2009 TOUR

 
 
  DATE/VENUE  
     

 

  November  
 
 
  13/11/09 - Olympia Film Festival, Washington USA  
     

 

  October  
 
 
  19/10/09 - Initroma, Rome, Italy (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)  
  18/10/09 - Initroma, Rome, Italy (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)  
  10/10/09 - Le Poison Rouge, New York (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
     

 

  August  
 
 
  28/08/09 - The Bang Bang Club, Edinburgh (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)  
  21/08/09 - The Bang Bang Club, Edinburgh (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)  
  16/08/09 - The Grand Hall, Skane, Sweden (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)  
  14/08/09 - The Bang Bang Club, Edinburgh (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)  
  07/08/09 - The Bang Bang Club, Edinburgh (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)  
     

 

  July  
 
 
  10/07/09 - Revelation Film Festival, Perth (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
     

 

  June  
 
 
  19/06/09 - Teatro Benito Juarez, Mexico City (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
     

 

  May  
 
 
  30/05/09 - Wave Gotik Treffen, Leipzig (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
     

 

     
  April  
 
 
  06/04/09 - The Independent, San Francisco (Cancelled)  
  05/04/09 - The Echoplex, Los Angeles (Cancelled)  
     

 

2008 TOUR

 
 
  DATE/VENUE  
     

 

     
  December  
 
 
  11/12/08 - Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
     

 

     
  December  
 
 
  19/08/08 - Tavastia, Helsinki (The Seashell & the Clergyman)   
     

 

     
  July  
 
 
  03/07/08 - Bush Hall, London (The Seashell & the Clergyman)

Bush Hall 03/07/08 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
     

 

     
  June  
 
 
  12/06/08 - The Apple Store, Glasgow (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
  06/06/08 - La Volpe e L'vua, Salemo (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
     

 

     
  May  
 
 
  08/05/08 - Drukarnia, Krakow, Poland (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  
  06/05/08 - Klub Fleda, Brno (The Seashell & the Clergyman)  

 

     
  03/05/08 - Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh (The Seashell & the Clergyman)

Severin Live 03/05/08 - Click Here For Bigger Scan

 
     
  The Herald 05/05/08  
     
  When Germaine Dulac premiered his film The Seashell and the Clergyman in 1928, playwright Antonin Artaud, who penned the half-hour short's original scenario, is said to have heckled the screen, going so far as to call its director a "cow". If such confrontational behaviour sounds like a precursor to punk's assault on culture half a century later, a new score to the film by former Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist Steven Severin is all too appropriate.

Making his first solo appearance, Severin performed Music for Silents, a compendium of soundtracks for Dulac's film and six contemporary extrapolations of the surrealist spirit. Black-clad and sat stage-left with his laptop on a table in front of him, Severin provided a very 21st-century version of the silent-movie accompanist responding to the images onscreen - which, in The Seashell and the Clergyman, concern the erotic fantasies of a priest lusting after a general's wife, with all the sexual symbolism (and maid's uniforms) one might expect. Severin's electronic twinkles moved from moodily sombre to more playful piano runs for the chase scenes. The second half of the programme plugged into similar ambient dynamics to accompany black-leather voyeurism, fairground sideshows and explicit animations, all mixed up with visual collages and optical illusions.

In the speakeasy confines of a Saturday night Voodoo Rooms, it was a treat to see Severin's new direction treated so seriously. It's a shame such a unique event wasn't tagged with next week's Diversions season of experimental cinema at the Filmhouse. Either way, the avant-garde underground looks safe in Severin's hands.

Neil Cooper