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.
PiL's 1986 'Album' gets all of the plaudits, deservedly so, it is a great album. Its 1987 follow up, 'Happy?' as I recall did not get such a warm critical reception. As someone who was seeing PiL at the time I quite liked it. Listening to it now it does suffer from the blight of 1980's production and there is a degree of fret wanking in there too, but I stand by my original opinion of the album. In truth I also think that there was the fact that the 18 year old me was still rather in awe of Mr Lydon at that time.
In 2024 there is no doubt that he has become something of a marmite character, nevetheless, there is no denying that he has a talent having changed the face of music not once but twice. For me the contentious point seems to be his reluctance to recognise the fact that other musicians were also part of that musical transformation, be they a Pistol or a member of Public Image Limited. Any interpretration of of the music in which he has had an involvement, whether that relates to the recent gigs by Cook, Jones and Matlock or the Metal Box In Dub work of Wobble and Levine, seems guaranteed to get Johnny a-skwarking! Shame really.
Many thanks to the original Dime/101Guitars uploader.
01. Save Me 02. Rise 03. Seattle 04. Four Enclosed Walls 05. F.F.F. 06. Low Life 07. Open And Revolving 08. Home 09. Rules And Regulations 10. Bags 11. Hard Times 12. World Destruction 13. Angry 14. The Body 15. Public Image 16. Tie Me To The Length Of That 17. This Is Not A Love Song 18. Religion
Ok so technically, the band are still on tour, in that as I write this, they are onstage in Luxembourg on the last date of the European leg. This being the case, spoilers, if such a thing can exist by the last date, are off the table because the last punters are through the door and enjoying the gig.
I did three dates, in deepest, darkest France, which was an absolute pleasure and no small feat given the situation that I found myself in the summer. I will say more about those dates in the coming days. These European dates were special for others too, especially our friends Paul Cooklin,Steve Chattaway and Graham Knapp, who celebrated their milestone sixtieth anniversaries in the company of the band that they have been following for more than two thirds of that time!
Forget what Chrissie Hynde has said recently about her dismay at seeing the same faces at Pretenders gigs. I think that it is a great thing and one that I am sure that The Stranglers acknowledge and appreciate. Let us also not forget that at this stage of the game, and for many years now, for those that have been going to gigs for upwards of forty years, seeing the band at the end of the day is only part of the occasion. There is the travel, the joy of experiencing new places and lest we forget the company we keep on these musical forays.
So here they are then on the first of two dates in Germany.
Many thanks as always to Peter for sharing the files! I'll let the set speak for itself.
The lastest line up in the long standing 'punk supergroup' project that goes by the name of Dead Men Walking. Here they are playing on Jake's home turf of Belfast. In case you are not familiar with the format, the musicians play acoustic versions of songs from their respective back catalogues (hits or otherwise) amidst lurid tales of life on the road with rock 'n' roll bands! Great to hear an Big Wheel song get an airing. The track 'Man Down' comes from the 2021 Dead Men Walking album 'Freedom - It Ain't On The Rise'.
Thanks to the Historical Field Recording Unit for the share.
Another here from those Teutonic titans of goth, Xmal Deutschland (or caterwauling Germans as Owen Carne would have it!). Here they are in London getting in some headlining rehearsal time some three weeks prior to the start of the Dreamtour when they provided support to The Stranglers.
In the last couple of years, 999 have been very active on the gigging front which is great to see. Last weekend was especially busy for them with three gigs in 24 hours.
Water Rats, Kings Cross, London
19th October 2024.
The fun was due to start on Friday night with a gig at The Water Rats in Kings Cross, in fact it was a close run think thanks to my complacency. I didn't try to book tickets until a couple of nights before the gig and was mortified to see that the gig had sold out! That had not happened to me before, so I was most miffed. Very kindly, a friend had a word with the promotor and we managed to get a couple of tickets put by. We were in (thanks Lou!).
As the Witchdoktors were supporting it was no surprise to see Peej there and it was great to catch up after some months. As for the Anoraks, I believe that they succumbed to Covid, so at the 11th hour Spizz stepped in and did something instead.
After a short delay 999 took to the stage at about 10.15 and played a blistering set in stiffling temperatures. Basically, the venue was overfull and the heat was not good for band nor audience alike. They opened with 'The Biggest Prize In Sport', which made a nice change from the albeit brilliant 'Black Flowers For The Bride' which has been the opener for the majority of times that I have seem them for a number of years. I have to applaud the fact that 48 years on, 999 are still playing new material (new in terms of material from their last album ('Bish Bash Bosh', 2020)), with 'Shoot' and 'My Dad Trashed My Submarine' in the set. Of course, the 999 standards were also present and correct on the night, 'Energency', 'Feeling Alright With The Crew', 'Nasyt Nasty' and 'Homicide'. It's fair to say that these days there are rarely big surprises in a 999 set, but that's just fine 'cos what they do play works perfectly.
The Prince Albert, Brighton
20th October 2024.
Tickets for this one were bought way back when. The idea of a matinee performance appeals increasingly these days. A gig late afternoon and back in time for 'Antiques Roadshow'!! In the event the matinee also sold out prompting a later evening gig.
This was my first gig at The Prince Albert. As I recall, back in my teens when I lived near Brighton, it was a biker pub and one that I avoided. In recent years it has become one of Brighton's principle small venues, playing host to most of the bands that make up my record collection. The upstairs venue space is pretty tiny (all the better to see a band in in my opinion) but dispite its size it was far more comfortable than the Water Rats sauna that the band had played the previous night.
Gunta and I were in time to see the support, a band going by the name of 'Sinful Maggie'. They were interesting by virtue of the fact that they were made up of bass, guitar, drums and accordion with which they made a great noise. Take a look at them on Youtube.
999 were again in great form. On taking the stage, Nick pointed three guys out in the audience who were original members of the 'Southall Crew' who were to 999 what the 'Finchley Boys' were to The Stranglers (whether with similar levels of aggression I don't know!). I recall meeting Billy Bollocks at a 999 gig in Fulham in the early 1990s.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the set was the same. I missed 'Don't You Know I Need You' which appeared on the set list but was skipped. Gunta and I got a name check, which always makes me smile.
We were unable to stay for the evening set but I have no doubt that it will have been great in front of another receptive and highly appreciative Brighton audience.
We're very much looking forward to seeing them again in Cambridge in early December.
I cannot imagine a more incongruous paring than Northampton's champions of the Undead, Bauhaus, and the Southern Californian sun, but here they were in 2022 performing at the Cruel World Festival in the city of Pasadena. Actually, I think that all most if not all of the members of Bauhaus are US exiles. Pete Murphy is there I believe and the other three I think decamped when it was apparent that Love & Rockets were enjoying significantly greater success in the US than in the UK.
I think that this is the band's third reunion, first in 1998 (the only time that I saw them), then 2006 and finally 2021. They played Alexandra Palace in October of 2021. They are still sounding great I think, even in a festival setting.
I love everything that they have done, but I am especially fond of 'Mask'. As for 'Bela Lugosi's Dead', that is just a timeless track (you could say immortal!).
Just take a look at that line up! A great day culminating with Bauhaus.... well I wouldn't stick around for Morrissey!
Here's young Hugh in London on this Day in 2006. Somewhere between 'Beyong Elysian Fields' and 'Hoover Dam', Hugh was again experimenting with set construction. At this time it was a case of Stranglers's material alternating with solo songs. Around this time, I recall Hugh saying that by ordering the set in this way, the contingent of his audiences who were only there to see him as an ex-Strangler would only ever have three minutes to wait until the next Stranglers installment.
Having seen Hugh play on many occasions it's sometimes difficult not to feel for the guy. It is almost as if he has a love/hate relationship with his Stranglers back catalogue. Since stepping out as a solo artist outside of The Stranglers in 1991 I am sure that above all else he wants to be admired for what ever new music he was making, but try as he might (and he did in the early shows) to get away from his musical past, it has been next to impossible. He either gives the audience what they want i.e. a heavy dose of Stranglers' material or accept that if he doesn't he will have to endure constant calls from the audience for 'Hanging Around' or 'Peaches'! I am sure that he would rather be in the position whereby he could have a set of 90% of solo material with just a few songs thrown as treats for the fans. Paul Weller does this very well.... if you wanna hear The Jam, go and see Bruce's band!
On the other hand, to cull the Stranglers material would run the risk of significantly reducing the audience. It is interesting that Hugh tends to your in the autumn whereas The Stranglers tend to tour the UK in March (or at least have done for a number of years now). Maybe this is deliberate... avoid touring clashes and maximise your potential audience that to a large extent is one and the same as that who are seeing The Stranglers.
At the end of the day, as Hugh has stated himself, it is right and proper that he has a sence of pride in the songs that the band put together and long may he continue to play them.
The surprise track on this recording is 'Bear Cage'!
01. Duchess 02. Leave Me Alone 03. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy 04. First Bus To Babylon 05. Goodbye Toulouse 06. Picked Up By The Wind 07. Hanging Around 08. Hot Cat On A Tin Roof 09. Bear Cage 10. Black Hair, Black Eyes, Black Suit 11. Always The Sun 12. Nerves Of Steel 13. Nuclear Device 14. Putting You In The Shade 15. Walk On By 16. No More Heroes 17. Dark Side Of The Room 18. Down In The Sewer
