Shakespears Sister returned to Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall for their opening night of their UK tour. This is a tour that many fans felt would never happen, because back in 1993 due to the differences between the vocalists (Marcella Detroit and Siobhan Fahey) they parted ways for numerous reasons, leading to the cancellation of their show at the Royal Albert Hall. Thankfully before they split, they had managed to perform the Nottingham show to promote the album “Hormonally Yours”.
So fast forward to 2019, and the vocalist have made up and reunited for a brand-new UK tour. .
Support came via Delena, a female vocalist from the Ukraine, who had an impressive voice, however the dance music appeared to be lost on the audience. At times it looked like Delena was lip syncing due to the synthesised effects.
Once the stage was set for the imminent arrival of Shakespears Sister, they casually strolled on to the stage, Marcella wearing dark subtle attire, whereas Siobhan arrived wearing a white cowboy suit with flowers emblazoned on it (possibly it was a reference to Elvis Presley’s comeback suit).
“Goodbye Cruel World” was the set opener, and from that point on it was a trip down memory lane, with hits from the albums “Sacred Hearts” and “Hormonally Yours” transporting the audience back to the times when we were all a lot younger.
Marcella and Siobhan certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage, and maybe the fact that they weren’t under any pressure to perform any recent hits made them more relaxed, although they did include their most recent single “All the Queens Horses”. As great as that was to listen to, it was clear that the fans really just wanted the old material. To be fair at £75 per ticket, the fans had every right to be demanding of the old material. Sure, enough that is exactly what they got.
Songs such as “I Don’t Care”, “The Trouble with Andre”, “My 16th Apology”, “You’re History” and “Dirty Mind” were pure blasts from the past. They used their songs as a narrative to explain their love/hate relationship throughout the years. Which worked really well in terms of their turbulent past.
Vocally both Marcella and Siobhan were a tour de force, and the show was amazing. The only slight criticism was the lack of build up when introducing their biggest hit “Stay”, I understand that they are possibly fed up to the back teeth of this song as it is not a true reflection on their musical style. But it would have been nice for them to have put a bit more effort into the build up to it. However even two and a half decades after its release “Stay” is still a powerful emotional song. A true classic ballad.
After 17 songs spanning across their back catalogue, it was time for the reunited vocalists to say bye to the adoring fans. However in true Shakespears Sister style they came back for the obligatory encore and finished with “Hello (Turn Your Radio On)” I think it must have been a quirky in joke to break convention, seeing as the set opened with “Goodbye Cruel World” and finished with “Hello”. There seems to some irony to those.
In short, both Marcella and Siobhan demonstrated that somethings are worth waiting for, and certainly for me, as someone who saw them 27 years ago, then had the privilege of catching them again in 2019, they are still as powerful live as they were back in their younger days. Let’s hope they have many more successful years and stay together.
Goodbye Cruel World
Heroine
Dangerous Game
Dirty Mind
My 16th Apology
Heaven Is in Your Arms
The Trouble with Andre
Emotional Thing
C U Next Tuesday
Time to Say Goodbye
All the Queen’s Horses
When She Finds You
Black Sky
Stay
Are We in Love Yet
I Don’t Care
You’re History
Encore:
Catwoman
Hello (Turn Your Radio On)
Review by Luke Seagrave