29th May 2025 at Pryzm, Kingston
The last time I saw Skunk Anansie was when they headlined the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury festival 1999, the last headliners of the 20th century. And it was a nice surprise to run into my 1999 festival friend at this show!
The band just released their seventh studio album The Painful Truth, though I must confess that I wasn’t familiar with any of their material since the 90s. Despite this, the energy, the sound, the songs were recognisable as typical Skunk Anansie. Playing a handful of new songs, Skin sounded powerful and fierce.
The set ended with a couple of much welcomed oldies. Skin related the origin story of Hedonism, about how it was about raw feelings for an ex but how the passage of time has given her strength. “I hope you’re feeling happy now” she said, shaking her head and making it clear that she didn’t really mean it. 90s Grrrl Power is all grown up now.
The last song was Weak, from their very first album Paranoid and Sunburnt from 1995. I think I was actually a bit scared when I first saw the video on TV!
Skunk Anansie are a fireball of energy and incredible live!
Blue Roses Fanzine 2.0 