I first saw the stranglers at Stafford Bingley Hall on 30th May 1978, I was nineteen and took my seventeen year old brother with me. The Stranglers took to the stage and all hell broke loose. Sadly, my brother had an asthma attack so I got him over the barriers, under the stage, where I could see Jean-Jacques Burnel on one leg thumping the bass through the cracks in the makeshift boards and into the St John`s Ambulance tent near the side of the stage. As my brother was being looked after, I was able to stand next to Steel Pulse watching from the side of the stage. It didn`t last long as once my brother had recovered, we were dispatched back into the melee of the six thousand or so hysterical punks. So, although this thirteen date tour of the UK and Ireland goes under the banner `50 Years In Black` for me it`s 45 nearly 46.
The venue is heaving as the band arrive on stage with the Black Country flag at the side, for the first of two sets that does attempt to cover the bands career with a selection of tracks in the first half from albums such as `The Gospel According to the Meninblack`, `The Raven`, `Aural Sculpture`, `Rattus Norvegicus` and the last release `Dark Matters`
We enjoy cuts that I would never have considered such as `The Raven` which was dedicated to Jet Black and Dave Greenfield, `Genetix`, `North Winds` and `Breathe`. We also had a couple of classics from the late seventies with `Hanging Around` and `Down in the Sewer` in this opening forty five minutes.
The fellas return as the wonderfully disturbing fairground instrumental of `Waltzinblack` rings out and a similar pattern emerges with numbers from `No More Heroes`, `Stranglers in the Night`, `Feline`, `Black and White`, `Dreamtime`, `La Folie`, `Suite XVI` and `Norfolk Coast` along with `The Raven`, `Aural Sculpture`, `Dark Matters` and a B side thrown in for good measure.
Songs that I have forgotten about like `Who Wants the World?` are shared along with the big hitters such as `Duchess`, `Skin Deep`, `Peaches` `Golden Brown`,`5 Minutes` and `Something Better Change`. But songs like `Always the Sun` hit home for me emotionally, as I think of my brother who is no longer around and the final track in this hour set, my favourite song `Tank` from the `Black and White` album.
The band return and belt out an encore of `Go Buddy Go` and `No More Heroes`.
Tonight was made a bit more personal for me as Baz asked for the house lights to be switched on near the end and berated the two seated tiers for not wanting to stand and spotted somebody sitting who looked like Santa Claus. He pointed and said, “If you didn`t know, this is what Father Christmas gets up to on the other 364 days a year”. The three thousand strong audience clapped and cheered as I with my lock down beard and hair waved to the assembled throng. Cheers Baz!!
The Stranglers, John–Jaques Burnel, Baz Warne, Jim McCaulay and Tony Hounsham, could have just rocked up tonight and played a greatest hits set and we`d all have gone home happy but that`s what is so special about this band. The set covered tracks from throughout the years, some massive hits and others less so and maybe a little obscure but they took the time to think, re-learn, practice and construct a really interesting setlist and a show that would have something for everyone.
As JJ hinted about a further fifty years ahead, who knows, lets hope so and I for one wouldn`t bet against it. No More Heroes they sang, well for me, there were four in the Black Country this evening, Cheers Guys
