Watch Bauhaus reunite for a definitive performance at Coachella Festival, 2005
Recently, I was lucky enough to catch goth legends Bauhaus perform live twice in the space of 12 months. The first appropriately arrived on Halloween 2021 at Alexandra Palace, London’s premier monument to the Victorian era. It was the perfect home to Peter Murphy’s vampiric vocals, David J’s ominous basslines, Daniel Ash’s spine-tingling riffs and Kevin Haskins’ motorik beats.
The second occasion came at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival in June 2022. It witnessed the quartet perform a tighter set than in London, with the crowd begging for each offering with frothing mouths. Prior to the group gradually unfolding their set, a fog of narcotics and tobacco floated from above the heads of the audience and engulfed them on stage, setting the scene perfectly.
After watching the Northampton band for the second time – where their stagecraft was also drastically improved – it was clear that they remain one of the best live bands around. Crucially, their influential ambience is as palpable as ever in this setting, which is an aspect that many bands often fail to translate, but not Bauhaus.
Footage from shows in their heyday demonstrates that Bauhaus’ live performances always augmented the music. Invariably, the feline-like Murphy would stare menacingly at the crowd, periodically gliding across the stage like a spectre, cutting expressionist shapes reminiscent of early David Bowie.
Whilst Bauhaus have clearly given a host of stellar performances over the years, one of the finest – and one of the most revered amongst fans – is their reunion at the Coachella Arts and Music Festival in 2005. The concert marked the first time that the band had played together since 1998, and the set was a marvellous way to prove that class is timeless.
Fittingly, the band opened their set with their 1979 debut single ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, which makes a solid claim to be the finest rendition of the track ever captured. With Murphy suspended upside down over the stage like the Count Dracula of the song, the theatrics were on point, with the group’s performance fuelled by a winning convergence of experience and excitement.
With every member firing on all cylinders, the quartet delivered a sightseeing tour of their repertoire, which included ‘She’s in Parties’, ‘Burning From the Inside’, ‘Silent Hedges’, and of course, ‘Dark Entries’. Each rendition sounded fresh off the press and was a stand-out on a lineup that boasted the likes of Weezer, Mercury Rev, MF Doom, Gang of Four, and more. See the performance below.
