Black Friday

To Be a Pilgrim…

So that time of year has come around again already!
The black clad disciples and pilgrims descend upon the holy shrine known as The Hope and Anchor in Sunny Islington North London.

Once more the focus shines on the pre-gig social – this is not just a gig/go see the band play for an hour or two type affair! This is devotees, fanatics, family and friends making the best of a day out with that hour or two at the end of the day being the icing on the cake! etc ETC EiTC

This particular pilgrim stopped off at Euston en route to pop into the delightful Diwana on Drummond Street to partake of their magnificent buffet lunch at just £6.95 a head.

Fully loaded then continuing on, arriving at the H&A in a thrice to find family, friends and many a disciple in wait for the event.

Straighten Out Pre-Gig:

And so we shy away from the dazzling sunlight of London’s early attempt at spring and head down in to the depths of the darkness for the show…

It’s been said before – but to hear Straighten Out play their super authentic Stranglers tribute in this auspicious venue (an important part of the bands early history) is just more than a bit special.

Close your eyes and think of 1977

It’s as close as one can get to the real thing. Time travel indeed! And to add to the air of authenticity there are one or two of the Stranglers more famous fans around today; in the shape of some Finchley Boys and a Stranglers percussionist.

The audience respond with enthusiasm as Waltzinblack oozes through the speakers and the band strike up into Tank. Shaggy jokes that they’re going to do something novel and play through the whole of the Black and White album but they do no such thing and deliver up a set of classic Stranglers tunes, many of which won’t be played by the MiB themselves later the very same evening.

The crowd lap up every last drop of the musical magnificence and magnificent it is in its authenticity, as they dance, sing along, close their eyes and nod their heads or just stand awe-struck!

I take my place early on near the front in a prime spot for the aural cleansing. I loved the whole lot but if I had to choose a highlight it would have to be Bear Cage as it was just absolutely superb with the whole crowd singing along and chanting on the GMBH! Then of course The Men in Black comes a very close whisker distant second, utterly sublime!

Before long we’re back upstairs continuing the social with fans from far and wide, one of the furthest travelled of whom would have to be Nice and Sleazy who made the journey from Florida!

A few drinks then we poured ourselves through a hole in the pavement to take the subterranean express to Brixton Town. Along the way TBC entertains the whole carriage with his one man punk rock karaoke juke box show and before we knew where we were, we were there… Brixton that is!

No Room at the Inn…

We made our way along to the Beehive only to find there was no room at the inn but persistence eventually paid off and we were granted access. After a bit more chin-wagging with a few more familiars we paid our respects to the Bowie shrine before throwing a U-ie and heading on to the venue…

Not far outside of where, we encounter some unfortunate souls who were denied access in spite of being on a certain bassists guess list! We stand around and chat and offer moral support before eventually making our way into a very packed out Brixton Academy.

Gig Review

Having not been here for some years I was immediately struck by the internal architecture and how the rake of the flooring afforded an excellent view of the stage from almost everywhere one chose to stand on the ground floor. Nice!

We arrived in time for the penultimate song and a half from The Alarm who, while not everyone’s cup of tea, sounded pretty good and were giving it all from what we saw of their performance. And, importantly, the crowd were lapping it up and hemmed in for the support band which also finds in their favour.

I spied Pidge, Alex and Greg and went to say hello… Just then Waltzinblack signalled the arrival of the MiB and the crowd went bananas as they struck into Tank.

From out of nowhere TBC ploughed a furrow down to the barrier where he duly safely delivered one Bellainblack, then Mr and Mrs C joined us and I went from innocent bystander to psychotic hippy in one fell swoop as Mr C engaged bulldozer mode and dragged one and all into the moshpit! A lively hot and sweaty couple of hours of jumping, dancing, singing followed – as the MiB tore through Black and White and more.

And it all made sense. The capacity crowd seemed to love every minute of it. Any concerns as to whether the casual punter would get it seemed insignificant as everyone seemed up for Black and White and beyond.

Once more the stage set was magnificent and on second live hearing Enough Time hit the spot! No mean feat to pull this one off live with all its intricate timing and what have you! The album sounded magnificent.

Then Grip and the stage exploding into colour signalled the beginning of the second part of this evening’s set.

Walk on By captivated once more. And tonight we had 5 minutes added to the set. Dead Ringer, Nuke, IFLAW and the awesome Princess were highlights for me along with the encore number Go Buddy Go which JJ introduced as being ‘Real Pub Rock!’

All too soon were off out once more into the cold London evening to wend our ways home. Hopping on to a carriage at Brixton tube I realised I was surrounded by almost exactly the same good folks with whom I’d shared the journey here previously in the afternoon.

The Stranglers on Tour, so much more than just a bunch of gigs!

Over…

Words: Matthew (EiTC) Brown.
Pictures and Videos: David (Toiler on The Sea) Kidd.

Bonus:

Pics and Vids from Toiler: