John McKay's Reactor at The Face Bar Reading, Tuesday June 17th - the triumphant return of the legendary Siouxsie & The Banshees Guitarist

I was at a local Club Velocity promotions gig at the Face Bar in Reading on Tuesday night to witness the long awaited return of the legendary Siouxsie & The Banshees guitarist John McKay. The first thing that hit me was how good he looked; all dressed in black, hair slicked back into a Samurai style top knot. Similar to (the much-missed) Geordie from Killing Joke, McKay is effortlessly cool, making it look so easy when of course, we really know it's nothing of the sort. There’s a nonchalance to his playing style that belies the immense, razor sharp sound that he conjures from his equally cool black semi-acoustic Hagström guitar. I was just too young to see The Banshees play when he was in the line-up, but I’ve always loved McKay’s glacial guitar riffs – a sound that defined not only the early Banshees, but pretty much the whole Post-Punk genre. There was a palpable buzz running through the crowd as he struck the opening chords to first number “Black Five” and to hear that instantly recognisable, hugely influential sound, was a big thrill.

 

 

Earlier this year Tiny Global Productions released the beautifully packaged album “Sixes And Sevens” which features unreleased solo recordings made between 1980 and 1989. Former Banshees drummer Kenny Morris who along with McKay, jumped the Banshees ship mid-tour in 1979, features on some of these songs along with Soft Boys bassist Matthew Seligman and John’s partner Linda on vocals – sadly both Matthew and Linda passed away in 2020. Don’t be put off by the mention of ‘unreleased’ songs, as usually when record companies put out such recordings there’s a very good reason why they were unreleased in the first place. Not so with “Sixes And Sevens” as the songs and sound are excellent and it begs the question just why they were not ever released at the time. It gives a fascinating insight into what might have been after The Banshees, and the good news is that now, thanks to Tiny Global, the songs have been given a new lease of life. A few dates have been arranged to promote the album including the Reading show, a sold-out Lexington in London, the Forever Now festival in Milton Keynes on June 22^nd, The 100 Club on June 23^rd and the Hare & Hounds Birmingham on July 19th.

John has assembled a superb band around him, John McKay’s Reactor, and it is very much a band rather than just a solo project. One of Retro Man Blog’s favourites Jen Brown from The Priscillas is on lead vocals, a perfect choice, it’s a role she just had to play, and she looks fabulous next to John. It must have been a rather daunting task as comparisons with Siouxsie are bound to be raised, but Jen is superb, balancing her individual style while keeping a deference to Siouxsie's vocal delivery. Billy King is on bass and like Jen, looks every inch the epitome of Rock ‘n’ Roll, very cool. He also rather impressively keeps his leather biker jacket on for the duration of the whole show despite the soaring temperatures. Drummer Jola is a busy, blur of energy, managing the sometimes unusual tom-heavy tribal beats with real skill, she’s great to watch in her own right. The set list is perfectly balanced between tracks from “Sixes And Sevens” and Banshees classics, and the good thing is there’s a seamless transition between the two, that’s testament to the strength of the solo material, I guess. 

 

The set ends with “Hong Kong Garden” and there’s an encore of “Playground Twist” which both take the roof of the Face Bar. We also get treated to Banshees classics from the first two albums including “The Staircase (Mystery)”, “Placebo”, “Mirage”, “Suburban Release” and “Switch”. Of the ‘new’ songs “Taken For Granted” with its rumbling JJ Burnel style bass intro and “Vigilante” are personal highlights and I’m left hoping that this new line-up can find the time to write some brand new material in the near future. Check out the band’s Facebook page here and Instagram pages for news on the upcoming shows and Tiny Global on how to order “Sixes And Sevens” which is out on CD, download and limited edition vinyl which includes a signed booklet and bonus CD. For more videos from the show please subscribe to the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here.