Aural Sculptors - The Stranglers Live 1976 to the Present


Welcome to Aural Sculptors, a blog aimed at bringing the music of The Stranglers to as wide an audience as possible. Whilst all of the various members of the band that have passed through the ranks since 1974 are accomplished studio musicians, it is on stage where the band have for me had their biggest impact.

As a collector of their live recordings for many years I want to share some of the better quality material with other fans. By selecting the higher quality recordings I hope to present The Stranglers in the best possible light for the benefit of those less familiar with their material than the hardcore fan.

Needless to say, this site will steer well clear of any officially released material. As well as live gigs, I will post demos, radio interviews and anything else that I feel may be of interest.

In addition, occasionally I will post material by other bands, related or otherwise, that mean a lot to me.

Your comments and/or contributions are most welcome. Please email me at adrianandrews@myyahoo.com.


Monday 19 February 2024

Ombudsmen The Lexington London 18th February 2024


This then was Ombudsmen's third gig in the capital and their biggest yet. A birthday gig for Christopher Plummer, the audience travelled for the occasion (many braving the current vagaries of our public transport system to make it up to North London). Ombudsmen were second on after 'College Boy Haircut'. The sound on the night was good, the band having enjoyed a soundcheck, a luxury that they have not enjoyed at some of their gigs to the detriment of some shows.

The set was essentially a run through of the material on their two E.P.s, 'Fizzy Milk' and 'Terms & Conditions Apply' (both are on Spotify). John, the bass player assured me that new material is being worked up and will appear on a further E.P. release before too long. 

Before the gig Mo told me that she was very nervous, said in slightly earthier terms I may add. This was by far the biggest audience that the band have played to to date, by my reckoning 150 people or so. Once on stage though there were few signs of nerves although that can be difficult to tell as the singer stands stock still throughout... only movement of the eyes and mouth confirm an existence of vital signs!

Mo Andrews and John Bardsley (Ombudsmen)
The Lexington London
18th February 2024.
(Photo: Paul Jenner)

With this larger audience, I took some moments to look around me. Here we had a situation where the audience were not primarily made up of friends and relations of the band, so to see strangers genuinely getting into the band was quite a thrill. 

The elders look on.
(Photo: Paul Jenner)

After 30 minutes in the merch booth the band had to hot foot it back to the M6 and Manchester to be up for work in the morning. But hey, they are young, they can do these things. I on the other hand cannot! 

Loved the day, very proud of Mo and the band and it was great to spend the evening with Owen, Jac and Peej. And thanks to Christopher for putting the thing on and giving such encouragement to new, young bands!

'Take Everything'
The Lexington London
18th February 2024.



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