IGGY POP + BLONDIE + GENERATION SEX + STIFF LITTLE FINGERS + BUZZCOCKS + LAMBRINI GIRLS – CRYSTAL PALACE PARK 1.7.23
Today’s event is called ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ and it certainly has the feel of history in the making, due to the incredibly strong lineup of a half dozen acts appearing in this historical location.
We are based at Crystal Palace Park which is the large park located in south-east London. It is Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and was laid out in the 1850s as a pleasure ground, centred around the re-location of The Crystal Palace from Hyde Park, which was the largest glass building of the time. The Palace had been relocated after the 1851 Great Exhibition and rebuilt with some modifications and enlargements to form the centrepiece of the park, before sadly being destroyed by fire in 1936. The park features full-scale models of dinosaurs in a landscape, a maze, lakes, and a concert bowl.
Today’s unique ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ has been organised by Festival Republic in association with Solo Agency and will feature live performances from Iggy Pop (the godfather of punk), the iconic Blondie, punk rock supergroup Generation Sex, Stiff Little Fingers, Buzzcocks, and Brighton’s very own rising stars the Lambrini Girls.
I have been pondering about today’s lineup for some time now and I honestly feel that it’s quite possibly the best choice of one day festival acts since I ventured to the Gateshead Stadium on 31st July 1982 to witness The Police, U2, The Beat, Gang Of Four and Lords Of The New Church.
We arrive in plenty of time and collect our passes and liquid refreshment and then head up the steps to the open venue which lies in the shadow of the 719 ft high Crystal Palace transmitting station which has stood on the site since 1956. It is currently the eighth-tallest structure in London, and is best known as the main television transmitter for the London area. As such, it is the most important transmitter in the UK in terms of population covered.
Today’s event will see many thousands of music fans gathered in homage to their favourite artists, but as we got in nice and early we thankfully secured our spaces right at the front in the shadow of the high-raised expansive stage. On which were today’s openers, Brighton based Lambrini Girls who were concluding their soundcheck. Lead singer Phoebe Lunny looks down at us and says “Oh Hi Nick. I was just looking to see if I knew anyone!”. She certainly did, with us having reviewed their attitude filled sets on many occasions.
It’s fair to say that this afternoon will be their biggest gig to date and I was praying that Phoebe and bassist Lily Macieira would simply do what they do best and don’t tone down their performance in any way. Once again completing the trio is Demelza Mather on drums, who was last seen in Brighton bashing away at the stix in Kensington Gardens, when the Lambrini Girls Resident instore gig, suddenly became an outstore event! Read that account HERE.
Clearly the word is out about ‘The Brinis’, as the other five acts have been established for 45 years or more, and this vibrant new Brighton trio have no doubt been booked in order to get the party started! ‘The Brinis’ have recently supported Welsh outfit Panic Shack, (who are also on the up), as well as being championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq and Melita Dennett. They have just concluded their own headline tour across the country in support of their debut ‘You’re Welcome’ platter.
‘Dog Day Afternoon’ was officially kicked off at 1:20pm with a brief DJ set from Rusty Egan who compèred in between acts for a majority of the event. The usual punk orientated tunes were selected, but as Rusty was aware, they simply weren’t loud enough! His full setlist can be viewed at the bottom of this article, for those that are interested.
At 1:30pm the Lambrini Girls burst onto the stage and I noted that Lily had painted a message on her white dress in large red lettering. Everyone present can clearly see her message, even those arriving at the back, as there are two giant live feed screens either side of the stage. As usual, Phoebe’s outer clothing didn’t last long and during the opener ‘Big Dick Energy’ she vacated the stage, clambered over the high barrier with her guitar and set about getting the punters on board. We were seriously encouraged to crouch down and jump up again on several occasions, and this was the first number! The gauntlet had been thrown down! There were backing films for some numbers on the giant rear “wall” of the stage.
The following half dozen numbers of their seven tune set, were all culled from their ‘You’re Welcome’ extended EP/mini album. The first of these was ‘Help Me I’m Gay’ and within seconds Phoebe was hoisted atop someone’s shoulders in her bra and panties (guitar, mic and all) and there she preached to us. For tune three, ‘Mr Lovebomb’ she returned to the stage as it was clear they were already running behind schedule for their 30 minute conquering set. ‘Terf Wars’ was next and followed by ‘Lads Lads Lads’ for which she knelt on the stage.
‘Boys In The Band’ followed and the set was closed with their cowbell number ‘White Van’ and Phoebe headed off into the crowd again, but it was now 2pm and there was no time for the planned closing number ‘Craig David’. This didn’t stop Phoebe though, as without a mic she shouted at the punters to say “David” after she had said “Craig”. The fun was had and her parting gesture was to clamber back over the barrier and up the steps onto the stage, where she bent over and flashed all of her lower lady parts at us, thus even outdoing L7.
I know that us punters at the front absolutely loved the set, but my inkling is that maybe some folks present weren’t really ready for ‘The Brinis’ in-yer-face Lesbian onslaught as was an unexpected jolt to their system. But hold on a minute, wasn’t that always what punk was about?
Lambrini Girls:
Phoebe Lunny – lead vocals, guitar
Lily Macieira – bass, backing vocals
Demelza Mather – drums
Lambrini Girls setlist:
‘Big Dick Energy’ (from 2021 ‘Small Pond Presents: Emerging Part 2’ compilation album)
‘Help Me I’m Gay’ (from 2023 ‘You’re Welcome’ EP)
‘Mr Lovebomb’ (from 2023 ‘You’re Welcome’ EP)
‘Terf Wars’ (from 2023 ‘You’re Welcome’ EP)
‘Lads Lads Lads’ (from 2023 ‘You’re Welcome’ EP)
‘Boys In The Band’ (from 2023 ‘You’re Welcome’ EP)
‘White Van’ (from 2023 ‘You’re Welcome’ EP)
After ‘The Brinis’ set I was feeling a little fearful for the seminal UK punk band, the Buzzcocks who were up next at 2:30pm and having to follow that! Clearly the Steve Diggle led quartet were very keen to get going as they took to the stage five minutes earlier than planned. So from 2:25pm until 3:10pm they gave us a dozen career spanning compositions that ranged from 1978 to 2022.
Buzzcocks last played live in Brighton on 3rd December last year, when they rocked on up at Brighton Centre, along with From The Jam and Big Country (Review HERE). This was at least their eleventh time in Brighton, their fifth was my very first ever concert and it was at the Top Rank Suite on 8th November 1978 and was an actual riot! Pete Shelley (RIP) and the lads were sick of the punks gobbing at them and they refused to go back out on stage for an encore, thus the crowd got angry and helped themselves to the Buzzcocks drumkit and the speakers. I was walking behind folk, as they carried the gear up West Street. Thankfully the gobbing side of punk rebellion has long since died out!
Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto formed the Buzzcocks in 1976 and they performed live for the first time on 1st April of that year at their college. Garth Davies played bass guitar and Mick Singleton played drums. But it was once they recruited bass guitarist Steve Diggle and drummer John Maher, that this classic lineup made their debut opening for the Sex Pistols’ second Manchester concert in July 1976. Diggle is the only band member from those heady days. Thus, these days a Buzzcocks concert primarily revolves around Diggle and completing today’s lineup are Mani Perazzoli (guitar), Chris Remington (bass) and Danny Farrant (drums).
Today there are no backing films for any of the tunes, just the band name, as if we didn’t already know! The lads hit the stage one at a time with Diggle bringing up the rear for the loudest cheer. As always, Diggle was on vocal duty, having to take over the Shelley parts of a majority of numbers. They open with the classic ‘What Do I Get?’ single, which gets the ever-growing size crowd in the mood.
Diggle from time to time positions himself near the edge of the high stage while playing guitar and nods approvingly and raises his playing hand high in the air. He does it all the time nowadays, I guess it’s become his trademark. One of the two newest tunes is up next in the form of ‘Senses Out Of Control’, which is found on their 2022 ‘Sonics In The Soul’ platter. The other one being ‘Manchester Rain’ which they play as number ten.
‘Fast Cars’ is their third offering and clearly the lads are a well oiled machine. Talking of which, tune four was a later number ‘People Are Strange Machines’. The terrific 1978 single ‘I Don’t Mind’ came next, after which we were served with ‘Sick City Sometimes’. My favourite of the set was played next, namely ‘Why Can’t I Touch It?’ which originally came out as the B-Side of ‘Everybody’s Happy Nowadays’, which unfortunately the band no longer performs any more. This is a real shame, as if they simply cut down the elongated self indulgent Diggle penned set finale ‘Harmony In My Head’, then they would have time for it, as well as another track such as ‘Breakdown’ or ‘Boredom’.
Sadly, they were obviously given a shorter performance time this afternoon than when we saw them at R-Fest at Rebellion in Blackpool last August. Back then we had 16 numbers. It would have been nice to have ‘16 Again’...boom boom! But we did get arguably their best known number ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)’ as the penultimate track! The chap standing by me witnessed their warm-up set at The 100 Club the night before. As they were headlining, they did actually play 21 tracks. I always enjoy a Buzzcocks set, but nowhere near as much as I used to when Pete Shelley was in the band.
Buzzcocks:
Steve Diggle – lead vocals, guitar
Danny Farrant – drums
Chris Remington – bass
Mani Perazzoli – guitar
Buzzcocks setlist:
‘What Do I Get?’ (from 1979 ‘Singles Going Steady’ compilation album)
‘Senses Out Of Control’ (from 2022 ‘Sonics In The Soul’ album)
‘Fast Cars’ (from 1978 ‘Another Music In A Different Kitchen’ album)
‘People Are Strange Machines’ (from 2014 ‘The Way’ album)
‘I Don’t Mind’ (from 1978 ‘Another Music In A Different Kitchen’ album)
‘Sick City Sometimes’ (from 2003 ‘Buzzcocks’ album)
‘Why Can’t I Touch It?’ (from 2001 re-release of 1979 ‘Singles Going Steady’ compilation album)
‘Orgasm Addict’ (from 1979 ‘Singles Going Steady’ compilation album)
‘Promises’ (from 1979 ‘Singles Going Steady’ compilation album)
‘Manchester Rain’ (from 2022 ‘Sonics In The Soul’ album)
‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)’ (from 1978 ‘Love Bites’ album)
‘Harmony In My Head’ (from 1979 ‘Singles Going Steady’ compilation album)
After another relatively quiet DJ set from Rusty Egan, – who incidentally was the respected drummer for new wave act Rich Kids which also featured Glen Matlock (who will be on this stage in a couple of hours) – it was time for the third of six acts to grace the stage. Cue Northern Ireland’s finest punk sons Stiff Little Fingers who formed back in 1977 at arguably the height of ‘The Troubles’ and took their name from The Vibrators song. SLF famously were the first punk band in Belfast to release a record, that being the classic ‘Suspect Device’, which originally dropped in February 1978. They sent a copy to John Peel, who then played it on many occasions and this was my introduction to the band. In October 1978, their anthemic ‘Alternative Ulster’ single was released and in February 1979 their debut long-player ‘Inflammable Material’ came out, thus cementing their place as my favourite Northern Irish band. They were fractionally ahead of The Undertones, and Good Vibrations labelmates Rudi and The Moondogs.
Two of the four guys up on stage this afternoon at ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (from 3:42pm to 4:27pm) were original band members from back in 1977, these being Jake Burns (lead vocals and guitar) and Ali McMordie (bass). Cementing today’s lineup are Ian McCallum, who has been on guitar since 1993 and Steve Grantley on drums, since 1996.
Like Buzzcocks (above), the last time we witnessed SLF playing live was last August at Rebellion in Blackpool when they played a blinding 16 track set in the Empress Ballroom. Back in their early days the band frequented Brighton’s Top Rank Suite on a number of occasions, some of which I attended. As far as I recall, their last Brighton gig was at the Concorde 2 in March 2018 – Read our account HERE.
Today, the quartet are very pushed for time as evident, by Jake cutting his usual in-between tune banter down to a bare minimum, and the lads racing through a dozen numbers in super-quick time. I tell you what, this certainly did them a favour as they were seriously tight and seriously enjoyable. Another of the Brighton & Hove News Music Team who was in attendance, rated SLF as his choice act of the whole day!
Once again, there were no backing films, simply a giant image of a young lad with his arm across his face, with a barcode on it, with the words “Everyone Is Someone” underneath it, in reference to their latest tour name. They kick off with one of my favourite SLF tunes ‘Tin Soldiers’, which can be found on their 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album. They follow it with another track from the same LP, that being the title track. Then a couple of numbers from 1981’s ‘Go For It’ album are played, ‘Roots, Radics, Rockers And Reggae’ and ‘Just Fade Away’.
With a quartet of tracks under their belts, Jake glances at his watch and realises that he has time to dedicate the next number to “the late great Terry Hall” and they launch into The Specials number ‘Doesn’t Make It Alright’, which SLF covered back in 1980. In fact 11 of the 12 numbers are from SLF’s 1979-1981 golden period, with the exception of ‘My Dark Places’, which can be found on their 2014 ‘No Going Back’ album. Jake informed us that this was penned about his own bouts of depression and that if there are any men out there that are also suffering from depression, then they simply need to talk to someone (like a friend) about it. The crowd heartily applauded this statement!
The remaining half dozen tunes were amongst the very best material that the band has ever written. They begin with ‘Barbed Wire Love’, which is the first of four numbers from their cracking ‘Inflammable Material’ album. The other trio being ‘Wasted Life’, and closing numbers ‘Suspect Device’ and ‘Alternative Ulster’. The remaining two tunes ‘At The Edge’ and ‘Gotta Gettaway’ were sandwiched in between the others. The punters started to get a little lively during the final numbers, but this would pale into insignificance to what would follow later on this evening. At 4:27pm it was time to say “Hanx!” to SLF and time for Rusty Egan to play a few more tunes for the next 31 minutes.
Stiff Little Fingers:
Jake Burns – lead vocals, guitar
Ali McMordie – bass
Ian McCallum – guitar
Steve Grantley – drums
Stiff Little Fingers setlist:
‘Tin Soldiers’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘Nobody’s Hero’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘Roots, Radics, Rockers And Reggae’ (Bunny Wailer cover) (from 1981 ‘Go For It’ album)
‘Just Fade Away’ (from 1981 ‘Go For It’ album)
‘Doesn’t Make It Alright’ (The Specials cover) (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘My Dark Places’ (from 2014 ‘No Going Back’ album)
‘Barbed Wire Love’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
‘At The Edge’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘Wasted Life’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
‘Gotta Gettaway’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘Suspect Device’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
‘Alternative Ulster’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
Just over half an hour after Stiff Little Fingers had departed, the live music was back on again in the form of punk supergroup Generation Sex who I was very much looking forward to seeing for the first time today. As you might have guessed, this supergroup is a 50/50 split of defining names of first-wave British Punk former band members of Generation X and the Sex Pistols. A quartet of legends, they certainly are! Generation Sex features Billy Idol and Tony James of Generation X and Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, who I saw live not too long ago in Tunbridge Wells with The Professionals – Review HERE.
In reference to today’s appearance Steve Jones had previously stated that “Just every now and then we find time to get together with old pals from back in the day – purely just for the crack and to have fun. If it ain’t fun then we ain’t interested, life’s too short. And it’s a great bill with Iggy Pop and Blondie.”
I was too young to have seen the Sex Pistols play live before they imploded in early 1978, but back then it was a game of roulette as many of public enemy number one gigs were cancelled. They never played in Brighton, but when they reformed I saw them at Brixton Academy on 9th November 2007. My partner Jordan Mooney (RIP) witnessed the birth of the band in front of her very own eyes from day one and saw them live on many occasions. Unfortunately I never got to see Generation X either, they played Brighton Top Rank Suite seven months before I started gigging. They were due to play there as Gen X, but literally days before the gig, they split up. I took my ticket back and got my refund. If only I hadn’t, what a souvenir! I don’t actually recall Billy Idol having played Brighton at all, as he was off having big hits across the pond courtesy of MTV. But I was fortunate to catch him not too long ago in Wembley – Review HERE. I did see Tony James when he formed the wonderful Sigue Sigue Sputnik. I know that I saw them a minimum of 13 times even before they dropped their debut ‘Love Missile F1-11’ single.
I knew what to expect from Generation Sex as I made a point of watching their Glastonbury performance (on TV) a week earlier on 24th June. I enjoyed that performance, but I could see room for improvement. My colleague Cris Watkins who is on photo duty today saw Generation Sex nine days earlier than that at ‘Hellfest’ in Clisson in France, so he too knew what was coming. Today’s set was almost the same as these two previous performances, but both Cris and I concurred at the end, that today was the best thus far!
Their backing film began at 4:58pm and introduced the band, one member at a time and we heartedly cheered each one. The background music theme was from ‘A Clockwork Orange’, no doubt Tony James had an input into this as that’s what Sputnik used to use. The clock rolled over to 5pm and the lads graced us with their presence for the next 54 minutes. With the passing of every act, the crowd were squeezing closer and closer together and it was starting to become a little difficult to even grab my phone from my pocket in order to take notes of what each song was and anything interesting that happened.
The ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ set consisted of a dozen numbers, half of which were Generation X tunes, and the other six were tunes associated with the Sex Pistols in one form or another. They begin with 1977’s ‘Pretty Vacant’, which incidentally is my favourite Pistols number, whereas Jordan Mooney’s was ‘Holiday’s In The Sun’! Bet not many of you knew that!
The set continues with a couple of Generation X numbers from 1978, ‘Ready Steady Go’ and ‘Wild Youth’. Then Billy sings ‘Bodies’, which really doesn’t sound right in my head, having heard the (non) dulcet tones of Johnny Rotten (now Lydon) sing them for the past 46 years on my ‘Bollocks’ album. ‘Black Leather’ follows, which Billy says stems from ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle’ album, but I reckon he meant the sessions from that time. Arguably this single dropped long after the Pistols had disbanded, and some would say that it’s a Cook and Jones number, prior to starting The Professionals. This number for me was by far the weakest tune of their set, but if you are into extended heavy metal style guitar riffs, then it might be your favourite. I did note the Buzzcocks Steve Diggle sitting in the wings stage left (our right) and he was enjoying it as was Paul Cook’s wife Jeni. I would have loved ‘Anarchy In The UK’, but I heard somewhere that Billy Idol refuses to sing it, whether that’s true or not, who knows?
The decent music gets back on track with a couple of Idol and James numbers in the form of 1978’s ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ and 1981’s Gen X ‘Dancing With Myself’, the latter of which was very popular with the crowd! It was now time for Steve Jones to swap guitars for 1979’s ‘Silly Thing’, before they moved onto the classic ‘King Rocker’, which was delivered with aplomb. ‘God Save The Queen’ came next and the crowd as you would expect started to get a tad boisterous, but nowhere near the level of decades ago. This is probably on account of us all ageing by almost 50 years!
I was convinced that ‘God Save The Queen’ might sneak in as my fave tune of the set, but no quelle surprise, it was outdone by a terrific rendition of Generation X’s ‘Your Generation’. This was a great surprise! Time to dig out my double 10” ‘Catch A Wave’ compilation album methinks, as the track is on it, as well as ‘Kidnapper’ by Blondie, who are up on stage next! Interestingly their personnel includes former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock. Generation Sex bailed out with ‘My Way’, which was sung by Sid Vicious (RIP) back in the day. So that’s three of the four remaining Pistols with us this afternoon. I wonder what Johnny makes of this? Anyway, it’s 5:54pm and that’s our lot! It was an enjoyable set, but I wish that they would have stuck to “real” Sex Pistols numbers as opposed to the weaker latter numbers.
Generation Sex:
Billy Idol – lead vocals
Steve Jones – guitar, vocals
Tony James – bass
Paul Cook – drums, backing vocals
Generation Sex setlist:
‘Pretty Vacant’ (Sex Pistols cover) (from 1977 ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ album)
‘Ready Steady Go’ (Generation X cover) (from 1978 ‘Generation X’ album)
‘Wild Youth’ (Generation X cover) (from 2002 version of 1978 ‘Generation X’ album)
‘Bodies’ (Sex Pistols cover) (from 1977 ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ album)
‘Black Leather’ (Sex Pistols cover) (from 1980 ‘Pistols Pack’ compilation album)
‘Kiss Me Deadly’ (Generation X cover) (from 1978 ‘Generation X’ album)
‘Dancing With Myself’ (Gen X cover) (from 1981 ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ album)
‘Silly Thing’ (Sex Pistols cover) (from 1979 ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle’ album)
‘King Rocker’ (Generation X cover) (from 1979 ‘Valley Of The Dolls’ album)
‘God Save The Queen’ (Sex Pistols cover) (from 1977 ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’ album)
‘Your Generation’ (Generation X cover) (from 2002 version of 1978 ‘Generation X’ album)
‘My Way’ (Claude François cover) (from 1979 ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle’ album)
After a 33 minute DJ set from Rusty Egan, the live entertainment continued with the wonderful Blondie who are undeniably one of the most trailblazing and influential bands of our time. Among their hits is the groundbreaking rock-disco hybrid ‘Heart Of Glass’, the equally influential hip-hop fantasia ‘Rapture’, the stalker-love song ‘One Way Or Another’ and the lilting calypso ‘The Tide Is High’. For the last four decades, Blondie has become and still remains a true global icon, one whose influence both shaped and continues to inform the worlds of music, fashion and art. From an irreverent Lower East Side punk outfit to bona fide international ambassadors of New York cool, Blondie will forever be synonymous with that punk spirit that lives somewhere in all of us. Their chart-topping success, fearless spirit and rare longevity led to an induction into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and more than 40 million albums sold worldwide to date. A great place to start your Blondie collection would be to purchase their official box set ‘Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982’.
Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop go right back to the beginning in the first half of the 1970’s. When ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ was first announced last year, Debbie went on record as saying that “Blondie and Iggy Pop… We are excited to reunite with our friend, the one and only Prince of Punk, Iggy, for this special show in Crystal Palace Park next summer. Once more, with feeling!”.
Amazing as it may sound, Blondie began in 1974, when Chris Stein and partner former waitress and Playboy Bunny Debbie Harry got it together. Blondie became regular performers at the iconic Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s venues in New York and in June 1975 they recorded their first demo and had recruited Clem Burke, Gary Valentine and Jimmy Destri by November 1975. They then signed with Private Stock Records and released their first single ‘X-Offender’ in June 1976, and six months later their debut self-titled longer player dropped. Come early 1977 and Blondie supported Iggy Pop on his famous US tour, the one with David Bowie as part of the band.
Unbelievable as it may seem, Blondie have never had a No.1 album in the USA, unlike here in the UK, where 1978’s ‘Parallel Lines’ and 1979’s ‘Eat To The Beat’ both hit the top spot. They first broke into the UK charts with their rendition of Randy & the Rainbows 1963 tune ‘Denis’. A song that at the time I had no idea was a cover. All I knew was that Debbie Harry was a massive schoolboy crush with virtually all the lads in my school, myself included! The brilliant thing was that all of their first four albums were always on rotation on my record player and I still have them today.
The Blonde that we see here today in Crystal Palace solely consists of Debbie Harry and drummer Clem Burke, a man that never seems to age! He’s actually 68, but today is Debbie’s day as it is her 78th birthday today. This is something that doesn’t go amiss with the many fans as they sing happy birthday at least three times, by the end of which Debbie waves her hand and says “alright, alright”, as in messaged received. When I was young 78 seemed really ancient, but looking up at Debbie performing in front of me, still rekindles my boyhood crush feelings. “Is this wrong” I ask myself in my head? I come to the conclusion that I’m certainly not alone.
Chris Stein is still listed as a band member, but of late his position has been filled by former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock who confidentially takes care of bass guitar duties. Stein has atrial fibrillation (AF or A-fib) which is an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) characterised by rapid and irregular beating of the atrial chambers of the heart. It often begins as short periods of abnormal beating, which become longer or continuous over time. It may also start as other forms of arrhythmia such as atrial flutter that then transform into AF.
A Blondie live performance trademark is always Clem’s drumming. He sits enclosed on three sides by transparent screens, which is said to help to reduce the volume of the drum kit and prevent it from overwhelming the sounds of the other instruments or vocals. Drum screens can also help to improve the sound quality of the drum kit and help the drummer to pick up certain sounds. Every now and then he spins a drumstick in his fingers and hoists it in the air and catches it again and plays on.
This evening live sextet grace the stage at 6:27pm and give us 14 career spanning choice cuts. So for the next 72 minutes (until 7:39pm) we are in their good hands. They open with ‘One Way Or Another’ from 1978, after which the crowd sing the first of their “Happy Birthdays”. There’s a pre-recorded phone ringing sound heard across the speakers next, which can only mean one tune ‘Hanging On The Telephone’. This was delivered in their wonderful style and then I was rather taken aback as they launched into ‘Sunday Girl’, a tune they had not played a few days ago at Glastonbury, that I witnessed on my telly.
The Giorgio Moroder tune from ‘American Gigolo’ was up next in the form of disco hit ‘Call Me’, which came with a backing film. One of my faves came next in the form of ‘Will Anything Happen?’ from 1978’s ‘Parallel Lines’. This was a joy to hear as they didn’t play it at the last Brighton gig on 28th April last year – Review HERE. An extended version of ‘Atomic’ was our next treat, complete with rock style ending, after which the band were introduced to us and Debbie took her sunglasses off for ‘Rapture’, which was another elongated version. Completing the trio of extended versions was ‘The Tide Is High’, which included a small drum solo from Clem. The youngest song was up next, which was ‘Long Time’ which is found on their 2017 ‘Pollinator’ album. This was written with New York City based American-born English singer, songwriter, record producer and director Devonté Hynes, who is also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion.
They then took it right back to 1978 with ‘Detroit 442’, which Debbie informs us was actually inspired by Iggy Pop. This was a pleasure to hear, unlike their 1999 No.1 UK hit single ‘Maria’, which I have never been a fan of to be honest. They were back right at it for arguably their most successful song ‘Heart Of Glass’, which hit the top spot in many countries including the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Germany. For this tune Debbie dons an unusual half poncho style glittery head and shoulder number, which is referred to as “Mirror Hoody” on their setlist. As you would expect, this too was given the extension treatment and even incorporated nods to Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and Sex Pistols ‘God Save The Queen’ – Terrific stuff!
Their penultimate number was that debut single ‘X Offender’ which was accompanied by a decent cartoon style video to the rear. They saw their set out with 1979’s ‘Dreaming’, which was yet another extended version. “Maybe too many extended versions” I hear you call and I would quite possibly agree with you, as they might have been able to sneak in a short number, such as ‘Denis’. Other than that, they were a joy to watch and I’ve never been that close to Debbie before, thus it was very memorable! They left us at 7:39pm and the stage was totally cleared for headliner Iggy Pop.
Blondie:
Debbie Harry – lead vocals
Clem Burke – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Glen Matlock– bass
Matt Katz-Bohen – keyboards, backing vocals, guitar
Tommy Kessler – guitar
Andee Blacksugar – guitar
Blondie setlist:
‘One Way Or Another’ (from 1978 ‘Parallel Lines’ album)
‘Hanging On The Telephone’ (The Nerves cover) (from 1978 ‘Parallel Lines’ album)
‘Sunday Girl’ (from 1978 ‘Parallel Lines’ album)
‘Call Me’ (from 2001 reissue of 1980 ‘Autoamerican’ album)
‘Will Anything Happen?’ (from 1978 ‘Parallel Lines’ album)
‘Atomic’ (from 1979 ‘Eat To The Beat’ album)
‘Rapture’ (from 1980 ‘Autoamerican’ album)
‘The Tide Is High’ (The Paragons cover) (from 1980 ‘Autoamerican’ album)
‘Long Time’ (from 2017 ‘Pollinator’ album)
‘Detroit 442’ (from 1978 ‘Plastic Letters’ album)
‘Maria’ (from 1999 ‘No Exit’ album)
‘Heart Of Glass’ (from 1978 ‘Parallel Lines’ album)
‘X Offender’ (from 1976 ‘Blondie’ album)
‘Dreaming’ (from 1979 ‘Eat To The Beat’ album)
Michigan born 76 year old James Newell Osterberg Jr. aka Iggy Pop is a singer, songwriter, musician, author, record producer, DJ, and actor, whose epic body of work has earned him both worldwide critical acclaim and fanatic cult success. He is simply universally acknowledged as one of the most influential artists and dynamic live performers of all time. Some say he’s the Godfather of Punk and you know what, I certainly wouldn’t actually argue with that! Even though it could technically be boxed as primitive raw proto-punk style rock’n’roll. Anyone, like me, who owns the Sex Pistols ‘Spunk’ album can clearly hear the link harking back to Iggy And The Stooges. They themselves were inspired by The Doors, who in turn were inspired by Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King, and Muddy Waters.
Iggy is a true cult hero although this wasn’t the case all the way throughout his long and illustrious career. Some would suggest that as punk hit, that he was “rescued” by David Bowie in Berlin who insisted on just playing live as part of Iggy’s band as opposed to joint billing. Their names were immortalised at the time by Kraftwerk on ‘Trans Europe Express’…“From station to station; Back to Düsseldorf City; Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie; Trans-Europe Express”. Iggy’s 1977 ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Lust For Life’ albums are absolute classics and still sound good today. A half a dozen Iggy albums later ‘Blah-Blah-Blah’ arrived and included the ‘Real Wild Child (Wild One)’ classic single (which sadly doesn’t get an outing tonight). A dozen albums later and we arrive at 2023’s ‘Every Loser’, which is his 19th solo album and his first to be released via the recently announced partnership between Atlantic Records and Gold Tooth Records. It hits No.1…..in Switzerland, but stalled at No.33 here. But hey it’s just a number!
Let’s face it, Iggy’s artistic output has been unrelenting and uniformly intense, from indelible Stooges staples ‘Fun House’ and ‘Raw Power’, to solo classics including the brilliant 1977 double shot of his solo debut ‘The Idiot’ and the timeless ‘Lust For Life’, ‘New Values’, ‘Blah-Blah-Blah’, ‘Brick By Brick’, ‘Skull Ring’, ‘Post Pop Depression’ and most recently 2019’s ‘Free’. From proto-new wave to riotous alt rock, fans were looking forward to the full Iggy Pop experience tonight, hopefully filled with classic hits and some new favourites. We are delivered 18 career spanning tunes ranging from 1969 to this year during the set which commenced at 8:27pm.
Strangely Rusty Egan’s set stopped a good half hour before Iggy and his chums graced the stage, which was most peculiar, thus we only had the hum of the speakers to listen to as well as the many different foreign languages being spoken by the members of the crowd around us.
Up until this point, I knew who all of the previous musicians were, but when Iggy’s seven piece band grace the stage, I must confess I’m stumped. No doubt many of you will know, and hopefully let the rest of us know. I was pleased to see a Sequential Prophet 6 on stage as well as another keyboard and tiny effects style unit. There was also obviously drums, bass guitar, a guitar as well as the addition of trumpet and trombone. But the standout of this live intro tune was a lady on guitar, who I presumed to be Sarah Lipstate on account of the tune being a 2020 track called ‘Rune’, which is by Noveller, and Sarah Lipstate is Noveller. For this she runs a violin bow across her guitar which gives out a haunting melody, one which is then sampled throughout the remainder of the circa four minute tune. The backing films are in operation throughout the set.
At this stage, Iggy was still not with us and then I spied him to the rear of stage left (our right). He moves forward at 8:31pm and speedily hobbles on stage and I don’t think I dreamt it, but he called us “fuckers” and gave us the bird. I mustn’t lose sight that Iggy is 76, but his scoliosis was more advanced than I had believed with one of his legs being one and a half inches shorter than the other. (Scoliosis is a condition in which a person’s spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually “S”- or “C”-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time). I must confess that I don’t actually recall having seen Iggy live in person before, I thought that I had once before at a festival, but I couldn’t honestly swear it as I was totally engaged with a young lady at the time. I somehow missed his 6th of June 1979 performance at Brighton’s Top Rank Suite, no idea why though?
In true Iggy fashion, his waistcoat lasted a mere few seconds during opener ‘Five Foot One’ (from 1979 ‘New Values’ album) and was tossed away to reveal his upper torso. Is this the way a man of his age should really be behaving, possibly not, but hell it’s THE Iggy Pop, he can do whatever he likes, even call us “fuckers”!
Song three (‘T.V Eye’) was the first of The Stooges numbers of the night, a further nine would follow. But it’s here that the already sardine packed crowd down at the front closed ranks even further and further still. The moshpit was really getting going for the first time today, and suddenly I was totally unable to even move my hand into my pocket to get out my phone in order to make notes. I was now stuck and having to rely on my memory from here on in.
After this year’s ‘Modern Day Rip Off’ tune, things seriously got ramped up with the arrival of ‘Raw Power’, ‘Gimme Danger’, ‘The Passenger’ and ‘Lust For Life’. The fans sang their merry hearts out as Iggy prowled the stage like a caged tiger! The steps down to the crowd from the stage had previously been dismantled and were lying flat, so there was no chance of a stage invasion unlike the one that the German fellow standing next to me had earlier shared with me on his phone of Iggy’s Düsseldorf concert. Now that looked really mad and reminded me of the famous crowd invasion at The Specials gig at Brighton’s Top Rank Suite back in the day. A photo of that can be found in our 2019 Specials gig review, click HERE.
Iggy had now hit the halfway mark of the set with ‘The Endless Sea’ (on 1979 ‘New Values’ 1979 album) and 1973’s Iggy and The Stooges song ‘Death Trip’ from ‘Raw Power’. The backdrop at the stage was a giant image of green curtains as almost endeavouring to give it a small nightclub vibe. Ever the showman, Iggy would often stick his mic down the front of his trousers whilst gesturing, we knew what he was trying to convey. For the following tune, ‘I’m Sick Of You’, Iggy actually sat down on top of a stage speaker for the first two minutes, but normality resumed as the bearded vein-laden hero took to his feet and rocked like a good’un.
As you would expect, things went into overdrive for ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ and ‘Search And Destroy’. The fans jumped, their arms punching the air and they sang the lines when Iggy offered his cordless mic in our direction. The band rocked, Iggy threw himself to the floor and then up on all fours like a dog, only to throw himself back onto the deck. He gets up and literally launches the mic stand right across the stage. Yes indeed, punk rock is still very much alive as the 25,000 fans present will vouch.
It was encore time and there were a handful of songs still to give to us, beginning with a couple from 1977’s ‘The Idiot’ album, which saw the unleashing of ‘Mass Production’ and the rather wonderful ‘Nightclubbing’, which I must confess to slightly preferring The Human League’s cover. For the latter Iggy perched himself onto a stool for a while and then got up to a little naughty antics. ‘Down On The Street’, ‘Loose’ and newbie ‘Frenzy’ saw us out, and the hordes of fans showed their appreciation, whereas others were going Warp Factor 10 in order to get to the nearby train station. They needn’t have bothered as unfortunately someone was hit by a train between Purley and Gatwick Airport and a three hour delay ensued.
Iggy Pop band:
Iggy Pop – lead vocals
?Sarah Lipstate – guitar
? – guitar
? – bass
? – drums
? – keys
? – trumpet
? – trombone
Iggy Pop setlist:
‘Rune’ (Noveller cover) (from 2020 Novella ‘Arrow’ album)
‘Five Foot One’ (from 1979 ‘New Values’ album)
‘T.V. Eye’ (The Stooges song) (from 1970 ‘Fun House’ album)
‘Modern Day Rip Off’ (from 2023 ‘Every Loser’ album)
‘Raw Power’ (Iggy and The Stooges song) (from 1973 ‘Raw Power’ album)
‘Gimme Danger’ (Iggy and The Stooges song) (from 1973 ‘Raw Power’ album)
‘The Passenger’ (from 1977 ‘Lust For Life’ album)
‘Lust For Life’ (from 1977 ‘Lust For Life’ album)
‘The Endless Sea’ (from 1979 ‘New Values’ album)
‘Death Trip’ (Iggy and The Stooges song) (from 1973 ‘Raw Power’ album)
‘I’m Sick Of You’ (Iggy and The Stooges song) (from 2010 deluxe version of 1973 ‘Raw Power’ album)
‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ (The Stooges song) (from 1969 ‘The Stooges’ album)
‘Search And Destroy’ (Iggy and The Stooges song) (from 1973 ‘Raw Power’ album)
(encore)
‘Mass Production’ (from 1977 ‘The Idiot’ album)
‘Nightclubbing’ (from 1977 ‘The Idiot’ album)
‘Down On The Street’ (The Stooges song) (from 1970 ‘Fun House’ album)
‘Loose’ (The Stooges song) (from 1970 ‘Fun House’ album)
‘Frenzy’ (from 2023 ‘Every Loser’ album)
Rusty Egan’s ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ DJ setlist:
‘Rise’ – Public Image Ltd
‘Back To Burundi’ – Rusty Egan Presents Ft Marco Peroni
‘Antmusic’ – Adam & The Ants
‘Ballroom Blitz’ – Sweet
‘A Town Called Malice’ – The Jam
‘(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)’ – The Stranglers
‘She Sells Sanctuary’ – The Cult
‘In Between Days’ – The Cure
‘Oh Bondage Up Yours!’ – X-Ray Spex
‘Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll’ – Ramones
‘Roadrunner’ – Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
‘I Fought The Law’ – The Clash
‘Do Anything You Wanna Do’ – Eddie & The Hot Rods
‘Hong Kong Garden’ – Siouxsie & The Banshees
‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ – Joy Division
‘Alice’ – Sisters Of Mercy
‘Into The Valley’ – Skids
‘68 Guns’ – The Alarm
‘Shot By Both Sides’ – Magazine
‘In The City’ – The Jam
‘Neat Neat Neat’ – Damned
‘Babylon’s Burning’ – The Ruts
‘Rock Lobster’ – The B52’s
‘The Sound Of The Suburbs’ – The Members
‘New Rose’ – Damned
‘Complete Control’ – The Clash
‘Teenage Kicks’ – The Undertones
‘I Love Rock’n’Roll’ – Joan Jett
‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ – The Clash
‘A Town Called Malice’ – The Jam
‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ – Jet
‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ – Ramones
‘(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures’ – The Rezillos
‘Boredom’ – Buzzcocks
‘California Über Alles’ – Dead Kennedys
‘Reward’ – Teardrop Explodes
‘The Saints Are Coming’ – U2 with Green Day
‘I’m Waiting for The Man’ – The Velvet Underground
‘Helden’ – David Bowie
‘African Reggae’ – Nina Hagen
It was an amazing day but Festival Republic messed up many access bookings as was evident all over Twitter.
As roughly 14% of UK adults have a disability, (and that figure rises with age) yet the event organisers at the weekend allowed for 0.48% of attendees to have access facilities, for an event where the headliners were in their late 70s, this is inexcusable in this day and age.
An absolutely superb and detailed review. B interested to see Rusty Egan’s set list which was inspired. Great work Nick.