“Tickets for Marc Almond…any spare tickets for Marc Almond?”.  It was obvious that the ticket touts were having a bit of trouble pitching this one.  “’Ere Trev…what’s this Current 93 all about then?” “To be honest, it is just another example of your run of the mill apocalyptic folk band…visions of the second coming of Christ, eternal damnation, what have you.” (a pause) “That “Tainted Love” is a good tune though, innit? Spare tickets, any spare tickets, I’ll buy or sell!”

A long time associate of David Tibet, the extraordinary Baby Dee got an extended warm-up slot after the withdrawal of Om from the bill due to one half of the band leaving the band.  I’m not sure if that means there is still a band or not, it is all a bit like one hand clapping for me.  Last time we came across her (stealing the Homefires festival last year) she played solo, she began here at the harp accompanied only by a cellist for “Small Wonder” and a devastating “Black But Comely” (“If I can’t have you, I can love you just the same”).  She switched to the Steinway and was joined by some of tonight’s stellar band – Matt Sweeney, Andrew WK, and the brilliant percussionist Alex Nielsen.  The songs that followed (including “Safe Inside The day” and “So Bad”) lost a little for having there deep swell of emotion buried under these layers, but Baby Dee’s cackling, panting, bellowing, hissing performance was still a thing of wonder.

The number for musicians on stage was supplemented still further (with the addition of, amongst others, Michael Cashmore on guitar and Andrew Liles on industrial-sounding electronics) to complete the current line-up of Current 93.  They opened a set which was otherwise based primarily based on the most recent album proper, the  Black Ships Ate The Sky masterpiece, with a version of Bill Fay’s “Time of The Last Persecution”. From the off, David Tibet (for those unfamiliar with his appearance or mannerisms, it may help to imagine Jarvis Cocker trapped in Jasper Carrot’s body) was in mesmerising form – prowling the front of the stage (and off the front of the stage, up as far as about Row D) jabbing and gesticulating, pleading and beseeching.  When the lyrics of “Vau Vau Vau” mentioned “skipping to Armageddon”, he skipped to, erm, the other side of stage.  True, that side did look marginally scarier.  Maybe that was just because it was further away. In his animation, he kicked over the bottle of wine he had been slugging from, and had to steal some from the rest of the band for the remainder.

For the second time this week for me, Antony shuffled out of the shadows for the single song – but what a song.  His version of “Soft Black Stars” – just him, his piano, and that voice and all its emotive trembling – was stunning and worth the price of admission alone.  The touts got their “headliner” right after that when Marc Almond took to the boards (David Tibet came and sat next to me at this point.  He managed to kick over another bottle of wine).  He performed his torch song version of “Idumae”, accompanied by a range of slowly unfurling dramatic gestures, and followed this with a couple of songs from his collaboration with Michael Cashmore entitled “Lunatic Lover” and “Gabriel”.  He seemed genuinely delighted to have been given the chance to work with this extraordinary bunch of characters, and the extraordinary bunch of characters who made up tonight’s crowd seemed pretty delighted to have him back, especially after all that near-death shenanigans the other year.

After this interlude, Tibet rejoined his band as they struck up another hellish dirge.  Throughout the show the Black Ships songs had been stripped of their more delicate folkier elements, and in there place had been installed a raging torrent of noise, with the loose-limbed Nielsen performing miracles in the centre. Whorling, sickening cyclical layers of guitar built once more to another, dare I say it, apocalyptic crescendo; by the end Tibet was doubled over at the front of the stage, weeping.  Anyone selling their ticket to the charming chaps outside missed one hell of a show.

/subliminal