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.
Tom Robinson Band Corn Exchange Hertford 13th August 2025
Last Wednesday night we were treated to a local gig at the 250 capacity Corn Exchange in Hertford. The occasion was the Tom Robinson Band... the perfect antidote for the troubled times in which we live. At 75 there is no stopping the man. He was until very recently a regular host of a show on BBC 6 Music which included the BBC Introducing slot giving new artists a potential break through valuable airplay. He did just that for his support on this short TRB tour. Her name was Alice Offley, who had come to Tom's attention in just this way. She opened up the proceedings, not that anyone needed warming up in this AC free hall! I was impressed, not strictly my thing but her songs were fiesty (what else would you expect at a TRB gig) and driven by a strong funk bass.
The TRB set was slot into two halves separated by an interval. The reason, according to Tom himself, was due to one of the gifts that comes with age... the inability to hold a wee in for more than an hour! The poor man was a solid trooper on the night, suffering from hernia as well as a chest infection he really was 'Up Against The Wall' ... would he make it through the gig?
Opening with 'Winter of '79', it was as if it really was the late '70's again. Robinson has lost none of his angst when delivering those old TRB standards. All the songs that you would expect from a TRB set were present and correct, 'Too Good To Be True', 'Grey Cortina', 'Martin', 'Don't Take No For An Answer', 'Long Hot Summer'... in fact the majority of the 'Power In The Darkness' album and of course '2-4-6-8 Motorway'. take a look at the video footage of '2-4-6-8 Motorway' and 'Up Against The Wall'. I didn't get 'Glad To Be Gay' but the clip starts with a nice anectode about the song.
'2-4-6-8 Motorway'/'Up Agaist The Wall'
Tom Robinson Band
Hertford Corn Exchange, 13th August 2025
The songs are but a part of the TRB live experience, Tom is something of a raconteur and he has an abundance of stories to tell from the discrimination in his 1960's youth when he was sent away for his homosexuality, to the band's huge part in the politics of punk in the earliest days.
By the last encore the heat in the venue was very uncomfortable, but the bass player came through the gig with flying colours. In the current political climate, there is ony one Tom Robinson that matters, long may he continue to fight the good fight!
It was a brilliant gig, the first promoted by local fellow musician Adam Smith of Black wax. The organisation was spot on!
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