She Came Here to Blow Minds: Wendy James brings ‘The Shape of History’ to Southampton
Touring behind her tenth overall studio release, the Transvision Vamp singer delivered sneering rock hooks and alt-punk at The Brook.
Photo: David Leigh Dodd
In the waning years of the 1980s, British rock group Transvision Vamp achieved enormous success. Their first two albums, Pop Art and Velveteen, broke into the Top 5 of the British album chart, and though they disbanded sometime in 1992 (reforming for an Australian tour next year), frontwoman Wendy James went on to carve out her own formidable solo career, starting with the Elvis Costello-penned Now Ain’t the Time for Your Tears. 2024 marked the release of The Shape of History, her fifth solo album, and in October 2025 the Vamp singer swaggered into Southampton for a celebration of her work.
For those expecting a night of non-stop Vamp hits and deeper cuts — perhaps Hanging Out with Halo Jones or Sister Moon — it was a lesson in always doing your research. This wasn’t a Vamp gig, it was a Wendy James gig; a self-professed ‘legacy tour’. Across Vamp, a side project called Racine and her own solo albums, there are ten records to dig through and sort into a two-hour set.
And a legacy set, it was; James rifled back through a nearly 40-year catalogue, plucking tracks from Pop Art, Racine 2 and Queen High Straight with cool, calculated stage presence. Gloriously ‘80s glam, alt rock and sneering punk all melded together, one track after the other, carried by James’ immensely talented backing band and her own cat-like confidence. They all carried the same through line; nuanced rock with a bit of real grit.
The night opened with Tell That Girl to Shut Up, a cover of the Holly and the Italians song that Vamp would later re-release on Pop Art. Do You Dig It Do You Love It Is It Groovy, off the new album, kicked off the solo material with some backbeat, while Speedball, a grungy rocker off I Came Here to Blow Minds, packed the venue with its crunchy riff.
The only problem James faced that night were the slower numbers, which, to the Southampton crowds on a Friday evening, were excuses for trips to the bar and a loo break. The same fate befell opening act Mimi Rae, a local artist whose stripped-back set often clashed with deafening chatter from the audience. Farewell to Love, a rare venture into the country genre, was a fine ebb to the night’s otherwise neurotic rhythm, despite the background chatter.
“Ironically…” said James, “I want your love…”. And that’s all she needed to get the crowd back on side. The Transvision Vamp hit, one of the biggest in their career, was full of as much glam, vigour and wall of sound fuzz as the original recording, and a high moment of the night.
You’re So Great, another clattering rock track, cemented James’s bravado as a fiery solo musician, followed by equally formidable Perilous Beauty and sprawling epic, You’re A Dirtbomb, Lester. Guitarist Alex Ward looked remarkably cool as he delivered pounding solo after chugging solo across powerhouses You’re A Good Man, Sister and I’m Freaking Out.
The main set closed with Vamp’s signature Baby I Don’t Care, and after a short break, the four-piece returned to triumphant cheers and wood-stomped clamour. The Impression of Normalcy, off Queen High Straight, rivals the rocky highs of any Transvision chart topper, while the night closed with fan favourites If Looks Could Kill and Bad Valentine, off TV’s Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble (the group’s third and final album released in 1991) and Bad Valentine, respectively.
For those in the crowd that night, still uncertain, James proved a universal truth: Transvision Vamp’s poppy pomp, flair, and punkish roots didn’t go away when the band disbanded in the early ‘90s. The spirit of all of that — bitter societal observations and personal experiences wrapped up in grungy riffs and groovy climaxes — persevered, distilled down into Wendy James and her band. One big, bold, vicious rumble.