Live Review: Scissor Sisters at London Brixton Academy - 31st October 2004

Author: Richard Cosgrove

So, for the second time in two weeks I found myself at a Scissor Sisters gig, although I have to honest, I didn't go dressed as Leatherface to the Royal Albert Hall! I'm not alone in dressing up tonight, though, as a very impressive portion of the audience seem to have heeded the Scissor Sisters' call for this to be a costumed affair, and costumes there were of all shapes and sizes. As we walk down towards the Academy, we decide to stop off at the Goose for a quick drink and there in front of us is a scene straight out of Psycho. Literally. In what is easily the most original costume I've ever seen, this guy has his own private shower stall complete with white curtain draped around him - genius!

Inside the pub there were vampires, werewolves, Homer Simpson, Superman and Supergirl, a group of demonic nuns, and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, complete with sparkly ruby red slippers. We were definitely not in Kansas, Toto. Once inside the Academy itself there were more costumes, painted faces, and more more homemade scissors than you could shake a, well, homemade pair of scissors at.

As previously, Kiki and Herb are providing support, and somehow it seems perfect than on a night like tonight there is a transvestite torch singer and a deranged keyboard player entertaining the crowd. They depart the stage and we have the pleasure of a live DJ who knows just which musical buttons to push to keep the crowd at fever pitch.

As it's Halloween, the Scissor Sisters have gone that extra mile, and the lights go down to reveal a makeshift screen onto which we first get projected film of Jake Shears singing 'Bicycle Of The Devil' in a kimono before removing it to reveal some rather natty bondage gear to screams of encouragement from the audience. Following this we get a short horror movie called 'Wait Til Carol Comes' in which Carol Channing ends up
murdering Shears and Ana Matronic.

Cinematic interlude over, the band are suddenly silhouetted onto the curtain, which swiftly falls to reveal a special halloween set, complete with huge tombstones for each of the band. The band themselves are in full Halloween mode, dressed as characters from the Rocky Horror Show, with Shears cutting a particularly fine figure as Frank N further, lunging around the stage on impossibly high platforms.

Opening with 'Laura', the band play the same set as they did at the Royal Albert Hall, and are just as entertaining, but in a completely different way due to the wildly different feel of the venue and the nature of the evening. Where the Royal Albert Hall gig was all about pomp and music hall stylings, tonight is all about letting their hair down and reveling in the fact that they are throwing the best Halloween party in town with five thousand of their closest friends.

The unique nature of the evening aside, one of the Scissor Sisters' greatest strengths is the banter between Shears and Matronic which comes across like a conversation between great friends that we're all a part of. The ease with which they engage the audience and bring a sense of vaudeville to the proceedings ensures that the barrier between artist and audience is as minimal as possible.

As the show draws to a close after some ninety minutes, the sea of grins on the audience's faces is testimony to the fact that we've not only seen a great gig here tonight, but we've also been to a bloody good party, albeit one that ends far too soon and could easily have carried on until dawn. Here's hoping they come back next year so we can do it all over again.