By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Friday 23 May 2025, tour runs through 15 August 2025

AG Setlist: Ride A White Horse; Number 1; Dreaming; Believer; Find Xanadu; Reverberotic; Rocket; Ooh La La; Strict Machine; Fever

SS Setlist: Laura; Better Luck; She’s My Man; Tits On The Radio; I Can’t Decide; Lovers In The Back Seat; Running Out; Take Your Mama; Paul McCartney; Fire With Fire; Mary; It Can’t Come Quickly Enough; Sex And Violence; Any Which Way; Comfortably Numb; Invisible Light; Let’s Have A Kiki; I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’; Return To Oz; Filthy Gorgeous; Music Is The Victim

It’s the Friday night of a bank holiday weekend and we arrive at our seats early to see an extraordinary greatest hits support set from 1 of our favourite pop stars.

• Read on for reasons including special guests Self Esteem and Sir Ian McKellen

We last saw Alison Goldfrapp live headlining Somerset House in London in 2023 and her solo career away from band Goldfrapp has seen her wowing audiences with the sort of uptempo disco that reminds of biggest hits Strict Machine and Ooh La La.

All of which makes this 45-minute set from her the perfect warm up with the audience out of their seats from the moment she took to the stage striking Bowie moves and entertaining with live keyboardist, drummer and dancers. New album Flux is out 15 August.

Before this joyous tour Scissor Sisters hadn’t played live for 13 years and we were at their last ever UK gig at Camden Roundhouse in October 2012 as it became clear that they would split with the audience mood still as hedonistic and wild as it always was at their gigs.

We also saw them play The 02 in 2010 and, like the band Hurts who supported them who we saw the night before this gig, they are without 1 of their key members tonight, co-lead vocalist Ana Matronic.

Co-founder Babydaddy, who returns, explains: ‘I think she’s such a part of the spirit of this band, especially at that moment in time. There were definitely conversations, and I think hopefully a good understanding of it just not being the right time. So it is a little funny (to be reuniting without her). Maybe there is some future where Ana comes back and does stuff too. Who knows? She’ll be in the back of our minds, for sure. But in the meantime, for the 20th anniversary, it just felt like we wanted to see what these songs do out there.’

Scissor Sisters’ self-titled debut album was the best selling in the UK of 2004 with even Bono describing them as ‘the best pop group in the world’.

Matronic is much missed but lead singer Jake Shears has grown in confidence since the band split originally and we have seen triumphant solo tours from him and he’s even joined onstage tonight for 2 songs – coming out party anthem Take Your Mama and closer Music Is The Victim – by his Cabaret co-star Self Esteem (pictured above).

Backing singers Amber Martin and Bridget Barkan also provide some feminine sass from a band whose peculiar brand of underground gay artcore riffing off 70s adult-orientated rock with electroclash coupled with a sprinkling of end-of-the-pier goofing really shouldn’t work on paper.

But on this stage with a sell-out Friday night crowd the atmosphere is electric from the off and when Sir Ian McKellen appears to narrate the fabulously intense and throbbing Frankie Goes To Hollywood-esque Invisible Light the line about ‘fiercely old party children’ rings especially true and the roof of The 02 feels like it just might be lifted off by the ecstatic crowd response.

No notes then – an extremely fun night was had by all. And the potential return of the divine Ms Matronic means there’s still a reason to see this band in their pomp even without the promise of new material.

But new songs of the calibre of this back catalogue would still be the dream. Although, for tonight, we did feel like dancin’ all night thanks to the Scissor Sisters and Alison Goldfrapp and this was phenomenal.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Scissor Sisters Tickets
• Have you seen a Scissor Sisters or Alison Goldfrapp show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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