The Old Man And The Sea Audio

About a decade ago, the word "angular" was rarely heard outside of a geometry class, and this was what Mercury Prize nominations sounded like. Doves did enough anthemic rafter-reaching to honor predecessors like Oasis and the Verve. They were also studio-centric and tech-savvy enough to satisfy an OK Computer jones, while having enough British classicism for people not ready to follow Radiohead down the rabbit hole. And there were many of them, to the point where "new Radiohead" (ironically sounding like the old Radiohead) became one of the early new century's most briskly populated UK indie subgenres.

The Stranglers, it’s now been almost 38 years since this band came into being. Formed by drummer Jet Black in ’74, the line-up has gone through a few changes throughout the years, finally culminating (at the time of this recording) in Jet, JJ Burnel, Dave Greenfield, Paul Roberts on vocals and ex Toy Doll Baz Warne on guitar, the latter two replacing Hugh Cornwell’s role in the band since 1990. This performance was filmed at the end of 2005 at the Shepherds Bush Empire, and although I wasn’t at this particular gig (mainly due to the terrible visibility for short-arses like me at the venue) I did spot my brother in the audience at the beginning – thoroughly enjoying himself with the plethora of other 40+ year old males that have always made up The Stranglers fan-base.