THE STRANGLERS & RUTS DC

Due to an early - really early! - and bad planning on my part, I miss the beginning of RUTS DC’s set, which also happened when they played the Waterfront back in 2019. That is so bloody annoying as I love this band. As it is, I arrive in time for a cracking Kill The Pain, followed by West One (Shine On Me) and a menacing take on Born Innocent. The audience response is a bit reserved up to this point, a few staunch fans aside, but a skanktastic Jah War, Staring at the Rude Boys and downright disturbing In a Rut win the crowd over before the closing brace of one of the best singles to come out of punk in Babylon's Burning and relative new song Psychic Attack. Ruffy and Segs, on drums and vox/bass, make for a superb rhythm section and Leigh Heggarty is no slouch on guitar. RUTS DC will be touring again in November and December but there is no Norwich date yet. Hopefully, that will be added to their schedule soon. 

Since 1974, over the course of 18 studio albums and through line-up changes, THE STRANGLERS have navigated from pub-rock to baroque rock elder statesmen via punk and new wave. As the 70s turned into the 80s, they were even bona fide pop stars. Tonight showcases the latest line-up change, with bassist, co-lead vocalist and sole original member Jean-Jacques Burnel, long standing vox/guitar man Baz Warne and drummer Jim Macaulay being joined by Toby Hounsham on keys. This is also the first time the band have toured since keys man Dave Greenfield passed away with COVID in 2020. 

With Macaulay and Hounsham playing atop risers set either side of stairway, this is one of the best stage sets I have seen at this venue, with big kudos to the lighting designer and tech. Of course, a great stage set is no substitute for good songs, played well. There are no worries on that front, with both being superb. From the intro tape of Waltz In Black to the outro tape of Men In Black, by my reckoning the band play 26 songs. For over two hours, the set covers their entire career. There are five or six tracks from most recent, critically acclaimed album Dark Matters, including a gloriously over the top White Stallion, complete with with taped orchestra, choir and opera singer. The set list doesn’t skimp on the classics. JJB’s bass sound is downright filthy - appropriately enough - on both Nice n’ Sleazy and Peaches. Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus) manages to sound like The Kinks and Cardiacs at the same time, which is both no mean feat and a very good thing indeed . THE STRANGLERS’ take on Walk On By is quite possibly the definitive version. Skin Deep, Strange Little Girl, Always The Sun and Golden Brown are weird but perfect, timeless pop classics. And encore closer No More Heroes is a just about perfect rock song.