reminders that Cabaret Voltaire kept pace with and often preceded New Order in taking alternative music onto the dancefloor, not least the classic Nag Nag Nag, with added wah-wah, and the irresistible electro mantra Sensoria, which closed this thrilling show with as much potency as ever.
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