Following on from part 1 in this series posted late last year, here’s a modest follow-up that focuses on a badge set that was available to buy from the official merch staff at Bauhaus gigs from the period of their second reformation in 2005/2006. As well as a good number of live shows, that period of reformation also spawned the ‘Go Away White’ album, as featured on a previous VersionCrazy post in its Japanese CD edition with exclusive track.
As well as these badges, amongst the other treats to be found on the merchandise stall was an exclusive CD single version of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, a likely contender for a future VersionCrazy post, I dare say.
I was fortunate to see a couple of shows from that reunion, in London at the Brixton Academy on 3 February 2006 and the first of two consecutive night’s shows at The Forum in Kentish Town, on 7 August 2006 – where there was some kind of on-stage tech meltdown that was the first crack that would widen within days and lead to the end for this second reformation.
The band completed a handful of festival dates afterwards, but went their separate ways once again, leaving ‘Go Away White’ to eventually appear without much in the way of promotion, something of an anti-climax – the new songs aired at those gigs (‘Endless Summer Of The Damned’ and ‘Adrenaline’ had boded well on advance listening).
Of course, the band would eventually get back together for a third reunion, that ended up being rent asunder by the Covid pandemic, but would eventually reconvene and allowed me two further chances to see the band again – Alexandra Palace in London on 30 October 2021 and once again at Brixton Academy, London on 19 August 2022 on one their last ever gigs. By all accounts, another inter-band blow-up occurred shortly after this gig that led to the cancellation of remaining tour dates and has since led to the reactivation of Love and Rockets and much media coverage that has spelled out pretty loud and clear that we shall likely not see a fourth reformation of Bauhaus. Which is a pity as that last show demonstrated how well they were still absolutely vital as a going concern. Here’s a live shot from that very show – what a fantastic night it was.
