The Stranglers in Liverpool 2011. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 9th 2011.

If there’s one band that knows how to stir up passion for their no nonsense direct music then that band has to be The Stranglers. Even before the band came out on stage sections of the audience could be heard singing at full volume through a medley of some of the band’s greatest hits including the instrumental pieces of Waltz in Black to which the band came on stage to in the time honoured tradition.

Almost a year to the day since J.J Burnell, Jet Black, Dave Greenfield and Baz Warne rocked the Liverpool Academy with their unique and forthright songs, the band came back to the city to give it another forceful shaking.

The band opened up a sweaty, body damaging evening with the classic I Feel… before giving the packed Academy crowd a feel of some of the best tunes from 40 year odd career which included some of the rarely heard classics from The Raven and Black and White plus a selection of greatest and much loved hits.

Coming off the back of the fabulously dirty bass line that accompanies Peaches and the driving (Get a) Grip (on Yourself) from the 1977 debut album Rattus Norvegicus, both J.J and Baz swapped back and forth the lead vocals on tracks as diverse and brilliantly written as Dead Los Angeles, Baroque Bordello, Sweden (All Quiet on the Eastern Front) and Two Sunspots from the eclectic The Gospel According to the Meninblack.

It has always seemed to any onlooker that the audience who frequently go to any Stranglers gig could be seen as the unofficial fifth member of the band and in the heat and perspiration of the night, it was possible to see that theory being born out, with the floor looking like a black moving mass, jumping up and down in time with every beat of Jet Black’s drumsticks.

If there is any band that can finish an already sensational gig then again it has to be The Stranglers. For any set list that includes the excellent All Day and all of Night, the sweet and almost poetic Duchess and the guttural and poignant No More Heroes has to be rated amongst the best set finishers of all time.

In their huge fan base’s eyes The Stranglers can do no wrong and have always rated their work very highly but with the amount of newer, younger members of the audience in attendance it seems that the bands long term future and legacy is secure.

Ian D. Hall