If there’s one thing the Stranglers showed at Guildford, apart from the fact they are veterans, it’s that once you’re passed your zenith it’s hard to be fresh. Don’t get me wrong with Heroes, Nice and Sleazy, Golden Brown and Peaches to name four they have hits that bands in the charts today would love to have and they deliver them to the mainly receding hairlined audience with panache.
However they throw in a few new tunes, which to me fell very, very flat. The fact is we remember them for their hits and I dare say few of us still buy Stranglers albums. Still on the day they are a great sing and dance along band, but you do feel they should rest on their laurels.
Today they play perfectly, they engage they audience, they deliver faultlessly but the drive has diminished, the once knock ‘em to the ground sound has mellowed as have their fans and it’s a shell of the once vitriolic punk band they were here this evening.
It’s a shame but they are passed their prime and now they are a good live band, but lament those of us with grey in our hair for now they are merely fading away. Still it was nice to sing along and raise a jar or two to what once was.
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