7/12/2009 Skin @ Islington Academy

Subject	Skin @ Islington Academy
PostedDate	12/7/2009
	I end my five out of six nights in a row gig frenzy with a bit of a blast from the past! Early 90's band Skin are back after reforming to play at Download. Now they are touring and I scored some free tickets from Decadence.  This band which formed from the ashes of Jagged Edge weren't around for that long first time round and never quite got the success they deserved. But all that was a long time ago and I wondered if they had much chance of filling a venue the size of Islington Academy? The place is packed! They have managed to reform the whole original lineup - not something many bands from that era can manage. Back then they were great musicians with a fine catalogue of songs - those things haven't changed. Myke Gray in particular had hair back in the day, and a lot of it - so it's a bit strange seeing him now looking like a member of Right Said Fred! Fortunately Skin sound nothing like the follically challenged popsters and still rock as hard as ever even if Myke is apparently too sexy for his shirt. To show they are serious, the band have put out some new material - an acoustic album containing 4 new songs and 8 old ones. Naturally, the old classics like 'Tower Of Strength', 'Money', 'Look But Don't Touch', and their cover of the EMF hit 'Unbeleiveable' all get an airing tonight. The band look and sound really pleased to be back, and get a great reception form the fans. Skin might not look the same these days, but they sound great and are an excellent live band. It will be interesting to see where they take it from here...