The Joint at the Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas presents Peter Murphy with She Wants Revenge December 10, 2011.
Legendary goth patriarch Peter Murphy rolled into Vegas Saturday night for a performance at the Hard Rock that had fans dancing and singing into the wee hours. The Joint hosted a smallish but nonetheless irrepressible crowd as the show got underway with guest band Hussle from NY followed by She Wants Revenge to get the night going…
She Wants Revenge set the tone for a darkly moody evening as they started off the night with “Red Flags” from their first release titled simply She Wants Revenge. Vocalist Justin Warfield led the band through tunes from throughout the bands’ career including “What I Want”, “Rachael”, and “Sleep” and kept the ambiance serene and somewhat aloof as he wound through the nights’ set. Adam Bravin traded bass for keyboards for “These Things” and a solo spot mid-set, and accompanied by (touring) members Thomas Froggatt and Scott Ellis SWR wove a path through what Warfield calls ‘dark dance’ as they played newer material including “Take The World” and “Up in Flames” from this years’ release Valleyheart. She Wants Revenge finished the night with video hit “Tear You Apart” as fans sang and danced to final number.
She Wants Revenge was a perfect compliment for the headlining ‘godfather of goth’ who was yet to take the stage… As the curtains parted for the main act a female vocalist appeared to start an a cappella intro that ended up in giggles, as she had to begin again and again as the crowded laughed and cheered along. The show was off to a fun fanciful start, and Peter Murphy quietly entered the stage amid cheering and chaos to start the night amid spotlight with a low key rendition of “Hurt”. From there Murphy wound through a setlist ranging from Bauhaus classic “Burning on the Inside” to works from a career spanning almost three decades. With a setlist that changed nightly during the tour, Murphy stayed more obscure to the obvious hits and catered to purer fans with Bauhaus tunes inserted throughout the set until coming round to “I’ll Fall With Your Knife”, “Marlene Dietrich’s Favorite Poem” and “Strange Kind Of Love’ (with a touch of “Bela Lugosi”). Murphy touched on newer material with “I Spit Roses” from his latest album Ninth, and “Gaslit” from the new E.P. The Secret Bees of Ninth.
Murphy pranced and spun wildly across the stage and seemed to encompass the entire area, and at one point having a stagehand pull off his shoes while he rolled sock-footed around on the platform edge singing face full into the worshipping throng. Fans crowded close to touch and be a part of it as the performance went interactive… Murphy took a little time to chat and talk to the audience (he makes a habit of this) as fans yelled and laughed back as he story-told before he continued unrestrained through “Deep Ocean Vast Sea” and “Subway”. The pace got frantic as Murphy brought She Wants Revenge’s Justin Warfield back out for a pounding duet on “Dark Entries” as the sea of devotees danced and sang to the Bauhaus hit.
With Murphy closing in on two hours the show wound toward a dual encore finale… A dark and somber “Your Face” before Murphy returned to hit hard with well known hit “Cuts You Up” and Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” before the show concluded and set stage turned to black. An amazing performance from a master poet and musician, who never ceases to impress and influence generations of music and art to come.
