The Stranglers
15th April 2023
The Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
Let me just cut to the chase here: regular readers will know that I tend towards the enthusiastic in my appraisals. What can I say? I like stuff, okay? But this show tonight? Fucking amazing!!! A band who’s origins go back nearly 50 years, playing as tightly as ever, giving an absolutely masterful performance that showed why their appeal still holds to this day!
This is the latest instalment of an occasional series in which I get to review bands who have formed a major part in my musical appreciations over various periods of my life. The Stranglers were an early obsession, my entry point having been at arguably their least accessible album, in the form of “The Gospel According To The Men In Black”, to give it its full title (this thing of entry points being at inaccessible times was repeated in regards to The Clash, in their case “Sandinista”’s somewhat bloated sprawl – but that’s a story for another day). This, with its curious little beeps and voices, and massive synth washes, has been regarded by some as perhaps their least representative album, but it held enough within it to encourage further exploration, and within a short time I had acquired all the recorded output to date (bar the illusive/elusive “IV” – not to be confused with Rattus Norvegicus. True collectors of that period know what I mean!). This started a habit which continued for a few albums more, up until “Dreamtime”, before life and other stuff started getting in the way. Hugh Cornwell’s departure from the band, and subsequent replacement by Paul Roberts, didn’t help to cut through either – somewhere in there I acquired the “About Time” album and found it, frankly, somewhat lacking, when stacked against the earlier material. Consequently, I’ve been, quite frankly, out of touch with the band’s more recent material, and the rejuvenation brought to the ranks by, firstly, Baz Warne, and subsequent further additions to the line-up, but based on tonight’s performance I deeply regret that ignorance and intend to remedy it as soon as I can. Because this is a band that still kicks with the best of them, and I now wish I’d not glossed over the past few tours!
But in any case, enough with the reminiscence and missed opportunity – time to talk about what we were all gathered to hear! The position of support act was filled by a guy called Jon, from a band once known as Pacifier. Although you may know him as Jon Toogood, from the redoubtable Shihad! Performing a solo set that threatened to be cut short by some unintended acrobatics, and mercifully shorn of any baiting of musical correspondents, he delivered acoustic renditions of both Shihad’s and other bands material, while dispensing advice on matters broad and diverse, including the naming of offspring, how not to reunite a child with a beloved soft toy, and other subjects. At the same time offering singing advice for the travelling contingent of fans, and showing the impact of a long career on the ability to hit the high notes. So all around, fairly successful at the task of providing warm-up!
But with all due respect to the man, it wasn’t him that we were there to see, and after the obligatory “crew doing techy stuff” interval, at a couple minutes past the scheduled time of 9pm, the lights went out and the quirky sounds of “WaltzInBlack” rang out across the hall, as the four band members took their stage positions, before kicking in to “Toiler On The Seas” from 1978’s “Black and White” album, followed by renditions of “Duchess” and “Sometimes”, all of which displayed zero loss of urgency, passion or power from those originally laid down over 40 years ago – promising much indeed from what was yet to come!
Following some brave attempts at Te Reo (well, at least they tried, and to be honest some of their mangling was no worse than what can be heard on a daily basis from some of the population who were actually born here!), a further highlight was in the form of “Nice’n’Sleazy”, with JJ clearly enjoying the opportunity to show his powerful skills on four strings! Although, if I’m honest, for a brief while, the fact of a bald man delivering words of dubious content might almost have made me wonder whether a certain slippery customer who used to run an airline might have entered the room! A small difference, though, in that this man showed himself capable of words with substance, which I wanted to hear… (ooh sorry, did I get a little political there?)
But speaking of things we wanted to hear, things got slightly more mellow with “Always The Sun” and “Skin Deep”, before the distinctive bass intro that signalled it was time for “Peaches”, followed by “Golden Brown”, which set at least one couple waltzing! This was in spite of the catastrophic equipment failure which saw Baz unable to provide the song’s guitar solo-initially, at least, the tune being reanimated for him to do his bit (and leading him to quip that it was probably his best-ever rendition!). As he said “It’s live music – shit happens!”
A perfect playthrough of the band’s cover of “Walk on By” allowed the display of the full range of musical ability, with its extended instrumental interplay satisfying the fans, and leading in nicely to the pair of absolute bangers that are “Something Better Change” and “Hanging Around”. The end of the main set saw a full looping back to “Black and White” with “Tank”.
The first encore consisted of a definite slowing of pace, with JJ breaking out an acoustic guitar (!) for the song “Lines”, a paean to the aging process that affects us all, and then delivering the heart-rending “If You See Dave”, a tribute to the deceased band member and friend, given an extra poignancy by the fact that it was in this venue that he played his last gig with them – and a powerful emotional wallop from the line “here is where your solo would go” with an attendant spotlighting of the empty (for this song) spot behind the keyboards…
But after the melancholy, the second encore saw JJ promising to “finish wildly”, and that is what they proceeded to do, with firstly “Go Buddy Go”, the first ever song they wrote and performed as a band, 49 long years ago(!), and then closing out with the tribute/lament “No More Heroes”, sending a hugely entertained audience out in to a cool Tamaki Makaurau evening, filled with many inspiring memories, and living in hope that this won’t be the last time we see them!
The Stranglers:
Jon Toogood:
Were you there at the Auckland Town Hall for this great flashback rock gig? Or have you seen The Stranglers perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Toiler On The Sea
- Duchess
- Sometimes
- Relentless
- Nice ‘N’ Sleazy
- This Song
- Never To Look Back
- Always The Sun
- Skin Deep
- Peaches
- Golden Brown
- White Stallion
- (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
- Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front)
- Nuclear Device
- Walk On By [Burt Bacharach cover]
- Something Better Change
- Hanging Around
- Tank
- The Lines
- And If You Should See Dave…
- Go Buddy Go
- No More Heroes
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It was the last gig of The Stranglers’ current antipodean tour and it took place at the iconic Newcastle music venue, The Cambridge. A solid crowd of punk/new wave veterans had turned up to try to resurrect the atmosphere from the 70’s & 80’s in what has always been one of Newcastle’s grungiest, stickiest & smelliest of venues, a point Baz felt was worthy of comment.
In the dim light, you could have been forgiven for thinking time had been turned back for the audience, as they jumped, pumped and swayed in response to the energy that The Stranglers brought to the stage. Working through a set-list incorporating all the band’s hits and many of the also-rans, the audience rose to the occasion, screaming along while sharing nostalgic and knowing smiles which captured some of the lost hope of youth.
As the set drew to its conclusion, with the audience in raptures, both Baz and JJ drew on this palpable nostalgia, reflecting that ‘The Cambo’ was the kind of venue in which they, and most bands of their era, had cut their musical teeth. And that’s where nostalgia gave way to reality, since no venue is as ready for the wrecker’s ball as ‘The Cambo’.
All up, the evening provided a powerful reminder of the era from which The Stranglers’ emerged, as well as their origins and legacy. And it showed that this audiences had the ability to cast off the years and relive the time when they too were reckless & energised.
Great show in Christchurch, even better than 2020. It’s a shame that Jon Toogood has a potty mouth, maybe I’m old fashioned but the constant swearing put me off.
Great show, good times, Goodbye The Stranglers
They did a great job in Wellington aswell. Similar set. The guys were very relaxed and enjoying themselves. New keys man Toby did a top job covering/interpreting Dave Greenfield. Walk on By was a highlight too 👍