1,390 VISION VIDEO, The Pink Diamond Revue, Bristol Louisiana, Monday 16th June 2025

 

“Impressive stuff from a band I’d happily pay cash money to see in their own right…” That was my first-sight summary comment on Athens, GA. goth/ post punkers Vision Video following their rather impressive turn supporting the Chameleons at a freezing Bristol Marble Factory last December (gig 1,360). Subsequent to that, their excellent 2024 “Modern Horror” album (picked up at that gig) not only featured on heavy rotation in the car, but also in the upper reaches of my Top Ten albums for 2024. Despite the artwork and lyricism imagery being full-on 80’s schlock-horror Batcave, their sound on CD is a properly intriguing melting pot of 80’s influences, with the driving synth influences of New Order and Depeche Mode, the stately widescreen choral work of The Bunnymen and even the melancholy craftsmanship of Talk Talk rubbing shoulders with the more obvious touchstones of early Cure’s breathless gallop and Bauhaus’ art school menace; but ultimately, similar to loose goth-tinged contemporaries Desperate Journalist and Ist Ist, Vision Video sound fresh, vital, modern and most like… well, themselves…

 So yes, I was definitely up for keeping my promise, so when Dusty Gannon, Vision Video lead vocalist/ guitarist and self-styled “Goth Dad” decided to bring his charges over for a small UK club tour, I booked up for this one, intrigued to see how the imposing Gannon would manage to fit his sheer strident force of personality into the tiny confines of the Louie upstairs room! So, a sunny and hot early Summer evening saw me don my “I Melt With You” t-shirt (seemed appropriate; this promised to be a hot one!) and hoy it down the M4, parking up at 7.30, picking up the 2 earlier VV CDs, then joining a milling throng of young goths and older first-time-rounders upstairs. Openers The Pink Diamond Revue were on at 8, kicking off with some migraine-inducing taped sheet metal synth noise, over which a rock veteran resplendent in white jacket and gold trousers overlaid subterranean riffs channelling NYC proto-punk sleaze rockers Suicide. Not for me, though, so after a couple of numbers I hi-tailed it outside to take in some cooling evening air.

Back in for about ¼ to 9, taking a spot centre stage a couple of rows back, surrounded by a plethora of goth women of all ages. Vision Video’s visual appeal is pretty obvious, it seems… Sure enough, the frankly unfairly handsome Gannon, all done up in white-faced Batcave chic (apparently modelled on 80’s Batcave regulars Specimen’s Olli Wisdom, a point Gannon was happy to concede during a lengthy and entertaining post-gig conversation) led his 3-piece (striking goth keyboardist Angelica and rock-star skinny drummer Ryan completing the line-up) onstage, then ripping into the dark, macabre moody rock of opener “Dead Gods”, praising Bristol at its’ denouement with, “this is one of my favourite cities in the fucking world!” 

Maybe Vision Video should be called “Carpe Diem”, as so much of their performance and message is about seizing the moment, revelling in the here and now, about community and inclusiveness, and more importantly taking a stand against the horrors of the world outside, but for tonight parking them at the door to immerse in the healing power of goth tinged rock and roll. And in Gannon, they have a man who, on any other planet, would be the Spokesperson for his Generation. Because the man talks more sense than any politician, front-person or social commentator I’ve seen on stage for years. The first of many anti-Trump tirades and spot-on observations about the parlous state of the world came before second number, “Sign Of The Times”, then “Normalised” was a careering and thrilling apocalyptic hell-ride and early highlight. The tense Cure gallop of “Balaclava Kiss” was preceded by Gannon touching on his old firefighter days (“turns out being nihilistic is only cool in movies!”); the widescreen and yearning “Stay” was a hymn to perseverance through life’s difficulties: and after a rather lovely keyboard-led “queer anthem”, the stripped-back Replacements cover “Androgynous”, Gannon introduced another cover with, “who here has heard of the Comsat Angels?” Silly question, my hand went straight up with a, “hell yeah!”, Gannon replying to me with, “there’s always one middle-aged guy!” before the poppy late-period CA cover of “You Move Me”.

“Now we’re gonna dance our asses off!” was the demand thereafter, the melancholy dreampop swirl of “Sirens Song” ceding to a propulsive cover of The Cure’s excellent “Just Like Heaven” and an equally breathless “I Love Cats”. But the best was saved for last tonight; eschewing the pantomime of the encore, the voluble Gannon praised our enthusiasm and called for one last singalong to the New Order-esque bass intro and U2-like hurtling Stadium anthem-in-waiting “In My Side”, ending an utterly tremendous set. 

Quick chats with Angelica (who kindly sorted me a list) and Ryan, whose elastic octopus-limbed performance for me recalled Nada Surf’s extraordinary sticksman Ira Elliott. High praise indeed! Joined a lengthy queue to chat with Mr. Gannon, holding court downstairs, and patience was rewarded with a fun and lengthy brain-dump with The Man, mainly about 80’s music. Hugs and compliments later, I hit the road buzzing about the evening, back to the ‘don just after midnight. A promise very easily kept, this, because in Vision Video we have another band I’d be happy to see again… and again… and again!