THE UNDERTONES + HUGH CORNWELL – DE LA WARR PAVILION, BEXHILL-ON-SEA 22.10.22
Derry’s finest, The Undertones, were back in action at the iconic De La Warr Pavilion on the seafront at Bexhill-on-Sea this evening. The band were last in action at the very same venue back on 17th May 2019, when our reviewer Andy Murphy reported that their “90-minute, 30 song set included pretty much all that any fan of The Undertones could have wished for, though given the intensity of the dancefloor a ‘Mars Bar’ wouldn’t have gone amiss to help me work, rest, mosh and play. If, like me, The Undertones have been off radar since Feargal left, then do yourself a favour and get along to watch some good wholesome family entertainment”.
Andy Murphy is back in attendance for tonight’s gig and it seems as though his request was noted by John, Michael, Billy, Damian O’Neill and Paul was ‘Mars Bar’ was included in this evening’s performance, and not only that, but The Undertones played an impressive 32 accompanying tunes during their 88 minute set. That’s two minutes shorter than last time at the De La Warr, but they played 3 more songs this time out! Clearly the lads are getting faster, which concurs with my notes written during tonight’s performance, which read “The songs are being delivered quickly one after another, just as the Ramones used to!”. We can no longer witness the Ramones live any more, so let’s treasure The Undertones whilst we can. Plus there’s the fact that 80% of the band have been playing together in this outfit as early as 1976, with the exception of the “new bloke” lead vocalist Paul McLoone only being in the group a mere 23 years after the departure of Feargal Sharkey, who incidentally only did an 8 year stint with the band.
In fact, this evening, my colleague Martin J. Fuller was breaking his Undertones duck and was dubious about this “new fella” as to whether he would be able to fill Feargal’s shoes. I can safely report that at the conclusion of tonight’s concert, he was actually extremely impressed with Paul’s on stage charisma and preferred him to Feargal – high praise indeed!
At 9:02pm the house lights went down and the chords of their intro tape sounded out and bounced off of the walls of this box like theatre, which has a golf ball style acoustic ceiling. As always, their selected tune is ‘Just For You’ by The Glitter Band, and they announce themselves stating “Hello we’re Derry’s answer to The Glitter Band”, which got many chuckles. This was the first of several witty crowd banter remarks from the outfit, which more often than not came from bass guitarist Michael Bradley. Frontman Paul also got in on the act, but the remaining trio of the O’Neill guitarist brothers and drummer Billy Doherty, just let the music do the talking, and let their brothers-in-arms take the glory.
The band members have stuck with their winning format and as a result know exactly where they are going to stand on stage during each performance. So as we view them we see from our left to right there is out front Damian O’Neill on his Gibson Les Paul guitar and backing vocals, lead vocalist Paul, Fender bassist Michael who also does backing vocals, and on our right John O’Neill on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Behind the quartet is Billy Doherty on drums, who I note holds his stick in his left hand in a reverse fashion, as opposed to clasping it like he does in his right hand.
The venue was, as you would expect, very busy, but I spied some spare seats right at the back in the raised balcony. The majority of the punters were standing and we were camped on the front barrier for a birds-eye view.
This evening was (as always) largely a greatest hits set which was delivered full speed with great energy and for almost an hour and a half, the tempo didn’t drop. The band’s energy and rapport with the packed audience created a great atmosphere. It’s fair to report that the whole crowd was fully engaged with the band’s performance. They even alluded to the band’s continued appeal by highlighting the fact that “Most of our songs have the title in them, which is user friendly” and I would add that the backing vocals to many of their compositions carry a simple “whoo hoo” message. And there lies the secret of their success! Their material is catchy as f*ck!
There were many notable highlights, such as 60’s hip swinging ‘Jimmy Jimmy’, the glam rock style drumming led ‘Nine Times Out Of Ten’, and the unusually superfast ‘Here Comes The Summer’, which we were informed was played at pace due to the fact that drummer Billy wanted to see ‘Match Of The Day’. And on that subject, prior to performing ‘Billy’s Third’, Michael jestingly stated that “We have some songs you can hold your breath all the way through!”.
Other set highlights were the aforementioned ‘Mars Bars’ which Paul’s vocals sounded like Jello Biafra’s and the band sounding like his Dead Kennedys, and obviously the iconic ‘Teenage Kicks’ which was dedicated to the frontman of the UK Subs, Charlie Harper, who was in attendance this evening with his wife Yuko. There’s never any back-stage ligging with Charlie, he’s always out front with the masses and sharing the banter with the hordes of fans who come up to him as Charlie is a very approachable fellow for a legend! Many punters viewed this song through the screens of their mobile phones. That certainly didn’t happen back in the day when they played their debut gig at St. Mary’s Scout Hall, Beechwood Crescent, Derry in February 1976.
The Undertones even threw in ‘There Goes Norman’ from their 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album as the penultimate number, simply on the basis that Bexhill is located near to where the Battle of Hastings was fought on 14th October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson. They concluded with ‘My Perfect Cousin’ which features the legendary lines “His mother bought him a synthesiser; Got the Human League into advise her”.
Bang on the dot of 10:30pm, they were done! Clearly they’ve practised this before! It had yet again been another wonderful uplifting pop-punk set from The Undertones and a great night out…cue 1976 smash ‘Chanson d’Amour’ by Manhattan Transfer in order to get the punters out of the venue superquick!
We are not leaving the review just yet though, as we have the small matter of reporting on the legendary former frontman of the Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell who was tonight’s special guest…………
The Undertones:
John O’Neill – rhythm guitar
Michael Bradley – bass guitar, lead and backing vocals
Billy Doherty – drums
Damian O’Neill – lead guitar and backing vocals
Paul McLoone – lead vocals
The Undertones setlist:
(Intro tape) ‘Just For You’ (The Glitter Band)
‘Girls Don’t Like It’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It?)’ (from 1979 ‘You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It?)’ single)
‘Jump Boys’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘I Need Your Love The Way It Used To Be’ (from 2003 ‘Get What You Need’ album)
‘The Love Parade’ (from 1983 ‘The Sin Of Pride’ album)
‘Jimmy Jimmy’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘Crisis Of Mine’ (from 1981 ‘Positive Touch’ album)
‘Tearproof’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
‘Thrill Me’ (from 2003 ‘Get What You Need’ album)
‘It’s Going To Happen!’ (from 1981 ‘Positive Touch’ album)
‘Teenage Kicks’ (from 1978 ‘Teenage Kicks’ EP)
‘True Confessions’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘Oh Please’ (from 2003 ‘Get What You Need’ album)
‘Nine Times Out Of Ten’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
‘I Gotta Getta’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘Family Entertainment’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘Girls That Don’t Talk’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
‘Dig Yourself Deep’ (from 2007 ‘Dig Yourself Deep’ album)
‘Here Comes The Summer’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘When Saturday Comes’ (from 1981 ‘Positive Touch’ album)
‘Hypnotised’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
‘Billy’s Third’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘Male Model’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘(She’s A) Runaround’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘Wednesday Week’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
‘Listening In’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘Get Over You’ (from 1979 ‘Get Over You’ single)
(encore)
‘More Songs About Chocolate And Girls’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
‘Mars Bars’ (from 1979 ‘Jimmy Jimmy’ single)
‘Enough’ (from 2003 ‘Get What You Need’ album)
‘I Know A Girl’ (from 1979 ‘The Undertones’ album)
‘There Goes Norman’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
‘My Perfect Cousin’ (from 1980 ‘Hypnotised’ album)
Let’s face it, Hugh Cornwell is a legend isn’t he! The De La Warr Pavilion punters this evening were clearly in awe of this great man’s presence as he (on his Fender guitar) and his two chums (Windsor McGilvray on drums and bv’s, and Pat Hughes on Fender bass and bv’s), who were all clad in black clothing, worked their way through a 15-tune set ranging from Stranglers and solo Cornwell material, which commenced at 7:30pm and ran for the next 59 minutes. Almost an hour as a support artist is a long time, but Hugh is a “special guest” and certainly worthy of such homage!
I have to say that I was expecting around half of his set to be made up of tunes from Hugh’s brand new album which dropped on Friday. It is titled ‘Moments Of Madness’ and has ten new compositions on it. To my surprise, Hugh informed the audience that he has a “new album out yesterday, but can’t play it yet”. It sounded like a contractual loop, but maybe it’s also that the trio simply haven’t learned the material live yet. I, for one, wasn’t really that bothered about this notification as it would mean more Stranglers material in tonight’s set.
Indeed, there were no less than eight numbers recorded by the Strangers that got an outing, including as he put it “a Stranglers sandwich” with opener ‘Duchess’ (“And the Rodneys are queuing up; God forbid”) from 1979 ‘The Raven’ album, (which is also found on Hugh’s solo ‘People, Places, Pieces’ live album from 2006) and ‘Hanging Around’ from 1977’s ‘Rattus Norvegicus’ album, “being sandwiched by ‘Nosferatu’“ (in the form of ‘Big Bug’ which segued into the ‘Mothra’ instrumental (both found on the Hugh Cornwell and Robert Williams 1979 ‘Nosferatu’ album).
Other Stranglers tunes that had an outing tonight were ‘Strange Little Girl’, ‘Always The Sun’ – we sang along…“There’s always the sun, mm (always the sun); There’s always the sun; Always, always (always the sun)” -; ‘Skin Deep’ – we sang along…..“watch out for the skin deep; (Better watch out) watch out for the skin deep; Better watch out for the skin deep”; ‘London Lady’ (which fans loved), ‘5 Minutes’ and ‘Walk On By’, which has the whiff of Santana with its extended guitar break in the middle. The remaining tunes were from Hugh’s solo work down the years, but none of these give me the buzz of the Stranglers material.
There is very little banter in a Hugh Cornwell set, he and his bandmates simply let the music do the talking. I prefer it that way as it means that we get more tunes and the punters get value for money! Talking of value for money…..fans were served a total of 45 tunes for their £26 entry fee. I’d say that was a massive result, wouldn’t you?
Hugh Cornwell we be performing live in Brighton at the Concorde 2 on Saturday 12th November – Purchase your tickets HERE.
Hugh Cornwell band:
Hugh Cornwell – lead vocals, guitar
Pat Hughes – bass, backing vocals
Windsor McGilvray – drums, backing vocals
Hugh Cornwell setlist:
‘Duchess’ (The Stranglers song from 1979 ‘The Raven’ album) (found on 2006 Hugh Cornwell ‘People, Places, Pieces’ live album)
‘Big Bug’ (Hugh Cornwell and Robert Williams song from 1979 ‘Nosferatu’ album)
‘Mothra’ (Hugh Cornwell and Robert Williams song from 1979 ‘Nosferatu’ album)
‘Hanging Around’ (The Stranglers song from 1977 ‘Rattus Norvegicus’ album)
‘Under Her Spell’ (Hugh Cornwell song from 2004 ‘Beyond Elysian Fields’ album)
‘Strange Little Girl’ (The Stranglers song from 1982 ‘Strange Little Girl’ single) (found on 2003 Hugh Cornwell ‘In The Dock’ live album)
‘Mr. Leather’ (Hugh Cornwell song from 2018 ‘Monster’ album)
‘Stuck in Daily Mail Land’ (Hugh Cornwell song from 2012 ‘Totem And Taboo’ album)
‘Always The Sun’ (The Stranglers song from 1986 ‘Dreamtime’ album) (found on 2006 Hugh Cornwell ‘People, Places, Pieces’ live album)
‘The Most Beautiful Girl In Hollywood’ (Hugh Cornwell song from 2018 ‘Monster’ album)
‘Skin Deep’ (The Stranglers song from 1984 ‘Aural Sculpture’ album)
‘Bad Vibrations’ (Hugh Cornwell song from 2012 ‘Totem And Taboo’ album)
‘London Lady’ (The Stranglers song from 1977 ‘Rattus Norvegicus’ album) (found on 2010 Hugh Cornwell ‘New Songs For King Kong’ album)
‘5 Minutes’ (The Stranglers song from 1978 ‘5 Minutes’ single)
‘Walk On By’ (The Stranglers cover from bonus 7” single with 1978 ‘Black & White’ album) (Burt Bacharach & Hal David song)
