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.


Sunday, 16 December 2012

UK Subs and TV Smith The Garage Islington 14th December 2012


Last night say something of a punk treat in the form of The UK Subs and TV Smith on the same bill for an evening of early Christmas frivolity at the Garage in Islington.

I got there early in time to see the first support (which is unusual for me). They were a young band from Blackpool called Outl4w if I remember correctly. They were quite good, their sound much enhanced by the inclusion of a trumpet.

TV was playing on his own, acoustically, and played a good set of his solo stuff, intrspersed with Adverts songs. Songs like 'It's Expensive Being Poor' and 'The Immortal Rich' never sounded so on the button as they do right now as we face hard times for several years to come as the Chancellor of The Exchequer admits failure in government economic policy.

'The Lion & The Lamb'
The Lion & The Lamb The Garage

Oh well, at least it's Christmas.... which lead TV nicely into his annual opportunity to play his Christmas song. This I filmed, but a caveat is needed here. I think that I had the video setting on an inappropriately high setting and as a result there is an audio/visual synch issue with these clips. But they are what they are.

First up is the aforementioned 'Christmas Bloody Christmas, followed by 'New Church' and 'The Lord's Prayer', a song that he penned for The Lords of The New Church. Something of a religious trilogy then.

'Christmas Bloody Christmas', 'New Church' & 'The Lord's Prayer'
 
'Punk Rock Poem' & 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes' 
 
A quick word about the Subs. You know exactly what you're gonna get from Charlie and Co, consistency is the order of the day. Playing with a tightness that can only come from endless touring, I have enjoyed them over many years. On this occasion though I was not there for the full set, but what I saw was good, including the classic 'Down On The Farm'.
 
'Down On The Farm'
UK Subs



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