20th January 2011
Post punk stalwarts Wire proved they still have the taut energy and capacity to deliver a live performance that affirms their years of experience.
Wednesday night’s gig at the Corner was full of anticipation and excitement for the liquorice all-sorts of fans milling about. From the youthful beanpoles to the middle-aged leather jacket revivalists, and the balding wedding-banded fist pumpers – Wire’s broad scope of influence and relevance was nowhere more evident than by a quick 180º panoramic glance at the crowd.
The supports were extremely solid with local bands New War and My Disco opening with aplomb. My Disco were truly impressive, as always. Proving their skill and tenacity at playing their instruments beyond all doubt, even the bar staff were bopping in time to the mathematical precision of the drumming and rhythmic meshing of the guitars.
Wire has been a catalyst and inspiration for so many bands and individuals to start making music. Their first album in 1977 Pink Flag was a seminal punk explosion, swiftly followed by Chairs Missing (1978) and 154 (1979) which took it beyond punk to a more melodic and experimental territory.
To begin with such a stark and unforgettable trio of albums and go on to wider and weirder experimental lengths, Wire have always been an interesting and evolving band.
Their more recent output after a ten-year hiatus, the album Send (2003) revisited the angry intensity and vitality of their earlier work. Wire’s new album Red Barked Trees (2010) is equally a return to form and has strong links to their earlier work. In a Tone Deaf interview last week, drummer Robert Grey had suggested that their set list would comprise of songs from every era of Wire’s music making history.
Wire launched their set with the first song ‘Please Take’ from Red Barked Trees, the catchy refrain “Fuck off out of my face, you take up too much space” delivered emphatically by sharp cheek-boned Graham Lewis. Bespectacled vocalist and guitarist Colin Newman was an entertaining stage presence, weaving around with a bow-legged stance, and delivering lyrics in his familiar British twang. Robert Grey drums with his eyes meditatively closed and their new (tour-only band mate), 20-something guitarist Matt Simms, impressed with his shy manner and impressive skill on guitar and pedals.
Some of the older generations were really getting into it, sweaty grins of disbelief and pleasure and the familiar classics like ‘Three Girl Rhumba’ and ‘Pink Flag’ evoking crows of treasured ownership from the crowd. Indeed, one young and enthusiastic fan got on stage and shook his money-maker to this classic song from their first album, the members of Wire unfazed by his manic Muppet presence. The set was a solid mix of new with a fair nod to the old, but you could tell that Wire were more comfortable and relaxed playing their newer repertoire. At one point Newman was seen grasping a laminated book, presumably to read lyrics that in the past were delivered by Bruce Gilbert, who left the band in 2007.
Understandably for a band that started some thirty years ago, their skill at playing their instruments and their melodic explorations have progressed far beyond their initial beginnings. It’s always hard seeing a band whose early work you prefer to their new material. If you have any sort of attachment or connection to those songs, sometimes the experience of seeing them played live with an air of boredom or resignation from the players can be like having sex with an ex. It’s good on one level, but on another level – it’s really not good at all.
On the whole though, Wire played their new material with comfort and assurance, and the new album is by no means bad. It was a great effort by a band who are continuing to make interesting and relevant recorded music.
Anaya Latter
