EXTC (14.5.2026) at The 1865, Southampton.
A note on this one, with one thing in mind: to encourage any old XTC lovers to get out and have an evening with EXTC. I never saw XTC live and original frontman and songwriter Andy Partridge has said he has no intention of performing live again. EXTC is the best bet and Partridge has given EXTC his blessing for this ‘tribute band plus’.
So what is EXTC? It is XTC’s original drummer, Terry Chambers, bringing back the tunes of XTC to a live audience. He does that with the help of Karl Lornie (guitar, keyboards and vocals), Terry Lines (bass and vocals) and Nigel Whiteley (guitar and backing vocals).
This is a different set up to the three piece EXTC that I saw supporting Hugh Cornwell once before (Blog here), a little over two years back. Terry Lines remains on bass but the other two non-original band members are new. Guitarist, Whiteley certainly adds a rockier edge to many songs and having four in the band gives more options, and as Lines keeps reminding us these songs are far from straightforward to deliver live.
This my second visit over to The 1865 this year and all previous observations are consolidated here in my 1865 venue blog. I was very pleased to find a row of tables and chairs down the left hand side, also with some on the right and some other high tables in the middle towards the back. A few phone shots only with some hesitation about over blowing a near-tribute band on the visual front.
It’s just about full enough but plenty of room to move about. The smaller right side bar is shut and an even smaller rear ground floor bar has appeared. near the entrance. This probably eases congestion over near the toilets and when a band is playing.
Swindon based XTC have an astonishing 14 studio albums, which surprised me when looking them up. I am familiar with five of them, largely earlier ones and Oranges and Lemons. Even drummer Terry Chambers was only playing on five of the albums: the first five up until 1982.
No support tonight which allows for over twenty songs to be delivered in two sets. A fabulous array of tunes, many of which I had forgotten I knew. How about Love On A Farmer’s Boy’s Wages or Paper and Iron. If you know them, you know them. You’d love it. You’d sing along. The reasonably sparse audience is heavily blokes of a certain age but not as blokey as some acts of the same era. There is a lot of singing along and mouthing along from these chaps with long memories – for most of the songs it’s around 45 years.
In the first half, early on to capture all the interest, was Towers of London and with my side wall chair it was easy to grab a phone vid (in link). In the second half my almost random selection is here, The Ballad of Peter Pumkinhead, a delightfully quaint title and another that I forgot I knew so well.
Everyone will find their favourite in a set this size. Of course, Making Plans for Nigel, almost too obvious for the conissieur, shines out but it’s the tracks that jump out and surprise you that make the evening. How about The Mayor of Simpleton, Jason and the Argonauts or King for a Day? These are gems. English gems harvested from the Wiltshire countryside.
The lead vocals lean heavily on Karl Lornie but bassist Lines has a roll. Lines plays it more like a tribute act while Lornie is more of a performer. A good mix.
As for the top tunes, well the more you relisten, the more there are. I think the fascination comes from, in my head anyway, these songs laying dormant for so long. What EXTC tours have helped me do is get used to playing the albums again.
Sgt. Rock, Senses Working Overtime, Generals and Majors top the bill and ultimately (putting ‘Nigel’ to one side) there is Life Begins at The Hop in the encore.
I wish I’d had an XTC boxed set in Lockdown.
Gigs with Ivan 