Cheeky, rude and belligerent as ever the Stranglers look cool and confident as they strut onto the stage, not a single bit less badass than they were 39 years ago. There is no showing off, no playing to the crowd; they simply do not need to – they and everyone else here knows just how great they are.

This is the first time we have been to a gig where the aftermath of a mosh pit is a pair of false teeth and a pensioner’s bus pass strewn across the floor. Well maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but we are certain that everyone around us had the opportunity to see the Stranglers when they first performed. Dads are running around with shirts off and huge, manic, boyish grins on their faces – smashing into one another like it will be the last opportunity they ever get. The Stranglers and the fans alike still know how to rock.

We notice that the usual drummer, Jet Black, is not playing alongside his fellow band members at the beginning of the set. But with the cool, couldn’t-care-less attitude that only a real legend can achieve, he strolls onto the stage for the last third of the set and shows us how a true master of his art does it. However, at age 74, there’s no wonder he couldn’t manage the high intensity set, filled with complex rhythms and driven with relentless energy.

The lights drop, a tense buzz ripples through the crowd and then the instantly recognisable and notorious riff of ‘Peaches’ blasts from the speakers. We expected something to be missing without the distinctive vocals of Hugh Cornwell but Baz Warne does an impressive job of capturing the lasciviousness of the song; singing with a sly, cheeky smile on his face. The Stranglers are carrying the crowd along with them as they take us through a masterclass of music, moving flawlessly from classics such as ‘Always The Sun’ to the more angry and edgy ‘Something Better Change’ and then onto ‘Golden Brown’, to which everyone knows all of the words. Yet we’re still completely blown away by the amazing intricacy of the rhythms.

The band comes back on stage after desperate cries for an encore and end with ‘No More Heroes.’ They love it. The crowd loves it. The Stranglers prove that punk rock is just as alive, swearing and kicking as it has ever been and everyone leaves looking as if they had truly been reliving the best days of their youth (even if they were now leaving with the aid of their Zimmer frames.)

Dome, Thursday 14th March 2013
Words by Esme Yules
Photos by Charles Shepherd