Love and Rockets “All In My Mind” 1986/87, Beggars Banquet 12″ single. Last night we had the extreme pleasure of seeing Love and Rockets in Chicago at the Riviera Theater (the last time I saw the three members – Daniel Ash, David J. and Kevin Haskins – play was in the fall of ’89 in Madison, WI). They did not play “All In My Mind” – the third single off of one of my favorite records of all time, their ’86 release Express – but they did play the “deep cut” (their words) “Holiday on the Moon” which appears on this 12″ single, along with “Inside the Outside,” “Angels and Devils” and “Lucifer Sam.”

 

 

The show was incredible. We arrived really early and security let us in even before doors technically were supposed to open so we scored a spot right up front at the rail, exactly in front of David J’s spot on the stage. Until now I never truly appreciated his massive bass talent – phenomenal! They played mostly old stuff (I mean, they kind of had to since all of their recordings come from the 80’s and 90’s) so I was in heaven. My top moments were the huge crowd sing-along to “No New Tale to Tell,” the hard-driving “Mirror People,” the frenetic chugga-chugga bass+guitar race of “Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man),” the gothic beauty of “Haunted When the Minutes Drag” and most especially the swirling psychedelia of “Kundalini Express.”

We were supposed to see a reunited Bauhaus play in Detroit this past fall (2022) but a few weeks before the show, they canceled due to Peter Murphy having to go to rehab. We were super-bummed about that but thrilled that the rest of the band decided to tour without him as the original Love and Rockets. In 2018 we caught Poptone, which was Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, along with Haskins’ daughter, in Minneapolis where they played what were essentially industrial goth remixes of Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets songs. But having David J back in the mix was absolute perfection.