Formed in 1980, Theatre of Hate made a real impact on the post-punk scene in the UK. The band was originally made up of lead singer Kirk Brandon, bassist Stan Stammers, guitarist Steve Guthrie, saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle. There have been many changes to the line-up over the years but Brandon and Stammers still remain and are joined by Chris Bell on drums and Adrian Portas on guitar.
The venue was Club Academy in Manchester, the smaller of the venues located in the Student Union building on Oxford Road. The crowd was quite sparse as our support for the evening took to the stage – Derek Forbes and The Dark. Forbes was the original bassist in Simple Minds and is something of a music icon having written a number of songs during his time in Simple Minds, he has also played with David Bowie and Iggy Pop to name a few of the top artistes he has worked with. He was also awarded an Ivor Novella award in 2016 for his writing in Simple Minds. Tonight he was supporting Theatre Of Hate and treated us to a number of early Simple Minds tracks including “The American” and the brilliant instrumental “Theme For Great Cities”. Forbes is one of the truly great bass players of his generation and it was a real pleasure to see him in such a small intimate venue.
Theatre Of Hate, led by front man Kirk Brandon, took to the stage to a rapturous welcome from a very partisan crowd. Brandon has always managed to attract a very loyal following of fans whether it be from his most mainstream successful band of Spear Of Destiny, his short-lived experience as 10:51 or his original punk incarnation of The Pack.
The band has recently released their first studio album in 25 years titled “Kinshi” and although the new material feels very current, it also manages to keep the traditional sound of Theatre Of Hate. As you might expect, the set is a mixture of the new album and the classic songs.
New material such as “Day Of The Dog”, “Maintenance Man” and “Triumph” was very well received by the audience but it was without doubt the classic material that provided the most entertainment for those in attendance. We were treated to some of the iconic tracks like “Incinerator”, “63”, “Love Is A Ghost” and “Omen Of The Times” which went down very well with the loyal fans.
The encore was without doubt the highlight of the night as “Original Sin” whipped up a small mosh pit at the front and then the finale of “Legion” had Brandon showing all the energy of a man half his age (he is 62 years old) and got the crowd signing the lyrics back to him. An acknowledgement from Brandon at the end of the gig to his loyal following brought the night to an end.
The thing that stood out from tonight’s gig iwas just how tight the band are together. The newer members of the band complimented the original members perfectly and this review would not be complete without a special mention for guitarist Adrian Portas. He makes his guitar sing back to him effortlessly, making his art appear to be very simple. Portas also plays with Brandon’s other band Spear Of Destiny as well as New Model Army and there is little doubt why his talents are in demand. Having seen many guitar greats live over the years, Portas is right up there with the best of them.
Reviewer - John Fish
on - 18/5/19
No comments:
Post a Comment