The last time I recall witnessing the force of nature that is Skunk Anansie was around 1995, in Cardiff University Students Union and at a volume so loud that the vibrations literally blew the tiles off the roof. Happy pre-health and safety days. The British rock survivors’ latest appearance in the city sidesteps any potential for a similar incident thanks to its open-air setting – at Cardiff Castle on a double-header tour with the similarly venerable Garbage, part of the Depot Live summer concert programme there.
Over 30 years later, then, and reason to wonder if Skunk Anansie have quietened down a tad? No way: their set this evening is raw, bouncing and full-throttle. At a mere 58 years young, frontwoman Skin rocks the stage and brings an unrelenting energy to the set. Manic, fierce and awesome on every level, her London twang rings loud across the packed-out lawn; as she jokes about everything from our current political situation to her own roots, Skin’s chat comes easily and without apology. A woman who is in control and knows it.
It’s a set that includes plenty of Skunk Anansie’s signature songs: This Means War, Weak – which Skin performs while crowdsurfing – and Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good) being perhaps the three standouts. And Skin’s respect for her touring partners is underlined when she returns to the stage to introduce Garbage – cue her equally iconic counterpart, Shirley Manson, arriving onstage in a leather kilt to a fully pumped-up crowd.
Whereupon Manson goes on to quite simply kill it, packing a voice as good as it was in Garbage’s first flush – if not better. Like Skin, she’s been around a long time, and retained a kickass attitude. The Edinburgh-born Manson and her American bandmates serve up a fantastic show for an audience predominantly old enough to have grown up with iconic songs like Stupid Girl, Only Happy When It Rains and I Think I’m Paranoid.
Everyone went home happy, sweaty and rocked out from a massive, anthem-heavy night to kick off another week of high-profile live events across Cardiff.
Garbage + Skunk Anansie, Cardiff Castle, Mon 22 June
words ANTONIA LEVAY photos KEVIN PICK
