Bauhaus
Gotham (disc 1)

THE REVIEW

Sometimes they come back. Fifteen years after disbanding, it can happen that the fetish band of early '80s gothic rock reunites for a tour, aptly named the Resurrection Tour. They are called Bauhaus. We lost track of them in 1983 when they put an end to their common adventure. But in 1998, they got back together and recorded their concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York as documented in "Gotham," the city of Batman, of course, but also one of the whimsical nicknames for the city of New York.

As if time had not passed, the first three songs in the setlist are taken directly from their first album and in the same order: "Double Dare," "In The Flat Field," "A God In An Alcove." The songs are performed faithfully to the distant originals; after all, this group could not afford poetic licenses. The entire creative arc of the four from Northampton finds space in "Gotham." "The Passion of Lovers" takes us back to the second album, "Mask," while the third is represented by the most melancholic and poignant songs: "Hollow Hills," where Daniel Ash rubs the electric guitar strings with a violin bow, "Silent Hedges," introduced by the mournful arpeggio of a 12-string, "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything," and finally "Spirit," the song where they declare their love for their audience (with the refrain we love our audience repeated ad libitum). Fourth album, the last, represented by the inevitable "She's In Parties."

If in this record there are a couple of the covers that made Bauhaus famous, "Telegram Sam" by T.Rex and "Ziggy Stardust" by Bowie, there is also a tribute to a younger band, from the generation immediately following the post-punk one of which Bauhaus was the spearhead: and here comes Peter Murphy singing the solemn chant of "Severance" by Dead Can Dance, a track so heartfelt that it is present here in two versions, one recorded live and one in the studio.

Fifteen years earlier, the same Peter Murphy had declared: "There is a fifth member of Bauhaus, which is a sort of spiritual entity. When it is not there, on stage, we cruelly miss it. When it is, the concert is imbued with genuine magic. Playing is indeed searching for this magic."

Thus, in "Gotham," we find something of the great inspirations that this group has been able to evoke.