The music of the 1980s is often remembered as a time of big hits, synthesisers, elegantly chorused guitars and streamlined production.
It was the era of Level 42, Phil Collins, The Police, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, but it also had a lively, alternative rock scene frequented by such bands as The Cult, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, and many other groups – and it was the songs of these bands that the six-piece Sanctum Sanctorium celebrated when they appeared at the Hub at St Mary’s.
With a smoke machine and subdued lighting, the band gave this musically diverse era a good going over. With two vocalists, bass, drums, guitar and keyboards they knew how to give the enthusiastic audience a good time.
Bauhaus Bela Lugosi’s Dead showed the pedigree of the group, but the bigger hits of the genre, which included The Cult’s She Sells Sanctuary, saw the audience joining in.
With strident, and complicated parts to play songs such as Killing Joke’s Love Like Blood and Dear Prudence – a Beatles song given a hit make-over by The Banshees – showed that the music still carries a strong message and continues to influence musicians decades after they were first committed to tape.
