Lydia Lunch, most famous for her work with Nick Cave of "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds" fame, played an outstanding gig for the Cathedral Arts Festival in Belfast this year. Her performances are usually few and far between. So naturally, I had to be there. This sounds to me like a once in a lifetime opportunity. I should, nay, must go!

Doors opened at 8 pm and in I trundled and bought myself a drink. A cheer went up as Miss Lunch came on stage with her band, an incredibly talented drummer and a mindblowing, ethereal synthesiser player. I was expecting her to play some of her more famous musical feats, like Suicide Ocean or Stink Fist. But this was far more interesting. She performed an hour long spoken word piece, strategically having her band play a musical interlude as she took a sizeable swig from her rather large glass of Jack Daniels.

Miss Lunch is also famous for her visual work. She is a well known photographer and actress. She created a very heavy and pensive atmosphere by projecting some of her recent photography and colour imagery onto a large screen behind her. She used this to effectively tap into her audience's emotions, especially the women. Her words (somewhere along the lines of, "The enemy is in my head! Oh god! The enemy is sleeping in my f**king bed!") made one feel somewhat empowered as she worked herself into a frenzy. It was obvious that she was having the time of her life on stage. All her special little highs are famously not drug- orientated. She saw many people cave into addiction and the pressures of life and decided to explore highs of a more natural nature, such as higher planes of thought and more adventurous forms of sex, to satisfy any physical lust.

The piece was incredibly thought provoking. I noticed many of the male members of the audience responding to her feminist rants with cheers and other forms of vocal support. She laced her work with little pieces of incredibly dark humour ("God was the first cop, for f**k sake!!!") so she could keep her audience on their toes and wanting more.

I met Miss Lunch after the show over a drink and we got down to talking somewhat. I told her that I do some journalism work and would be interested in reviewing the new album for Art IE. She seemed happy with this, since it was a young fan doing this and she invited me to email her with any questions to add to this review, which I have every intention of doing in the near future, so stay tuned! I shall have more for you soon!