One of the most memorable nights in my adult life now has a soundtrack companion. The night on that summery evening at the Union Chapel in 1997 is still fresh in my mind. I got to spend time with one of my best friends Andrew, as we met Coil for the first time in person on the way in, and sat in a crowd pointing at various WSD-celebs like Steven Stapleton and other supporting cast members like Mika from Panasonic, Ivan Pavlov of COH and John Everall of Sentrax. The concert opened with readings from John Balance and a couple others (one of them lives in NY I think) and subsequently continued with the current cast of Current 93: Rose McDowell and Michael Cashmore on guitar, Karl Blake on bass, Joolie Wood on violin and James Mannox on drums. Special other guests on hand that evening included Bill Breeze, Martin Stone and Big Bucks Burnett, all joining in the big "Christ and the Pale Queens" closer. The unobtrusive audience gives me the impression it was recorded straight from the sound board, but unlike many similiarly recorded shows, I don't feel there's any loss of depth here. Put the music on in your livingroom and it feels like you're actually there. "Cats Drunk on Copper" was initially made available to the audience at the recent return to the Union Chapel, and now it's available through World Serpent. For a track listning, some photos and other specifics, check out the Current 93 page special page on this particular show right here.

Jon Whitney
Sunday, 06 May 2001