Straighten Out – A Tribute to The Stranglers – Gig Review –
Hope & Anchor Islington – 26th September 2014.
Once more it seems like time may have gotten the better of us… I put it down to the Dog cocking it’s leg on the hyperdrive of the Time and Inter-dimensional Travelling Spaceship (TITS) and fusing the Antler Stabilising Sprocket with the Temporal Offset Sugar-tong Housing, causing all manner of chaos (not least of which the perceived delay of this transmission)!
After replacing the parts and a quick retune and calibration procedure on the Carpet-beater Random Access Particulator and Pickled Egg Regenerator it was on to business…
Met up with SiB at a pre-arranged destination in India. Where we partook of stale Papadums and slightly fresher Starters whilst awaiting (… and awaiting for ’em!) the eventual arrival of Domestos, Guildford Lil and FdN. Suitably fed and watered we wound our way up Downer Street or was that down Upper Street… En Route G’Lil and Domestos dragged me off down a side Street and demanded guidance and demonstration in the execution of some ancient Yogic rituals which I tried unsuccessfully to defer… Serious calamity narrowly avoided, we caught up with Sib and FdN and arrived at the Hope & Anchor to a warm greeting from the gathered Family in Black. Again we partook of refreshment, largely without anomalous incident (Disappearing/Reappearing Pineapple aside).
Before long Shaggy shepherded us down to the cellar for the evening’s entertainment. A ripple of excitement ran through the crowd as Waltzinblack burst from the PA and the band kicked off with a blistering 1-2 of Burning Up Time and Ugly. No punches were pulled tonight as there was barely a Rizzla’s width between the opening numbers. Continuing with a superb selection of MK1 classics the set-list tonight was absolutely stunning!
Straighten Out are a band firing on all cylinders and tonight was no exception with a tightly executed super-sharp sound. Close your eyes and it could’ve been 77, 78, 79 or 80. The crowd were (rightly) lapping it up and I couldn’t resist getting down to the front for a bit of a boogie. Sir Burn was seen getting his groove on to a masterful Goodbye Toulouse (but not Walk on By, which, apparently, was not part of the set).
Shaggy and Phil had a good bit of banter with the crowd and were both in fine voice. Shaggy’s bass (neither Fender P nor Shuker) had exceptional growl tonight, awesome! Similarly Phil’s Tele and rig provided the necessary guitar bite. Drummer Micky P pounded most powerfully and also was the recipient of some Jet Black style appreciation in the form of a chant. While Keyboard wizard Mick was on form both instrumentally and vocally.
Phil did a string on one of his Tele’s but his spare had a broken nut forcing him to change a string on the fly. I took this opportunity to nip upstairs to the bar then came back down to find the band improvising Peasant in The Big Shitty whilst Phil readied his Axe. Huge Bonus (meaning we got 3 Dave songs in tonight’s set with that, plus the equally superb Dead Ringer and Genetix)!
We heard seldom played classics such as Ice and the brilliant Shah Shah A Go Go. It’d be great if The Stranglers themselves could include numbers such as these in their shows occasionally.
People travelled far and wide to make it to the gig tonight which is a reflection of; the dedication of the FiB, the quality of Straighten Out and the historical importance of The Hope & Anchor to The Stranglers story.
The band finished with an encore of London Lady and Tank. Then Shaggy announced that they would be back with a Matinee performance to coincide with The Stranglers London (Roundhouse) appearance on 6th March. Definitely one for the diaries!
Conclusion: Top Notch!
Over….
Good review! Shaggy’s bass, was indeed on form.
That it was Sir Burn!