The Stranglers live review circa 1979; watch videos

You know when you see someone or something ground breaking, you get that feeling down your spine? You know? The hairs on the back of your neck stand up. A lot of people these days get their camera phones out and try to record the moment to show their friends. But it never translates does it? You have to have been there is what people say. I got this feeling the first time I witnessed The Stranglers live in concert.

I suppose I was about 14 years old at the time. Me and a load of friends from our council estate all got our tickets weeks in advance and anticipated the day as it drew nearer. Come the time, we all dug out our best punk gear to wear and met up at the end of Middle Park Way. There was about 15 of us. All these little punks, all thinking we were the coolest kids in town. We caught the train to Southampton, very early. We arrived there at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. So we walked around the shopping centre and hung about smoking cigarettes and drinking cheap cider. That's what you did when you were a punk in 1979.

We queued up outside The Gaumont Theatre. There were hundreds of kids, mainly punks and bikers. The doors opened and we all pushed our way forward all trying to get in nearest to the front. The security wore suit jackets and bow ties. When we got into the auditorium we were made to sit down in cinema type seats. Not what we expected. We wanted to be down the front. Within spitting distance from the band.

So we all sat there waiting. We sat through the support band and all heckled them. Some people threw coins at them - which the band picked up and put in their pockets! Then the lights went down and the intro to "Sha Sha a Go Go" started up. The Stranglers wern't on the stage yet but we all stood up and went to go for the front, but there were security guys at the end of each row stopping us and telling us to sit down.

Then you could see Jet Black sit down behind his drum kit and start playing, and then JJ Burnell was there in front of us playing his bass (it was this moment that made me want a black Fender Precision bass guitar. I have one now). Then there was Dave Greenfield on his keyboard. Then Hugh Cornwell stepped up to the mic and we all surged forward. That was it. There was nothing the bouncers could do to stop near on a thousand punks and bikers getting to the front of that gig. We leapt over the seats in front of us and I noticed that some bikers had ripped up a row of seats and were waving them above their heads for a while. One bouncer ran past me holding his nose, with blood pouring out of it. The atmosphere was spine tingling. Drunk on cheap cider and lager we were living for that one moment. Nothing else mattered. There had been nothing like this in my life and I wanted more.

Here is roughly how the gig went, but remember, you won't get the true vibe of the night because 'you had to have been there'!

Watch "Shah Shah A Go Go" / "Ice" video The Stranglers Live in concert Paris 1979:

More live Stranglers videos on YouTube:

Toiler on The Sea

Princess Of The Street

Nuclear Device

Down In The Sewer

What a show! Man. I had been to quite a few gigs before this one, but this was something special. Ask anyone who was lucky enough to have seen this band when they were fresh. They will say the same. After the show, the train station was full of punks. It's hard to imagine now, and I doubt anything will ever happen again which will affect the youth in the same way.

Buy Music:

The Stranglers on amazon.co.uk

The Stranglers on amazon.com

The Stranglers Official Website

By: Dave Tommo