Spear of Destiny at Papillion, Southampton (22.10.2025) with Billy Liberator supporting.
A rainy Wednesday night and an hour’s drive over to Southampton to a venue I’d heard a bit about but never been to: Papillion. What a place. Smart and inside an old church, opposite Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre, and more to the point The Mayflower Village pub. My blog today is perhaps more heavy on the venue as it’s new to me, whereas Kirk feels like one of my most familiar performers. Several previous blogs found here. And its only four months since my last Kirk gig, that being in Theatre Hate form at the Forever Now one day festival.
Fortunately, I wasn’t driving – thank you Richard – a good selection of craft ale and lagers in the pub, before I found Guiness and Neck Oil in Papillion. I needed this tonight.
Inside there is a lot of mirrored glass – glitz nightclub decor but smart. It’s a great size for a smaller gig (450 capacity). The dance floor area provides the natural little bowl to stand in and plenty of room back from that. To left side front and rear right side, some handy raised bench seats – which I started in but felt compelled to get out more in front later , after a few pics and video down the front side (Never Take Me Alive here on my YouTube channel).
Upstairs there is a small balcony running around the dancefloor area. It was shut but with those tables and chairs set out for food and I wonder if that is ever open for gigs – maybe calmer acts.
When I was looking for the support band beforehand, I didn’t find it that easily and seeing the name Billy Liberator I thought this was a joke playing on a Spear of Destiny (SoD) anthem – was it maybe just Kirk with a guitar first? No. Billy Liberator is from Woking and has supported Big Country and The Alarm before. He was a good listen to get things going.
There is a lovely familiar feel to a SoD/ Theatre of Hate audience. Familiar faces, t-shirts, jackets, chat. It’s a warm appreciative and focused audience. We’ve come to see the band not talking through it all or piss about. ‘Reluctantly mature’ is how I’d pitch it.
The tour is the Janus tour, Janus being a double album of the rerecordings of two previous releases, Outlands (1987) and The Price You Pay (1988): two of the more successful LPs chart wise. I bought my copy on the way out afterwards.
The set was Outlands heavy which I appreciated and only a few from The Price You Pay. With Kirk’s best ever charting (no.14 UK) single, Never Take Me Alive, it’s a good listen. As well as that calmer epic this evening there are the livelier anthems of Strangers in Our Town and, sounding nostalgic, Time of Our Lives. We’re still having a good go, aren’t we?
Kirk is 69 now and he’s been a prolific tourer in recent years. Hopefully his health scare and hospitalisation last year is behind him but it’s a nasty wake up. His voice is still beautifully controlled and powerful….hitting those long high notes. There is a lot of concentration etched on his face while playing and later he looks to let himself go, warming to the singing and air punching of Liberator and Rainmaker. This was more like a reunion for old friends, such was the warmth of reception.
I confess to not knowing a lot of material after the first six albums but it’s all a good listen where it punctuated the set and the sound in here is spot on.
Mickey and title track World Service remind you why it was that those came from highest charting SoD album. Tonight wasn’t all about the obvious highlights though. A beautiful atmosphere of the ‘reluctantly mature’ having a good night out, while shining a new light on Outlands, in particular.
See you all again soon 👍 and a return to Papillion shortly for me I hope.
Gigs with Ivan 