21 April 2023 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Joe Harbour – pictures by Bec Harbour
I remember when I was young I would visit my uncle and he would play this song, it used to almost stop me in my tracks because it sounded so unique and in hindsight deep and emotional (It’s about heroin and a girl according Hugh Cornwell the original vocalist/songwriter).
The harpsicord that drives the main riff of the song was so catchy I would hear it and immediately remember my uncle playing this song but I never knew who it was, until one night watching rage back in the early 90’s one night it came on. The song of course Is ‘Golden Brown’, a song released in the early 80’s by a band out of Guildford, UK called The Stranglers. I later managed to track down some of their music and boy was I surprised when I heard the rest of the catalogue! Bear in mind this was when I was a teenager and most of my friends were stuck on Nirvana and the pop/alternative that was Triple J in the 90’s.
Fast forward to 2023 and I’m made aware that they would be playing a show in Brisbane, and immediately I put my hand up to go to this gig and do the review. So, arriving at the Tivoli I see a huge line up, yep it was a sell out! And honestly, I can see why.But before I start talking more about The Stranglers I want to mention the band that played support to these guys, Heavy Amber.
Heavy Amber were really great, they have a great sound and aesthetic that I would liken to a mix of psychedelic shoegaze with the duo of Kasinda Faase (guitar/vox) and Sienna Laycock (bass/vox) providing nice harmonies over complex drums (Samuel Drew-Romoro).
They played a short but sweet set but unfortunately I don’t have access to a set list so I can’t say what songs were what, but they were great and Kasinda even pulled out a wooden flute for one song. I have to say they were pretty happy and grateful to be playing the night and tour for that matter.
If you want to check them out more or see when they are playing next go here.
Ok so back to The Stranglers, the came on stage to much ovation and immediately kicked things off with a bass driven track called ‘Sometimes’ and then ‘Relentless’, these were a really good way to get the crowd hyped and for what it was worth, we all got hyped! There was a really diverse age group in attendance and it goes to show that even when you’re in your 60’s you can get on the booze and get down to some old school punk/noise or whatever they best fit genre wise.
They then played through songs like ‘Nice and Sleazy’, ‘The Raven’ and the probably their other most commercial song ‘Always the Sun’, and ‘Skin Deep’. Those were actually awesome I wasn’t sure how they would sound live but I was very impressed.
Next was ‘Peaches’ then into ‘Golden Brown’ with every one singing along (honestly, I think everyone who could sing was singing at this point of the night). How did this sound live? It was excellent!
Next was ‘(Get a) Grip (on Yourself)’, followed by some funny banter about mullets (the hair cut) being stupid, I agree here, mullets are not cool people! This was followed by ‘Walk on By’ and then ‘Something Better Change’, ‘Hanging Around’, and then a nice sit down to pay tribute to fallen band mate David Greenfield who assed from COVID 19 related complications in 2020.
They then capped off the night with ‘Go Buddy Go’ and ‘No more Heroes’.
When the dust had settled and everyone was fulfilled, I was looking forward to seeing them live, but it was much better than I expected, except for some drunk clowns throwing beer cans onstage and getting turfed out and other fools filming right in front of my face I had an awesome time.
I can’t wait to see them again if they decide to come back to Australia for another tour! I highly recommend going.
