Hugh Cornwell Electric Ballroom Camden London 28th November 2024 - A Review

 

It did make me smile to read a comment that with the recent posts on Hugh, this site is starting to resemble the Burning Up Times Forum. That is not the direction that I am heading in. That said, as a card carrying Cornwell fan, somewhat entrenched in the Mk I era of the band, I make no apologies for crowing occasionally about what Hugh is doing.

I have said on here in the past that I used to enjoy those occasions on which The Stranglers fucked up, as bands do from time to time. These days, so polished is a Stranglers' performance that such errors are few and far between. That happens when you have a tried and tested crew behind you. That is not the case with Hugh, that is not to say that he is prone to regular fuck ups, but the performances are more raw and the bum notes more audible. I like that!

Hugh's London show was opened once again by a hit heavy set from EXTC... and that band did undeniably have some great tunes. 

With his band on stage, Hugh appeared to spend the first five minutes tuning his guitar as the instrumental 'Duce Coochie Man' announced their presence. Two numbers from the 'Moments of Madness' album opened the set, 'Coming Out of The Wildeness', a great platform for that signature Cornwell growl that was lost to The Stranglers all those years ago, and 'Too Much Trash', the latter being a disposable (no pun intended), protest against the proliferation of litter, as subject that has been on Hugh's mind since his time in The Stranglers. With its adoption of American terminology and heavy reliance on a rhyming dictionary, this song would not sound out of place on Sesame Street! Not a favourite of mine it is fair to say!

'Sleazy' was his first foray into Stranglers's territory and it sounded pretty good to me. A surprise in the set was 'Dead Loss Angeles' a song described by Hugh as underated. I would agree, but it is a shame that the band did not resort to the two bass arrangement for the song. Mid set was graced with 'Moments of Madness' and for me the strongest track on the new album 'When I Was A Young Man'.

'Monster', my favourite post Stranglers album, was only lightly represented in the set, but they played a good version of 'Mr Leather', a clever lesson in writing as is is so evocative of Lou Reed's style and the sound of The Velvet Underground. 'Nuclear Device' and 'Down in the Sewer' were very enjoyable, but the best, and the reason why I dragged myself into London on a cold, Thursday evening, was yet to come... most of side two of 'Nosferatu'. Gunta describes this material as 'Killing Jokey' and I guess she has a point. The album is intentionally, discordant, claustrophobic in a way that makes for uneasy listening in parts.... it's exact appeal in my books. The set closed with 'Wrong Way Round', a song I never believed I would get to hear live. And, the bass player filled the shoes of the fairground barker, the late, great Duncan Poundcake, with aplomb.

Sorry for the crap photographs. Must do better!