Just before the Skids come on tonight, the venue sound system plays “God Save The Queen” by the Sex Pistols. When Johnny Rotten snarls his way to “no future, no future”, the irony isn’t lost on me. What we’ve seen tonight could easily be framed as a celebration of the past – and in part it is – but that’s not the whole story.
Because while this night is rooted firmly in the late-70s and early-80s post-punk moment, it’s also about what still works, what still resonates, and what still has bite.
Au Pairs – who play the evenings only new song in “Wrong Body” open proceedings, and yes, this is a band with history – and baggage – but that’s not for here. What matters is what happens on stage, and what they make is smart, angular, disciplined and still pointed.
There’s a brief nod from Lesley Woods to merch at the back and a gently self-aware “we hope you have a little dance,” before they launch into a set that leans hard on the band’s sharp edges and sharper ideas.
“Come Again” cuts in on jagged guitar lines, while “Love Song” is rich with harmony. “We’re So Cool” crackles with energy, Woods delivering lines like “you must have everything, what is it you want?” with renewed edge. Before their Bowie cover, “Repetition”, Woods introduces it starkly as being about “wife beating in America”, which reframes the song entirely and makes it land with uncomfortable power, the bass and harmonies doing much of the heavy lifting.
“Diet” reminds you that discontent has always run through this band’s work, while “Headache (for Michelle)” lurks in the shadows, railing against control and authority. “Unfinished Business” brings back that insistent cowbell pulse, before Woods quips that when you’re the support band you hope for 45 minutes – “but I’m just getting warmed up.” On this evidence, you’d happily see this version of Au Pairs far more regularly than the past has allowed.
And then it’s time for the Skids, back and celebrating The Absolute Game, the last album the band recorded with guitarist Stuart Adamson, which gives the set real emotional gravity.
Opening with “Happy To Be With You” feels spot-on. Richard Jobson, in particular, gives off the unmistakable impression that there is nowhere else he’d rather be. He’s a force of nature, barely stopping across the hour and a quarter onstage, joking with the crowd, darting between songs, and constantly undercutting his own myth with sharp self-deprecation.
“One Decree” reminds you that beneath the punk reputation sits a masterful hard rock band. “Circus Games” is introduced as the last song Jobson wrote with Adamson, adding weight without tipping into sentimentality, while “Hurry On Boys” comes with a gag about sounding better in Hong Kong than Birmingham. “A Woman in Winter” shifts the mood entirely, its changes in timing making it a genuinely lovely moment.
“Goodbye Civilian” lands with appropriate militaristic force before Jobson talks movingly about a photo in his study of himself and Adamson onstage at Hammersmith Apollo in 1980. He’s particularly good at laughing at himself, recalling people asking why the band cover a U2 song – “The Saints Are Coming” – before launching into “Masquerade”, a song that makes it abundantly clear there is no mask here at all. Everything about this band feels real.
The current lineup is tight and powerful: Richard Jobson on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards, Nick Hernandez driving things forward on drums, Connor Whyte adding bite on guitar, and Peter Byrchmore clearly enjoying himself on bass. “Into The Valley” turns the room into one massive singalong before “TV Stars”, which Jobson introduces as “the biggest piece of shit ever written” with perfectly judged timing.
“Working for the Yankee Dollar”, Jobson notes, probably means more today than it ever did. The main set closes with “Charles”, dedicated to what Jobson calls “the mighty Adamson”, recounting how the band once recorded 42 songs – 41 of them not very good – and one that was brilliant. Adamson wrote it.
They return for an encore of “Of One Skin” before finishing with “Complete Control”, introduced as being by “the band that made us want to be in a band.”
Heroes matter, debts matter, but as Jobson says at one point, one of the greatest joys has been bringing these songs into the modern day to see if they still work.
On the basis of tonight, they don’t just work.
They come alive.
AU PAIRS PHOTO DAMIAN SULLIVAN
