Playground
Twist, Metal Postcard, Staircase (Mystery), Premature Burial , Switch,
Overground, Placebo Effect, Icon, Regal Zone, Jigsaw Feeling, Fong Kong
Garden, Suburban Relapse, Love in a Void
band line up
Siouxsie
and the Banshees
Siouxsie Sioux (vocs) Steve Severin
(bass)
John Mackay (guitar) Kenny Morris (drums)
The Cure
Robert Smith (guitar/vocs) Lol Tolhurst
(drums)
Simon Gallup (bass)
`
gig poster and flyer (click to
enlarge flyer)
ticket
memories
The webmaster, north Bucks:
"One of my first proper gigs
and was blown away by the sheer volume of noise. Quite near the front but
Siouxsie clearly had an attitude on her for reasons unknown. This was to
promote the Join Hands album which John Peel had played in its entirety
the same week they played Friars which was rather handy. I remember the
NME review of this gig the week (see below) after which was, to be frank, nasty and
mentioned events taking place I swore never happened or I was looking the
wrong way. They claimed Siouxsie kicked the PA stack to the extent it
swayed and almost toppled onto the audience. If this really happened, I do
not believe that Siouxsie would ever have been allowed near Friars again."
Steve Beach, Friars fan
"I've
just stumbled across your site having been watching a documentary on
The Clash with my ten year old son. I told him I saw them in Aylesbury
at Christmas 1978 and looked for more info. I joined Friars to see
Siouxsie and the Banshees in September 1978. I was 14 at the time and
had to lie about my age to get in. I wasn't convincing because I was
questioned on the door - but got in any way. Your site has bought
memories flooding back. I also went to see Siouxsie on 30th August
1979. I was just in front of the right hand PA stack and, contrary to
the text on the site, I vividly remember Siouxsie kicking the stack a
number of times. It did come close to toppling and I remember being more
than a little concerned!"
Photos courtesy of Gary Leeson
press cuttings
Thanks to Autumn at the
Pictures of You website for allowing use of the poster and the cutting
below
what
happened next
This turned out to be one of the last gigs
with the original line up as Morris and McKay departed a few days after
this gig causing some of the tour to be scrapped whilst new members were
very quickly found. The Cure's Robert Smith found himself very busy as he
filled in for the rest of the tour playing two sets a night. Morris's drum
stool was filled by Budgie from the Slits who later became Sioux's other
half. The Banshees went from strength to strength and effortlessly sold
out Friars in 1980. The Banshees continued in one form or another for
another 20 odd years. During this time Sioux and Budgie teamed up as The
Creatures having hit records away from the Banshees. By 2008 Siouxsie was
recording and touring as a solo artiste. Some of the punk ethic clearly
hasn't deserted her judging by a very hostile interview for Uncut magazine
in 2007.
Also still going strong in 2013
are The Cure
and still big enough to be playing UK arenas and festivals. The line up has been
all over the place in 30 years with Robert Smith being the constant factor and
other members having more than one stint in the band
All rights reserved and no part of this website may be reproduced
without written permission - please see terms and conditions for
details. All photos copyright mike o'connor except where specifically
stated and used with permission.
