CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL STRANGLERS GALLERY BY ERIK NORDER HERE:

By: Shane Jones

Artist: Stranglers with special guests Mi-Sex

Date: Thursday 13th February 2020

Venue: Christchurch Town Hall

There was quite a buzz in the Christchurch Town Hall as this is the first destination that
UK-based punk rock band The Stranglers are playing in New Zealand. Their next show is in Wellington tomorrow night, with their final gig in Auckland on the 15th. They are joined by Kiwi legends Mi-Sex, who are celebrating their 40 years of their Graffiti Crimes album.

The lights dimmed down at 8:15pm and Mi-Sex entered the stage and started the set off with the title track from Graffiti Crimes. I have noticed that since I last saw them at Selwyn Sounds in Lincoln back in 2017, there are new members - James Van Cooper, drummer Jordan McDonald and bassist Travis New, filling in for spots left by Colin Bayley, Don Martin and Paul Dunningham. This leaves ex Noiseworks bassist Steve Balbi on lead vocals, with the only original member being keyboardist Murray Burns.

They play a total of nine songs in their 45-minute set, also paying tributes to Kevin Stanton and Steve Gilpin when Christchurch’s own Colin Bayley joins on guitar to finish off the last three songs. All songs are all crowd favourites, and I don’t want to give too much away seeing there are still two more shows to come. You will not be disappointed.

The strong 1500-plus crowd got into all the songs, and their singing made Steve utter, ‘It’s good to be alive,’ a few times in appreciation. They thank the crowd and all bow in a line to finish off.

With the new musical instruments on stage, the lights dim once again and with a thunderous welcome from the crowd, The Stranglers take their positions and tear the place apart with the first song, ‘Duchess’. The current line up is Baz Warne on guitar, backing vocals and lead vocals, Jean-Jacques Burnel on bass, Dave Greenfield keyboards and touring musician Jim Macaulay on drums and percussion.

They played many crowd favourites, including ‘Skin Deep’ and ‘Always The Sun’, as well as the snarly classic ‘Peaches’. ‘No More Heroes’ was also a favourite in the final encore.

On the band’s onstage presence - the lads all enjoy a quick drink together on stage and have a couple of jokes with the audience, keeping it human. To look at these guys and think back to the mid ‘70s, evoking their fellow punk bands from that era forward, you’d maybe expect them to keep to mohawks and punk regalia, but nope! Most of the band are short back and sides, if no hair at all, except Jim Macaulay, who has a good mop of hair.

Looking around, the main demographic is well above 60, but I could also spot a few young fans around 25. TAs Christchurch’s Town Hall has recently been remedied from years of earthquake damage and newly renovated, it does have an amazing acoustic quality for performances. This set was no exception - the sound was fantastic.

With the set coming to a close at 11:04pm, the Stranglers played just over a good hour and a half of music ranging from punk to baroque pop. They see themselves off stage with a united bow.

Besides the lighting at the start of the Stranglers’ set, it was a top notch gig from both them and the openers, Mi-Sex, and a very pleasing show to watch. In fact, I’m heading to Auckland this Saturday, and I might have to go and see them again just to see that it wasn’t a fluke.

Review Edited By: Jake Ebdale