Psychic TV
Heaven, London

WITH a countercultural musical and artistic repertoire that spans decades, an eye for the absurd in all that is normal and an ear for the banal in all that is strange, it’s no surprise that Heaven hosts the wonder that is Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Psychic TV.

It’s a return of sorts. Psychic TV previously played Heaven in 1986, an event recorded and released as one of a series of 23 live albums of a band that’s constantly changing. It’s a very different Gen on Heaven’s stage in 2018.

Having embarked on the “Pandrogyne” project aiming to fuse gender and identity with wife Lady Jaye Breyer, who sadly died in 2007, Gen now represents the continuation of that project and is welcomed with ecstatic cheers.

Opening with New Sexuality, the groove builds immediately in what’s standard indie-rock fare. A repetitive, almost dancelike beat adds shades of Soft Cell synths, combined with Garbage-like bass rumbles shot through with sixties psychedelia and blistering guitar. The band are tight, while Gen’s distinctive voice grabs the attention.

A hypnotic light show mirrors the music and adds to the atmosphere, with Gen remaining vocal throughout. Between songs there are calls to action: “It’s no good trying to look cool!” s/he exhorts the audience . A mass hug ensues and the room suddenly sees strangers happily embracing. Their guard is down and they dance.

The music builds, the bass pounds a groove, the drums keep time, guitar and keys kick back in and the classics ring out. Along with Psychic TV tracks, the set closes with a cover of Harry Nilsson’s Jump into the Fire and the refrain “We can make each other happy.”

But the encore takes a melancholy turn with After You're Dead, She Said which nevertheless induces a mass singalong and the call of living the life you want to is strangely uplifting. That’s all the more poignant because Gen is seriously ill with leukaemia and this may be the last time s/he graces the stage in Britain.

The night ends with another cover, Can’s Mother Sky, and it’s blistering, trancelike, dancey and delightful.

Gen’s subject matter and life have often dwelt with darkness but the night is notable for its joy, sense of unity and collective challenge not to conform. Where else would you get good music, stellar visuals, hugs from strangers and thought provoking and necessary challenges to the status quo?

Heaven indeed.