Gigs with Ivan

China Crisis in Lyme Regis

China Crisis live at The Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, Dorset (20.11.2025)

As time goes on with my blogs there is increasingly the chance of repetition. Tonight’s gig is another old favourite from the 80s but the novelty is the charming Marine Theatre, on the edge of Lyme Regis harbour and right in the middle of the small town.

I won’t go over my previous China Crisis notes – here in another of my China Crisis blogs. My only other visits to the Marine Theatre have been to see Los Paciminos (a Paul Young band) and earlier this year, The Magic Numbers. That blog gives a bit more detail on the venue and location.

Frontman Gary Daly at The Marine Theatre

No support band tonight but a China Crisis two part set, the second half featuring the older, better known tracks. This is a well-honed approach that works. From the off, frontman and main vocalist, Gary Daly, outlines how the evening works. This includes explaining that we would all get up from our seats for the last few songs ‘so it feels like we’ve been to a gig’ – this is what happens later, on cue.

Tonight, the venue is unreserved seating but with the twist of filling the surrounding space with standing guests. I mean filling – it is packed and Gary notes it. It’s a sell out and makes for a lovely, busy feel.

It’s a four piece band with Eddie and Gary playing with Eric Animan on saxophone and a keyboardist, Jack Hymers – both have toured with the band in recent years. The sax is a most welcome addition where it’s used. Eric also plays some other electronic wind instruments which couldn’t identify!

Eric Animan on sax and some other devices

Daly hams up the ageing nature of the audience, which here seems even older, and even jokes about either him or Eddie having to perform on their own when the other one pops their clogs. Humorous, irreverent and yet politely put by a realist.

A few sound problems with Eddie’s monitor eventually leads to it blowing – very rock’n’roll – and it’s switched off in favour of a rear amp, after some open conversations with their sound man at the mixing desk.

At the break between sets I go to get some more drinks in and am surprised to see Eddie Lundon pushing up next to me at the bar to get a few in. How times have changed he reflected – what with all the riders and backstage antics of yesteryear. We let him in to get something.

The big songs are naturally most appreciated: the likes of African and White; Black Man Ray and King in a Catholic Style. All their material is packed with great tunes – synth pop tunes that make for such a relaxed evening. This is a 40th anniversary tour celebrating their third LP, Flaunt the Imperfection, but only four or five additional tracks to the latter two of the singles noted above.

There’s the ‘whoppadoahhh’ singalong for Arizona Sky to get the lungs working and endorphins flowing, conducted carefully by Daly: “Not too loud. No one has paid to see you. It says China Crisis on the ticket”.

Eddie is referred to by Gary a few times as ‘the Chinese looking one’ and it is he that was the singer for one of their big early singles, Wishful Thinking which Eddie performs tonight. When that early video was out, I remember thinking Eddie was the lead singer for ages.

As assured, Gary gets the crowd who can stand, to stand, for the last few songs. These include Tragedy and Mystery and Christian.

Rather than hide from the threat of obtrusive phone waving, Gary solicits it by asking everyone to get their phones out with torches on – he wants to show mock rivals Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark that they have wild concerts as well.

Gary takes his own photos to promote the good time – participation is enthusiastic, once a lot of people had fiddled quizzically with their mobiles.

Daly mentions their love of performing live in this sort of community based hub, recognising the importance of keeping them going and people coming out – which he appreciates, while hinting that maybe there isn’t much else in Lyme – hence the sell-out crowd ‘even though half of you haven’t heard of us’. He is funny. The whole evening is full of smiles.

China Crisis pitch their gigs just right. I can’t imagine not going to see them as long as we all keep going – they seem willing.

Gary Numan takes The Telekon tour to Bournemouth

Gary Numan live at O2 Academy Bournemouth (19.11.2025) with Raven Numan supporting.

From the top deck seats
known as ‘The Gods’

RIP John Webb.

A statement on social media confirmed that Gary Numan’s brother John, aged 60 and also a musician, died after being with Gary for the gig in Leeds. After what must have been tortuous considerations and discussions with his dad, and with the blessing of John’s wife, the Gary Numan tour continues. Tough times.

To compound the family emotion, the support band tonight is Raven Numan, Gary’s daughter. She carries it off with a great set and a great band with her. No words between songs are needed. Like Gary Numan to follow, the room is respectful and supportive. It’s heavy with emotion.

The red and white Telekon LP cover design is up in lights as Gary comes on stage. This is an anniversary tour of the second Numan solo album, from 1980. Excellent for true long-term Numanoids – which I can’t claim to be one of.

The number one album was recorded at Shepperton Studios, a very local landmark of my suburban London youth.

First up, the single This Wreckage. Numan twists and bends – rock ballet. The sound is excellent, all night. I have found it astonishingly loud at times on previous Numan tours. No ear piece defences needed tonight…I suppose we are up the back.

No words from Gary. Hands across the chest occasionally and in the prayer of thanks position. He needs say nothing. It must be hard. We know. His voice is without blemish as he works through the Telekon gems. I have come to know it more in recent years, with a copy I got Gary to sign up in Manchester – I have more recent Numan history than most – older blog.

The lighting on this tour is exceptional. The slightly tiered stage and layers of light beams working with the stage smoke. Possibly the best non-arena lighting I can recall, really. It’s not incidental – it is part of the overall art form. Love it.

Please Push No More appears to be the song where the emotion bubbles up to the top. It’s melancholy and whatever it is about, it’s the song that hit him most and stalled him at the Birmingham gig….and fans will be aware of that.

The last two songs of the main Telekon set are the other singles, aside from tonight’s first song, This Wreckage – I Die, You Die, captured here on my YouTube channel, and We Are Glass.

A short break as appreciation is roared to the venue’s beautiful rafters. The band and Gary return with four Tubeway Army songs: My Shadow in Vain; inevitably the big classic, Are ‘Friends’ Electric; Listen to the Sirens and the wonderful Down in the Park to wrap things up.

An unforgettable evening which will be part of the incredible Numan story. It’s date seven on a 15 date UK tour. I hope he makes it through the tour as he wants to do, and he continues to get that huge support from fans to keep him going. And a thought for Raven also… what a challenge she is meeting, with her dad.

NUUUUU-MAN!

Palaye Royale End Their Tour in Brum

Palaye Royale at O2 Academy Birmingham (9.11.2025) with The Hunna + The Molotovs supporting.

A very rainy night in Birmingham and I’m stood outside in the big queue to get in to the O2 Academy, with wife Sally, after a trip to Villa Park to watch the footy, in particular AFC Bournemouth.

I happened to have seen a journalist’s current top ten bands summary a few weeks back and Palaye Royale were in it. I hadn’t heard of them but liked the sound of their style, so when looking to see if there were any gigs on while we were up here, I grabbed the chance of tickets when seeing that Palaye Royale were on. Then a week ago I looked up to see the support and blow me it was The Hunna and The Molotovs… I would happily have bought the tickets just to see either of them.

The O2 Priority queue ‘isn’t working tonight’. I didn’t realise the perk was optional. However, the shorter of the two queues was for the unreserved seated balcony that we had tickets for. Fortunate, as I can hear The Molotovs playing inside and the other queue looks like half an hour in the pouring rain.

We must have missed half the set but I have been trying to see this young trio for ages. Punchy, energetic and reminiscent of early Jam. This lot, including 19-year-old brother and sister, have been making waves and with a debut LP in January, Wasted on Youth, there are more exciting times coming.

Shortly after we get in, they play a rousing cover of Suffragette City. A good reception to that and the rest of the set. The 3,000 capacity venue is full – standing downstairs and seating on the balcony.

Next up, in front of the swaying crowd down below us are The Hunna. We’ve seen them a fair bit – got their albums on CD – and this is a bonus tonight. Frontman, Ryan Potter, opts for a set of the more wild rock than indie rock end of their spectrum, which it turns out fits the headliner’s style best. You have to be going it a bit to get your top off as a support band… but Ryan gets there. He plays his part in bigging up the main attraction and winding up the crowd anticipation for them.

A short sharp shock of a set. Do we need another band we wonder…it’s been a long day and Bournemouth got hammered 4-0 by The Villa earlier….. but Palaye Royale (PR) make it easy for us. What a performance and the set was not that long – hour and a half maybe.

PR have released four albums since their first in 2016. Tonight it’s the last one they are celebrating on the final gig of their Death or Glory tour, named after the 2024 LP.

The group is five on stage but the core of the band is three members that have been together since forming a band in Las Vegas in 2008. They subsequently moved west, to Los Angeles. Two guitarists but I see no bass. The keyboards seem to do that job to add to any guitar sound.

Remington Leith still fully dressed – Palaye Royale

No messing when they start. Appearing through a door in the back of the stage set, they kick off with the track Death or Glory. I’ve been listening to this album as my focused gig revision, so some familiarity is there. Then the fireworks start…already, and literally.

My instant thought is My Chemical Romance as a soundalike, and the figure of Remington Leith up front. What a huge amount of stage presence he has. There’s an Alice Cooper in there and as the set evolves I can hear T Rex and retro rock sounds. They do get glam rock, art rock, and fashion rock labels. The show and the visuals are an important ingredient. This band is so much more than its recorded works.

Early fireworks at O2 Academy Birmingham

Addicted to the Wicked and Twisted starts quietly and then builds, straining Remington’s vocals to the limit. So much effort to control it from exploding. Another notable Death or Glory track in the mid-set is Showbiz. A slower start with guitar riffs to savour.

Large, nicely weighted, balloons are pushed out from the stage for a song or two of floating about before the final burst. All very Muse show of the noughties.

It didn’t take Remington Leith that many songs to get stripped down to his waist. That seemed a more natural image than his suit and tie start…yes, a tie. Not even for work these days eh.

Remington Leith – down to his working gear

Leith’s activity is staggering. He leaps down from the drum and keyboard plinth, stands up on top of the crowd, jumps down in the crowd, parting it to start the mosh. Later he disappears down a side and appears up dancing on the left balcony – the stewards must be having kittens, having been shining torches on anyone standing near the balcony edge. Not sure if something has happened here – there is an extra rail that looks to have been a later attachment.

Stage diving boat with Remington Leith aboard

But the real show stopper: an inflatable raft appears out of the front pit and onto the crowd heads at the front – then Leith leaps aboard before riding the sea of fans.

The whole band are giving it their all but no one is at that frontman Leith’s level. Unstoppable. It is the last night of the tour and it has that celebratory, leave it all out there feel.

The two-song encore finishes with For You, again from Death or Glory. It’s anthemic with a tuneful chorus – a fine finale.

Glad I managed to catch this epic showman and his band. The women next to us pointed out that Palaye Royale played Wembley, and I think they have the presence to play anywhere. Even better then to get to see them somewhere more up close.

Turnstile live at Ally Pally

Turnstile at Alexandra Palace (5.11.2025) with The Garden supporting.

Ally Pally is all a bit out of the way and considering it’s London, all a bit of a chore. I stayed in Wood Green which has little to appeal beyond The Nag’s Head and the tube line out of it, just opposite. It’s about 25 mins on the tube, north of central London. Then you have to get to the Alexandra Palace itself. It’s a mile walk or there is the W3 bus that goes from the stop, found if you turn left and round the corner from The Nag’s Head. The W3 bus drops you right outside the venue. The return is less straightforward as the buses are rammed and queues large. It worked though, as it did for my only previous visit to the indoor venue here, for Bauhaus in 2021. (The Bauhaus blog.)

That Bauhaus gig, in hindsight, was about half capacity. Turnstile was a sell-out. A massive gig and at approximately 10,000 capacity the place is verging on the inadequate.

There is a huge bar room before entering the auditorium. It is an old fashioned exhibition centre and feels like it. Cavernous halls. Drinks were absurdly expensive (£9 for 440ml can of cider/ £6 for a 330ml Neck Oil) and queues for drinks and bogs nauseous. Most of the toilets appeared to be up stairways packed with women in queues, so the gents were hard to access. Downstairs people queued for festival style plastic portaloos which capture smells so beautifully.

I’m here with gig buddy Keith who I was at school with and bumped into a couple of years ago. We liked the idea of exploring the much lauded Turnstile, fuelled by the excellent 2025 album Never Enough. We concluded that we were the oldest people here by some margin.

There were two support bands listed but we got in to find The Garden playing, and the only support we saw. They are twins from Orange County, California – Wyatt and Fletcher Shears. What a great noise they make, and have made for the last 15 years, apparently. Punky, drums and a guitar that sounded like a whole lot more was going on. Very mobile on stage – plenty to watch.

I thought it was full when they were on but that was nothing. An endless trail of groups of blokes mainly, curiously tall, making their way through to the front for Turnstile. This was a big one. A lot of anticipation and a real buzz. I ended up wide, near the right wall, as a position to point and shoot my trusty pocket zoom from, not that I bothered much.

Turnstile formed in 2010 in Baltimore and are labelled as hardcore punk. Listening to the new LP, Never Enough, I was dubious of this, but clearly the older material was more frantic and the live experience was a beautiful riot of sound.

Lead singer, Brendan Yates, doesn’t have to whip the crowd up. The band just plays and the crowd goes wild… I mean wild. The whole front centre of the crowd is mobile. This video of Fazed Out (from the 2015 Non-Stop Feeling LP) gives an illustration, with the crowd scenes beamed up on the backdrop screen.

While I preferred the familiar to me newest album tracks, they had four albums to build their setlist from and all went down well – real fans roaring on the older material, as ever. 15 of the 21 tracks were from the last two albums, the previous one being Glow On (2021).

Never Enough is the great title track from the album, and it is the Never Enough Tour, so maybe not surprising that this is the highlight for me. So much of the LP sounds great live though. This is LOUD but the sound is good.

The track they finished with was Birds. Something of a classic already, their performance of this has been nominated for a Grammy award, as best metal performance, along with the album as a whole. Some great live versions of this on YouTube with a lot of stage diving.

The track Never Enough is nominated for best rock song and best rock performance, Seein’ Stars getting nominated for best alternative song performance….another one they played tonight.

There were a lot of what I presume were just lucky fans, crowded around the wings of the stage. At a few points they were free to leap around or off the stage to increase the chaotic feel to what was a sharp, well drilled performance.

I just seem to hit this band at the right time. New album, UK tour and seemingly a key point in their presumably blossoming popularity. Really good to see a packed place, full of fans who were up for it. It reminded me of my early Ramones gigs. Energy and excitement at max.

Ok so maybe I would come back to Ally Pally again… for the right band. Big but better than an arena.

The Undertones early show at The Old Fire Station

The Undertones at Bournemouth Old Fire Station (14.11.2025) with Avid Fan supporting.

We arrive shortly after 7pm and the support from near Manchester, Avid Fan, are already playing. Their merch stand man says they had 15 minutes left so we hurry in. This is an early evening gig with the venue, essentially the student union nightspot, transforming into nightclub mode for ‘the kids’ at 10pm. Mature old heads in for the bands: Undertones faithfuls.

Apparently, it had been a rough ole journey down from the North West for this support slot. A powerful punky sound but I only got a listen to a few songs. Sound.

Tonight’s Undertones’ gig is part of the 45th anniversary Hypnotised tour, celebrating that second LP. I was there the first time round at Hammersmith Palais for the 1980 Hypnotised tour. After three gigs in 1979-80, I picked up again a few years after they reformed, with frontman Paul McLoone replacing the deserter, Feargal Sharkey. In between there were the That Petrol Emotion gigs which also included the O’Neill brothers, Damian and John, as the principal songwriters.

With the focus on Hypnotised, as well as the title track and the hit single My Perfect Cousin, there’s a chance hear some lesser known songs like Boys Will Be Boys, Nine Times Out of Ten and the one I captured on video, the drum thumping Hard Luck. (Links to my YouTube channel).

Hard Luck is the only track I can find that has a credit to Feargal Sharkey. His voice was such a key feature but it was the O’Neill brothers who were, and still are, the main songwriters.

I am in a good rail leaning spot towards the back. Slightly raised up giving a clear view – I like this venue more each visit. The sound is good. The 550 capacity venue is quite full and nearly all standing, bar some bench seats to either side.

The Old Fire Station view from the back – The Undertones

Michael Bradley on bass and backing vocals is still the chopsy one – chirping away between songs. He questions whether this was where they dealt with old fires and whether Bournemouth was now without a fire station. No comment on the fact that the building next door to the Old Fire Station appears to have burnt down.

Paul McLoone is the man who has had the 26-year-long challenge of ‘replacing’ Feargal Sharkey, who was with the band for the first eight years before pursuing his solo career. McLoone is the ever dancing frontman, conducting the choruses and leading the clapping percussion. So many songs that we all know the words to. It’s a bouncy singalong every time… and this is number 12 ‘tones gig for me.

Aside from McLoone, it’s the original members, including Billy Doherty on drums.

Big songs come early with Jimmy Jimmy a surprising opener, with Male Model following and we’re not kept waiting to the end for Teenage Kicks or My Perfect Cousin. What classics. You’ve Got My Number is another. Such catchy guitar hooks from the O’Neill brothers.

It becomes apparent that the early 10pm curfew is non-negotiable and some urgency creeps in, no time to disappear before an encore and they settle for cracking through a few more songs, including the excellent Get Over You.

My next appointment with these boys from Derry is in Belfast next summer, at the Stiff Little Fingers annual Custom House Square bash.

As one of the first bands I ever saw live – at Bracknell Sport Centre in 1979 with my mate Nick – they will always be special, Feargal or not.

Marilyn Manson live on Halloween

Marilyn Manson at Bournemouth International Centre (31.10.2025) with Dead Posey supporting.

A bit of a surprise, Marilyn Manson turning up on the doorstep for Halloween.

As soon as the date was announced the protesting posts started. The Brighton gig had its licence withdrawn in light of unresolved and unproven allegations against Marilyn Manson. I wondered where the stirring would get to in Bournemouth but everything carried on after some initial noise. I went anyway and wondered about my principles.

I have seen him once before at Reading Festival in 2001. It was at the height of Manson hysteria. As a live experience it was disturbing, exciting and almost terrifying. Fake blood, whips, crucifixes lifted from the stage, screams, sounds and Manson in various raging characters.

I recall during Disposable Teens, with that chanting chorus, that feeling of being totally absorbed by a sea of bodies overwhelmed by the experience, verging on cult worship. I often refer to it as the most scary performance I’ve ever seen. So I’m back, this time in a rear balcony seats at the Bournemouth BIC. Turns out those seats are just fine for the right act.. a powerful one.

I was here just a week or so ago for Adam Ant and the audience could not have been more different. It helped massively that it was standing downstairs and that the audience members were 20+ years younger, and it was Halloween, making for some great outfits – who could tell the difference between goth and fancy dress enthusiast?

I was very impressed with goth rockers, LA based, three piece, Dead Posey, supporting tonight. All over the stage and in the crowd, lead singer Danyell Souza is the focus – at times crawling across the stage.

I can’t pretend to know Manson material but I have the headlines etched on my brain – Disposable Teens; Dope Show; This is the New Shit; Beautiful People. He does them all.

Marilyn Manson – Halloween in Bournemouth

The entrance he makes is dramatic and crowd is at high hysteria level. Controversial… yes, but this is a big showman. This is the One Assination Under God tour and the title track of that album opens the performance, not that there were that many from that LP – I checked, four.

“The more people hate me, the stronger we get!” balls Manson gratefully and angrily, with the first song over.

His antics on stage are a little calmer and less prop based than 25 years back but he is still hugely visual. Voice still powerful and with range. A real showman putting on a real big rock show.

The cover of the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams is a Manson fan favourite but it was amazing just how passionately it was received. The poppiest number in the set and crowd are going bonkers. Security keep returning to the balcony edge to discourage falling off. They have a job on but keep control.

The performance is very impressive, whether or not you are deterred by the personality. Bringing this big goth rock show to Bournemouth on Halloween is a winner. I see nothing but enthusiasm, and hysteria in some cases, in front of me. I am happy to view from up here for this one as a curious observer.

One of the two encores he returns with is If I was Your Vampire, with ‘snow’ falling down on Manson and his big fedora type hat, in a tube of light. This has been high impact, unforgettable and perhaps guilty, pleasure.

The setlist in in full: setlistfm.

Psychedelic Furs at The De La Warr Pavilion

The Psychedelic Furs live at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea (30.10.2025) with Anja Huwe supporting.

It’s a tortuous drive along the coast from Portsmouth, where I was for Wednesday night’s gig, to Bexhill-on-Sea, in East Sussex. An endless trail of roundabouts, traffic lights and two lanes into one, all with queues. We made it to the De La Warr Pavilion though, and I’m glad I made the trip.

Before the venue opened at 7pm, we have a pint in The Compass, a lovely bistro style bar on the same road, nearly opposite. Parking next to the venue was easy and inexpensive at 6pm but look like it filled up quickly from then on.

Approaching this seafront, 1935, iconic, modernist building, it looks like an old Pan Am terminal. It’s due a refurbishment but inside the architectural lines are beautiful. There’s a relaxed bar upstairs, a record seller in the lobby, an outdoor balcony that’s a bit breezy tonight, with another bar downstairs. Many of the punters in the upstairs bar are artistically dressed, as if for a film festival – trendy place huh. The Furs do have that art school feel.

Despite the sprawling building, the venue itself is relatively small with a 1,500 capacity. It reminds me of my old school hall (that was built three years later I find), even the balcony where I am seated, at the rear (third row centre – eventually). It could be a scene from the Ramones’ Rock’n’Roll High School film. The difference is the lower, standing balconies to each side. Novel.

My photo makes it look further than it is to the stage but cameras not welcome up here so I stick with my phone and only snap a few to show I was here.

The support band was a particularly interesting one. I never did see 80s German goth rock band X-Mal Deutdchland but had a compilation LP with a few tracks on and they were a John Peel radio show regular. Tonight we have their singer, Anja Huwe, to entertain us.

A genuine treat to hear Anja Huwe and best of all the rendition of Incubus Succubus, the track I remember most from X-Mal Deutschland. (Link to Peel recording.)

My Psychedelic Furs history involves buying all the LPs, including the first four on cassette. (More here on my Furs in Pompey blog.) Then at the end of that tour was The Roundhouse gig where I ended up in the end of tour party with the band, where I found out I was born in the same hospital as bassist Tim Butler.

Hence my Psychedelic Furs bond is a firm one. There are only a few bands that can play absolutely anything and I know it. The set list tonight is a wander through tracks from the first to the most recent, eighth album. No room for anything from The Book of Days mind.

Small show feel – The Furs live in Bexhill

The confined nature of the stage was now enhanced by the lighting, making it all look even more like a school hall concert. No roving spotlights either, so that when any band members, notably bassist Tim Butler, went walkabout off to the sides they disappeared into the darkness, bar the glow from nearby phones.

No saxophone on this tour, following the death of Mars Williams, two years back. Perhaps a mark of respect and it is such a missing addition given how the sax flavours many Furs songs.

Richard Butler acts out the songs with his hand gestures and expressions – as I was seated I didn’t feel I should join in. He’s very mobile for 69 and his little jumps in anticipation of a song show he’s up for this. The voice is still the sound of a thousand smoked cigarettes.

Richard Butler on stage at the De La Warr Pavilion

President Gas, a favourite, is delivered early – no controversial mock salutes tonight. Other poppy tunes include Love My Way and Pretty in Pink and, while I enjoy these, it’s the rougher rasping numbers that are better as a live experience. There’s the chaos of Mr Jones from Talk Talk Talk and the slower strains of the brilliant The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll, from the latest 2020 album. Wrong Train is another belter from that album and that gets an airing.

The lighting at times uses the pink and green associated with the Forever Now LP and that deep purple colour of the 2020 Made if Rain LP. Quite minimalist though and I wonder if there is more unused equipment in the truck for the London Palladium tomorrow.

The Furs – Tim Butler on bass, on the right

The poppy Pretty in Pink and similarly poppy but more urgent Heartbreak Beat round off the main set. The crowd has been quite calm but appreciative… and now they’re noisy. I imagine this is one of the more sedate venues on the tour.

The Furs return with the weaving, stop/tart of It Goes On from the second LP, Talk Talk Talk. (I failed to resist a t-shirt of that LP, downstairs at the merch desk.) Then the final beautiful offering…India. Starting with that slow build-up, Richard Butler using some percussion to mimic the unmistakable interference sound, then the rumble before the song gets in full flow with the frantic drumming and thrashing guitar. Great way to finish.

They’ll soon be back to the US where they live and I wonder when, and if, we will see them tour the UK again. Enjoy it while you can, eh?

Inhaler live – Pompey

Inhaler at Portsmouth Guildhall (5.10.2025)

After the trek back from Bristol, via home to pick up wife, Sally, we get to Portsmouth Premier Inn to see a police cordoned and be called to be told of its evacuation due to a fire. A rebooking in Havant and some time to kill, spent in the obvious Isambard Kingdom Brunel Wetherspoons opposite (pleasant one that always serves the purpose) and the cavernous Dockyard pub (good range of craft ales) just along down Guildhall Walk.

Although Inhaler formed in 2012, in Dublin, the first LP wasn’t released until 2021. Like many, my eyebrows had been raised around Covid times, with the early singles, such as Honest Face (which I bought on 10″ vinyl), having realised that it was Bono’s son, Elijah Hewson, fronting the band – I can’t deny it.

I saw them three times in 2022: Glastonbury and Victorious festivals, and at Southampton Engine Rooms (My blog link to that one). Three good LPs purchased, all reaching 1 or 2 in the UK chart and all no.1 in Ireland, the latest being Wide Open. There’s even a new single, not on the LP, released today (29 Oct), Hole in the Ground, which they play mid-set.

Inhaler at Portsmouth Guildhall – they are there, honest.

No cameras allowed at this venue and that seems a permanent thing so it’s phone only, and there are loads of them waving about downstairs. The lighting is unusual. Maybe it was upstairs only, from where the stage mostly appeared to be in darkness and sporadically bright lights beamed up into balcony faces, from what looked like giant speakers positioned around the stage. Perhaps it was the desired effect. (The phone snaps are just when the stage suddenly lit up a bit.)

The gig appears to be something of a warm-up for a special Royal Albert Hall one this week and it is a nice surprise to have them visit Pompey. It’s busy. Huge queue when the doors opened with mostly young women waiting to rush for a place on the barrier down the front. We waited in ‘Spoons. No rush. So little rush that after going straight in at 7.30 ish we grabbed a table in the big downstairs bar and met some friends. I wasn’t motivated to see the support bands this evening, which isn’t my style but no research and I was unaware of Scustin or The Guest List (there’s a name that’ll be a nuisance – comedy sketch gold).

Inhaler are an easy listening. Indie pop but with plenty of depth in the guitars and bass. Elijah Hewson’s voice has that clear, light nasal, soft Dublin sound that unmistakably marks him as the son of his father. Much less frontman and more part of the band and playing guitar throughout. It is an overall sound I warm to with rarely a song I don’t like, but then less that I can pinpoint as highlights. This is whole album music. If I had to pick favourites, they would be the ones that obviously demand pride of place in the setlist still, with It Won’t Always Be Like This at the end of the main set and My Honest Face as the last of three songs in the encore.

Despite my lofty position in the balcony, and the peculiar lighting (I suspect the Albert Hall was the priority), it was uplifting to see youths going bonkers down the front, and it’s heavily female… more stories for girls than Stories For Boys perhaps.

The band makes a great sound – a few grumbles from friends downstairs mind – but it was loud so maybe any distortion didn’t travel upstairs.

The Royal Albert Hall is going it a bit but over the three albums since 2021 they have been impressive and not over toured and I hope they enjoyed that special night. I don’t suppose Bono was there… wouldn’t want to cramp his son’s style.

The Stranglers at 51 – live in Bristol

The Stranglers at Bristol Beacon (28.10.2025) with Buzzcocks supporting.

The Meninblack march on. Jet Black and Dave Greenfield have left us – RIP. Hugh Cornwell abandoned us. No more major tours they said. The 50th Anniversary came and went. The crowds still come. The performances get more polished.

The technical ability of Toby Hounsham on keyboards and Jim Macaulay on drums continues to impress. Baz Warne, guitar, vocals, gig raconteur and now author has been ‘inblack’ for 25 years. JJ (Jean-Jacques Burnel) is now 73, going on 45, remains our leader and a role model for our failing bodies.

No more heroes, eh?

…and no I haven’t forgotten Hugh Cornwell or left him behind.

Tonight, aside from the black comfort blanket of another Stranglers gig, and catching up with friendsinblack there’s an added interest in those less common inclusions in the setlist.

I’m 62 and tonight is my 34th Stranglers gig over a 45 year period. That’s a quite conservative tally compared to so many men and women inblack, but this band are the cornerstone of my gig going and record buying and listening. Where would we be without them. My wardrobe contents might be a bit lighter for a start.

The band open tonight’s set with Goodbye Toulouse from their debut album – Rattus Norvegicus was rereleased on green vinyl on National Album Day recently. No Waltzinblack tape as the walk on music. This old tradition is maybe over and instead it’s Je Ne Regrette Rien (JJ’s French influence).

The sound is excellent throughout. A combination of the thoroughly refurbished venue and the polished performances we get from the band, consistently these days. I am on the front row of a side balcony. An excellent view from here although getting in and out is a bit of squeeze – you don’t want to be popping in and out from a seat here, unless you’re at the end of the row.

I took a video of one song, as is my way, either gambling on one or recording on cue from an introduction or opening notes – Thrown Away, the chart single from the Gospel According to the Meninblack LP: one with JJ on vocals. This seems to be a track I’ve always liked more than most fans…. here on my YouTube channel (Thrown Away). The lone track played tonight from that 1981 concept album – I saw them twice on that tour so perhaps a reason to warm to it, unusual though it is.

A treat of a Stranglers gig these days is hearing some less aired tracks. Tonight there are two songs from the other 1981 LP, La Folie, which you don’t hear often: Tramp and Pin Up. The backdrop for Pin Up sees a series of small images flashed up in various windows, randomly – there must have been some cheeky ones in there.

Last time I saw The Stranglers here (blog link), it was a rearranged gig and it was seated downstairs, front row (so up on my feet). Tonight is standing down there, with some usual unreserved seating at the back, but the crowd are quite static. Something Better Change starts a bit of movement in pockets but I guess everyone’s legs are getting old. I noticed how many bald heads there were and commented, wondering what proportion of men over 60 were bald? It wasn’t long into the set that Baz Warne commented on the number of bald heads. Whatever the reason, the audience did seem a bit subdued . It’s Tuesday night but hey ho, it’s no Sunday/ Monday. I’m sure they haven’t all got work tomorrow.

One album that passed me by and I picked up later on CD was Giants. This 2012 release is the middle one of three with Baz Warne on lead vocals. They play a couple from this tonight: 15 Steps and Mercury Rising. I must dig this one out more often.

Yes, it’s still those hits that the crowd laps up most. The softer Golden Brown or Always the Sun, or the harder Peaches or Hanging Around (maybe my all time favourite Stranglers’ track).

There is still room for a few from the most recent LP, Dark Matters, and White Stallion, which appears to have established itself as a new anthem.

In the encores the old pub rock sound still has a place with Mean to Me, a track featured on the free white EP that came with the essential Black and White album, which is clearly being rested this tour. It’s hard to knock No More Heroes off its closing number perch these days. The first of their singles I bought when it hit the charts. I still remember buying it, closely followed by the album, from the Squeeze Inn record shop on the Staines Road West, Ashford Common. We’ve all come a long way since then. No more heroes, eh?

Annabella’s Bow Wow Wow live in London

Annabella’s Bow Wow Wow at London’s 229 venue (25.10.2025) with The Baby Seals supporting.

My ROCKtober continues to gather pace. Do I blog it all or spend a bit more time on some. No, I’ll hammer on through and perhaps I’ll have to be briefer.

Not many pics tonight as I’m without my trusty pocket zoom. This is a Saturday night out in London to live in the music, well and have a few beers – a top night out with old friends and “Annabella’s Bow Wow Wow“. As Annabella reminds us – she’s the one, she’s the voice but there’s another band about using the name. How can there be a Bow Wow Wow without Annabella? That voice and style is so distinct.

Only my second visit to 229, near to Great Portland Street tube (and a short walk from Regent’s Park tube) and opposite an extremely hospitable and convenient beer drinkers’ pub (The Albany). This all very handy.

I wasn’t expecting The Baby Seals tonight but this garage three piece from Cambridgeshire bought some punchy punky sounds to a filling venue.

Not a bad turn out already and as I eye the people coming in down the stairs by the bar, I can sense the trickle of history and old John Peel disciples coming in. The curious and the individual who probably saw Bow Wow Wow back in the day…I didn’t by the way, but went to a few gigs on the (English) Beat tour that they toured the UK with last time.

The Bow Wow Wow uniqueness comes from the drumbeats and the singing, often chanty singing, and that hallmark occasional shrillness that Annabella brought to the tunes in her early teens. The other uniqueness comes from that Your Cassette Pet, originally cassette tape only EP. (I still haven’t found a copy when casually browsing the second hand shops.) So, it’s a cracking start with Louis Quatorze and Sexy Eiffel Towers among the first songs, from that EP.

I moved down the left wall to get closer. (There are a few tables and chairs to sit, if you get in early – my legs survived with a ‘wall lean’.)

For me the essential C30 C60 C90 Go is soon after and See Jungle, a single I have since its release. The former is so Antmusic in its sound, unsurprisingly maybe as Malcolm McLaren took some Ants to play with Bow Wow Wow. C30.. is such an important marker for the early 80s music scene. And here we are 45 years later listening live. Lucky us eh. We are all still here.. cheers, I’ll have another pint. I’m enjoying this.

Annabella’s got a lot of energy and makes it all look natural and effortless. It all does the memories justice – very different to my Adam Ant experience a few days earlier.

I can’t help but focus on the most familiar tunes: they’re ingrained from the 80s and late nights with the John Peel show. So, it’s Go Wild In The Country – maybe a more conventional pop song and the cover of I Want Candy that round off the set. I guess from the cheers that I’m not the only one who remembers those best. (Go Wild... captured here on my YouTube channel.)

They return for an encore of Aphrodisiac, the opening track on the 1983 LP When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going. It all seems to have rushed by. Another Saturday night out in London is over… well nearly as we pop backstage with a beer to have a chat in rooms you don’t normally get to go – I was here with Annabella’s brother as well as my gig buddy Dave. Cheers. Great evening.

The classic moment has to be hearing C30 C60 C90 Go live.