Hugh Cornwell
Pavlis isn’t digging it but the final five songs make it all make sense.
This is a tough review to write. See, a lot – but not all - of tonight’s show warranted no more than a meh response. Former Stranglers frontman Cornwell is a hero to many. Whilst I wouldn’t go that far, I do love his work with The Stranglers but kinda lost touch with his solo career.
Things don’t get off to a great start. Before the first of two sets, there is some smooth jazz of the type that would get Smashie and Nicey excited (and gods doesn’t that show my age?). It probably only lasts for ten minutes but feels sooooo much longer.
When the set kicks off, it is Hugh on guitar and vox backed up by Pat on bass and Windsor on drums. I don’t get close enough to be sure but it seems that keys, harmonica and more are either on a backing track or generated by Windsor and his laptop. Hugh’s voice doesn’t have the character and edge it had in his younger years. It is still good in the lower registers but he struggles with the higher notes. That said, the guitar playing is still pretty glorious, whilst the rhythm section is powerful, well drilled and provide decent backing vox.
The first set spans Cornwell’s solo career and it is, well, OK. The trouble is, it is all a bit too well drilled. This could be an above average tribute band. With my notes mentioning Chris Rea, Texas and Mark Knopfler, this set is frequently too middle of the road, one-paced and a little plodding. That said, the title track of latest album Moments of Madness is a great dub-reggae-post-punk groover and Mr Leather sounds like an outtake from Lou Reed’s New York, which is appropriate given it is a tribute to the late Mr Reed. Highlights Under Her Spell comes on like The Damned circa Phantasmagoria albeit without Vanian’s voice, I Want One Of Those recalls Chris Isaak’s Blue Hotel and Another Kind of Love is a glorious 60s surf-psych-garage rocker.
After more of that smooth jazz, the second set is all Stranglers classics and I think it is fair to say is this that most people are here for. And it is a step up on set 1 but, and it’s a big but, I saw the current line-up of the Stranglers do several of these songs at the LCR back in February and, well, they may not necessarily do them better but they certainly do them with more fire. Just as I am considering cutting out early, we get Goodbye Toulouse, Five Minutes and an instrumental that I think (but stand to be corrected) was Turn the Centuries, Turn and suddenly I am won over. These three songs and the encore of Golden Brown and Duchess were worth the price of admission alone.
Look I don’t want to be negative. Cornwell and band played for over two hours, played 28 or so songs and Cornwell himself was signing stuff at the merch stand within seconds of leaving the stage. Technically, the playing was great. It was just a bit too polite for me. But maybe that is down to the trio of great sets I saw on Thursday, Friday and Saturday last week – UK Subs (who were anything but too polite), CMAT and the ever amazing Other Half.
