"What do you mean there's a new railway station called Shepherd's Bush?" asked the railway employee. Workwise, I've been off track for so long that I've lost track of on-track developments. Does that make any sense?
I am of course talking about the newly opened London Overground station which will help commuters venture towards the equally newly opened shopping centre in the same area. Being a bloke, regular shopping bores me rigid. I'm a stealth shopper - list at hand, ready to barge into the supermarket with expert trolley skills which help me navigate the aisles with economic precision, sharp of mind and plain of purpose. Regular shopping needs to be done with minimal fuss with the aim of getting it out of the way ASAP. But I digress.
Meeting up with Col at Clapham Junction was the straightforward solution for the night's event last Saturday. At the time, he wasn't looking forward to seeing
The Stranglers, not being his bag and stuff, but one way of looking at it would be as a night out on the piss with live music. After a few pints at a less crowded boozer just around the corner from the venue, we decided to make our way for some bass thumping tunes. Tickets checked, we were ushered towards being physically searched (something Col got a kick out of) and then we were directed to the upper balcony on the right facing the stage. We arrived too late for access to the stalls but this wasn't a bad thing. We had a good view of the proceedings from where we ended up, although it did affect the stereo sound we would've been privvy to had we been in the centre facing the PA. Sound quality wasn't that great throughout the concert, but that's perhaps due to the nature of the theatre.
It's a fantastic feeling when the lights go down just before the main band arrives onstage and the "Waltzinblack" backing tape starts playing. Look, here they are! Three original members and a bald Geordie to entertain us. It was then that I realised that poor old Jet Black is getting on, back from recovery (he missed the
Hyde Park gig in the summer due to ill health), and with the news that Mitch Mitchell had popped his clogs made me think that this could be the last time I'd get to seeing Jet on the stage. I hope not, but a sense of mortality has really kicked in with me of late. Better to enjoy it while it's there.
First song of the night was "Get A Grip", always a storming set opener, followed by "5 Minutes". The order of the songs played after that evades me as I just decided to get into it. It was a greatest hits set with lots of familiar fodder to please their hardcore following ("Straighten Out", "Thrown Away" and the marvellous "Tank") as well as the more recognisable stuff ("Golden Brown", "Always The Sun", "Duchess", a sprightly "Nuclear Device" and the marvellous "Walk On By", Dionne Warwick eat your heart out).
Two encores were played, the last being the obligatory "No More Heroes" and then they were off. A good basic no-frills gig, low on bullshit, high on entertainment. Even that drunken Dutch bint who was dancing next to us seemed to be enjoying herself after being chucked out from the lower standing area.
Do you know what? I didn't miss
Hugh, not in the slightest. Bald Geordie bloke (AKA Baz Warne) did a damn fine job of taking over where John Ellis and Paul Roberts had left off. The last time I saw The Stranglers with Hugh in the line up proved to be a dire affair, the guy was just not into it so it was just aswell that he left shortly after their Ally Pally gig back in 1990. Hugh's been out of the band for longer than he's been in it and I think it's been a similar case with
The Undertones, Feargal felt that he couldn't go on singing "Teenage Kicks" as a middle aged man. His replacement, Paul McClune (another middle aged man) went on to do the job very nicely, thank you very much. Hugh and Feargal aren't that charismatic as frontmen, although you'd have trouble replacing the lead singers in bands like The Sex Pistols and The Dead Kennedys.
Queen with Paul Rogers? Who are they trying to kid? It can work with some bands though, and The Stranglers seem to get away with it. Below is a YouTube clip of the current line up doing a rendition of "Bitching", make your own minds up.
The rest of the evening remains rather hazy but it involved more drink, half pound burgers and a post box.
"Taxi"!
"What do you mean there's a new railway station called Shepherd's Bush?" asked the railway employee. Workwise, I've been off track for so long that I've lost track of on-track developments. Does that make any sense?
I am of course talking about the newly opened London Overground station which will help commuters venture towards the equally newly opened shopping centre in the same area. Being a bloke, regular shopping bores me rigid. I'm a stealth shopper - list at hand, ready to barge into the supermarket with expert trolley skills which help me navigate the aisles with economic precision, sharp of mind and plain of purpose. Regular shopping needs to be done with minimal fuss with the aim of getting it out of the way ASAP. But I digress.
Meeting up with Col at Clapham Junction was the straightforward solution for the night's event last Saturday. At the time, he wasn't looking forward to seeing The Stranglers, not being his bag and stuff, but one way of looking at it would be as a night out on the piss with live music. After a few pints at a less crowded boozer just around the corner from the venue, we decided to make our way for some bass thumping tunes. Tickets checked, we were ushered towards being physically searched (something Col got a kick out of) and then we were directed to the upper balcony on the right facing the stage. We arrived too late for access to the stalls but this wasn't a bad thing. We had a good view of the proceedings from where we ended up, although it did affect the stereo sound we would've been privvy to had we been in the centre facing the PA. Sound quality wasn't that great throughout the concert, but that's perhaps due to the nature of the theatre.
It's a fantastic feeling when the lights go down just before the main band arrives onstage and the "Waltzinblack" backing tape starts playing. Look, here they are! Three original members and a bald Geordie to entertain us. It was then that I realised that poor old Jet Black is getting on, back from recovery (he missed the Hyde Park gig in the summer due to ill health), and with the news that Mitch Mitchell had popped his clogs made me think that this could be the last time I'd get to seeing Jet on the stage. I hope not, but a sense of mortality has really kicked in with me of late. Better to enjoy it while it's there.
First song of the night was "Get A Grip", always a storming set opener, followed by "5 Minutes". The order of the songs played after that evades me as I just decided to get into it. It was a greatest hits set with lots of familiar fodder to please their hardcore following ("Straighten Out", "Thrown Away" and the marvellous "Tank") as well as the more recognisable stuff ("Golden Brown", "Always The Sun", "Duchess", a sprightly "Nuclear Device" and the marvellous "Walk On By", Dionne Warwick eat your heart out).
Two encores were played, the last being the obligatory "No More Heroes" and then they were off. A good basic no-frills gig, low on bullshit, high on entertainment. Even that drunken Dutch bint who was dancing next to us seemed to be enjoying herself after being chucked out from the lower standing area.
Do you know what? I didn't miss Hugh, not in the slightest. Bald Geordie bloke (AKA Baz Warne) did a damn fine job of taking over where John Ellis and Paul Roberts had left off. The last time I saw The Stranglers with Hugh in the line up proved to be a dire affair, the guy was just not into it so it was just aswell that he left shortly after their Ally Pally gig back in 1990. Hugh's been out of the band for longer than he's been in it and I think it's been a similar case with The Undertones, Feargal felt that he couldn't go on singing "Teenage Kicks" as a middle aged man. His replacement, Paul McClune (another middle aged man) went on to do the job very nicely, thank you very much. Hugh and Feargal aren't that charismatic as frontmen, although you'd have trouble replacing the lead singers in bands like The Sex Pistols and The Dead Kennedys.
Queen with Paul Rogers? Who are they trying to kid? It can work with some bands though, and The Stranglers seem to get away with it. Below is a YouTube clip of the current line up doing a rendition of "Bitching", make your own minds up.
The rest of the evening remains rather hazy but it involved more drink, half pound burgers and a post box.
"Taxi"!
