There’s a bunch of boffins that have come up with a way of calculating what they call Blue Monday. Officially it’s the unhappiest day of the year; far enough from the festive season one way, too far from payday the other. This year it falls to Buzzcocks 30th Anniversary tour to rock them blues away. Memories of a (lacklustre perfomance and) horrendously attended John Cale gig in the same venue last year, and the near legendary godawful sound of Shelley & Co here last time round.
The bouncers are complaining about the size of the walk up. This is a good sign.
For this celebratory – Another Bites – tour, they have decided to play the first two albums (Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites) back to back. Which is fantastic as the pair ar possibly the finest power-pop offerings of the time.
There’s barely a nod to the audience and it’s straight into the truncated Boredom riff the opens the former. And, that kinda dictates the pace of the night. The band clip through one perfect oh-I’d-forgotten-that-one moment to another. It’s an object lesson in how to write thee most wonderfully romantic songs about the dreariest of times. Even Steve Diggle‘s lumpy Autonomy is welcomed like an old friend. But, in among the fizzing gems here, there’s a palpable sense of excitement when the stuff that doesn’t usually get an outing turns up. I, for one, have always been of the opinion that any drummer the band has who is fool enough to attempt Moving Away From The Pulsebeat is on a hiding to nothing. No-one could possibly match up to John Maher. But the boy done good. Danny Farrant, for it is he, manages to carry the track off, while making it his own. It’s astounding, and great to hear again.
At this point, the sound man forgets to turn off the massive reverb he’s stuck on the drums and the sound descends into a bit of a mire for the first few tracks of the second album. Unfortunately, this means up to and including Ever Fallen In Love. That said, it’s song so familiar we can fill in the murky blanks.
Then the switch is flicked and normal service is resumed. Again, it’s those you never expected to hear live again that stand out like Walking Distance, ESP and Late For The Train (a comlete mess, but absolutely glorious). We’re thankful for Diggle’s Love Is Lies giving us an oportunity for a quick toilet break.
A quick break, and the band return for the small print on the poster “and the Hits”! So, it’s side one of Singles Going Steady that’s not been touched yet (or the extra tracks on the CD, for our younger generation). Noise Annoys, Lipstick, What Do I get?, Orgasm Addict… the hits just keep coming. And, we keep bouncing and grinning.
Yes, they’re relying on back catalogue (although there are many recent songs that’ll stand up to a lot of this), but when it’s so good and delivered with such gusto, who’s complaining? Everybody’s Happy Nowadays? Too ruddy right, mate.