Back when I was a kid my best mate’s brother had an amazing record collection but we were never allowed to touch it so of course every Saturday when he headed down the pub we pulled out all his records and played them to death. His collection was almost completely Hard Rock except for this one wonderfully eclectic band – The Stranglers. I’ve loved them ever since the needle first hit the groove on The Raven which was the first record we played as at the time we thought it had the coolest cover. A good forty years later and I’ve seen both The Stranglers and their former lead singer many times, but tonight might just have been the best so far.
Perth has witnessed awesome shows already this year but this might just top them all as The Stranglers brought their ‘Fifty Years In Black – The Anniversary Tour’ to the West and a packed house at The Astor. Support for the whole tour came from New South Wales’ Merrin Jeann who brough her own brand of eccentric, eclectic and skittish rock to a largely appreciative audience.
Merryn Jeann is all about the art and it was great to watch the varying audience reactions as her set unfolded. Certainly not an artist for everyone she equally beguiled and mystified the Astor crowd who were perhaps expecting something a little less ‘Avant grade’ and a little more rock and roll. Accompanied by a French trumpeter and a Victorian (the place not the era, though that too might be possible) ‘musician’ who seemed to be mainly queuing samples and backing tapes she came across as part Lene Lovich and art Yoko Ono.
Whilst some of the songs bordered on quaint and interesting Indie Pop others we more of an artistic than simply musical concoction. As someone who spent a lot of time frequenting teh Indie and Goth scenes in the early 80’s there was nothing really new but rather echoes of those days when music and art weren’t quite as strange bedfellows as most would see them today. Add a touch of PJ Harvey and The Cocteau’s and it was hard to not find something enicing n the mix and the audience seemed to get more involved the deeper we got into their set.
Sadly since The Stranglers last visited Perth we’ve lost both Jet Black and Dave Greenfield and tonight the sparse stage saw only Jean- Jacques Brunel the only original member of the band on stage with only Hugh Cornwell (who visited Perth a few months ago) from the band that emerged 50 years ago still with us. There will of course never be a reunion of the two so tonight was a timely reminder that the band is still making new fans all these years later.
With Baz Warne taking on guitar and vocal duties (the latter shared with JJ) it’s a sold band that knows how to treat their legacy and knows exactly what the fans want. The Stranglers 50 years on is a band comfortable in their own skin and the crowd is as raucous tonight, despite their advancing years, as a crowd half their age.
There is of course only one way to open a Stranglers show…with a tape of Edith Piaf’s ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’ before silence and the a slip into one of teh most distinctive instrumentals in Pop history ”Waltz In Black’ before the band took to the stage, ambling into position before launching into a rousing ‘Toiler On the Sea’ from the superb ‘Black and White’ and named after teh Victor Hugo book.
From then on in it’s a setlist to marvel at as the band seamlessly blend the old and the album tracks with new songs and singles. Warne makes it all seem so easy and has a remarkable relationship with the crowd and is ably backed by new boys Jim Macaulay (drums), and Toby Hounsham (keyboards) along with the legend that is Mr. Brunell, who can still brood with the best though at the same time looking like he is about to burst out into a huge smile.
After ‘Toiler On The Sea’ we’re immediately into the wonderful ”(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)’ and Duchess, all without missing beat. ‘The Raven’ that follows is simply sublime and still probably one of my favourite Stranglers songs. There’s so much power and energy tonight but with that attitude there’s also a huge amount of light and shade at play. So whilst The Stranglers can do Punk and Hard Rock, it’s the multi-faceted nature of the band that makes them so completely compelling.
But it’s a fluid set and whilst ‘Nice ‘n’ Sleazy’ gets the entire crowd singing along the most interesting part of the set for me is the next few songs that reveal starkly teh Strangler depth. It starts with ‘Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front)’ again from ‘Black and White’, my favourite track from ‘The Gospel According to the Meninblack‘ – ‘Just Like Nothing on Earth’ and then jumping a few decades forwards to ‘Freedom Is Insane’ from 2012’s ‘Giants’ which marked the departure of singer Paul Roberts and Warne adding vocals to his guitar.
With Warne sharing vocals with Burnell in this section ‘Don’t Bring Harry’ sounds huge and despite the excessive and slightly unseasonal Perth heat both the band and crowd are surviving! ‘Skin Deep’ rom one of my favourite albums the resurgent ‘Aural Sculpture’ is another highlight, and whilst ‘Breathe’ is welcomed warmly it’s nothing compared to the giant bassline of ‘Peaches’ that raises the roof even without the crowd’s help.
From then on in it’s all golden: ‘Strange Little Girl’ weaves into the immortal ‘Golden Brown’ and ‘Always the Sun’ has us all hitting the high notes – it’s amazing to realise that we are no where near the encore yet!
‘Genetix’ again from ‘The Raven’ goes down as a rare treat and features Toby Hounsham take the vocal wonderfully well, before a rousing ‘White Stallion’ from latest album ‘Dark Matters’ leads the charge to close the main set. It’s a thing of wonder to hear the Punk take on Mr. Bacharach’s ‘Walk On By’ before the huge ‘Hanging Around’ and ‘Something Better Change’ lead us to closer ‘Black and White’s’ opener ‘Tank’.
It’s a wonderful way to close the main set in a red hot night in the West.
The two encore songs a real gems first teh very first song the band ever wrote and where it all began came ‘Go Buddy Go’ teh B-Side of the lyrically ‘interesting’ ‘Peaches’ that was played on Top of the Pops when ‘Peaches’ was banned. Between it and the final song Warne extolls the virtues of live music and the need for local band to have a place to play and grow. He’s not wrong and his words are greeted warmly.
‘No More Heroes’ of course has to close even if its title is getting even more real these days. The Stranglers remain one of Rock’s truly great bands and tonight everyone here knows it. Here’s to the next 50!
SETLIST:
Toiler On The Sea
(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
The Raven
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy
Sweden (All Quiet On The Eastern Front)
Just Like Nothing on Earth
Freedom Is Insane
Don’t Bring Harry
Skin Deep
Breathe
Peaches
Strange Little Girl
Golden Brown
Always The Sun
Genetix
White Stallion
Walk On By (Burt Bacharach cover)
Hanging Around
Something Better Change
Tank
ENCORE:
Go Buddy Go
No More Heroes
