The Stranglers @ The Gov, Adelaide 23/3/2025
The mid to late 70’s in working class Britain was dire to say the least. Petrol and food shortages, high unemployment, boiling racial tensions, a government that continually disgraced itself all to a backdrop of celebrating a disassociated royal family. Fifty years later little has changed.
Out of that though, came Britains arguably last worldwide, culturally changing, musical revolution. Punk.
The Damned, The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Stranglers. The four horseman of the UK punk apocalypse. They were DIY, the were all sonically quite different from each other yet they were all the same. Fighting a system designed to get them working in a factory – if there was any work -, become a moron and shut up. Fortunately, they rebelled, picked up instruments and changed the world.
So, when one of those legends arrives on your doorstep, you revere them accordingly as the only true British royalty. Tonight, it’s The Stranglers to be saluted on fifty years surviving the cutthroat industry, doing it the way they want.
Yes, everyone is a little older, I’m probably one of the youngest in the audience, however their music is timeless. A band that shot to fame with punk, morphed into rock, synth pop, even goth and has classics you’ll know from film and TV, and we are here for one hundred minutes of rock n roll glory.
The intro tape is Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, the classic Edith Piaf song of regretting nothing before the bands own Waltzinblack is played. Take note, that organ sound is prevalent all evening.
With good reason too, for what set The Stranglers apart from their punk contemporaries was the organ, or whichever keyboard sonic they went for, which allowed the band to become a standout on punk and then outgrow it.
Toiler On The Sea opens and in a blink of an eye, Get A Grip, the infectious dance beat of Duchess and the nice and sleazy bass groove of, well, Nice N’ Sleazy, pass by.
Guitarist and vocalist Baz Warne sounds remarkably like original vocalist Hugh Cornwell and is affable with the audience in that cheeky Mackem way.
The set list goes throughout the bands fifty-year reign and gives opportunity for each member to show off, however this middle part is last man standing, bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel moment, on tracks such as Don’t Bring Harry.
The disco boogie of Skin Deep and comedy element of Warne pretending he is playing acoustic guitar in Breathe are just appetisers to the main songs.
As Burnel’s cool bass grooves in Peaches, it’s important to note that the organ – which influenced Manchester scene bands such as the Inspiral Carpets – isn’t the only musical aspect which separated them from their peers. It’s also that bass.
Strange Little Girl is beautiful and Golden Brown is sung by all, the golden lights bouncing of the venues disco ball illuminating all in a truly iconic moment.
When Warne mentions how many Brit’s come to these shows, it hits in the feels. This is a band that are truly the sound of everyone’s childhood and teenage years, that with being such a long way from home, there’s something comforting about it all.
Walk On By has that huge organ solo, ‘Hanging Around’ still sounds edgy and ultimately we end up with No More Heroes closing out, a song led very much by a room full of ex pats.
This may be the last time The Stranglers arrive here, and for a ex pat like myself, it was a bucket list moment that reminded me of how far I’ve come, and that even if I am so far away, I’ll still always be ‘Walking on the beaches, lookin’ at the peaches’.
Live Review By Iain McCallum