Two interesting acts at a local venue. It has been many years since I have seen both of these. I last saw Hugh Cornwell at Durham Gala Theatre quite a few years ago. My recollections of that concert were very positive. Hugh played a selection of his solo material mixed in with several Stranglers classics.
The last time I saw The Primitives was at Newcastle Mayfair when they were in the charts with their one-off power pop single “Crash”. My elder daughter informed me that I “fancied” singer Tracy Tracy at the time but I can’t really recollect that at all.
So time to catch up with these punk/postpunk acts again. It was a freezing night and The Boiler Shop is not the warmest venue so carer Jackie and I wrapped up well for the evening.
We had a great vantage point on the wheelchair platform. First up were The Primitives who played a great selection of jangly pop tunes including, of course, “Crash” which sounded as fresh and singalong today as it did all those years ago. During Hugh Cornwell’s set Tracy was down in front of the merchandise stand and we caught her and she kindly signed my ticket (see image).
Soon Hugh took to the stage with his three-piece band. Himself on vocals and guitar, a bass player who pounded away on his bass guitar in a similar way to that of Stranglers bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel and mid-stage a drummer also pounding away at his kit. The set was once again a mixture of solo material and a few Stranglers gems thrown in here and there.
In total he played around 9 Stranglers tracks, some of which I recognised including “Always the Sun”, “Strange Little Girl” and the closing track which took me right back to the early days “Hanging Around”. A two hour set which didn’t drag at all. The crowd loved it and Hugh seemed to enjoy himself. At the end a guy dressed as a chicken arrived on stage to play maracas. Bizarre.
Thanks to Jackie for the photos and Chris for navigating the site.
Setlist: I Wannahideinsideaya; Too Much Trash; Skin Deep (Stranglers); Wrong Side of the Tracks; Delightful Nightmare; Strange Little Girl (Stranglers); Totem and Taboo; Bad Vibrations; Who Wants the World? (Stranglers); Moments of Madness; When I Was a Young Man; Tramp (Stranglers); Pure Evel; Mr. Leather; Always the Sun (Stranglers); Duce Coochie Man; Goodbye Toulouse (Stranglers); Another Kind of Love; Out of My Mind (Stranglers); Live it and Breathe it; Leave Me Alone; Thrown Away (Stranglers); Lasagna; Hanging Around (Stranglers).
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by TerriersFan on January 23, 2024 at 5:25 pm
Sounds like you had great fun, Peter – a pre-requisite for any gig!
Posted by vintagerock on January 23, 2024 at 5:28 pm
Yes a good night was had by all 🙂 more blogs to follow soon. I have been out and about again. Peter
Posted by Mike Tulloch on January 24, 2024 at 10:39 am
Hi Peter,
Good to see that you are back on the road again. You canât keep a good man down!
Best wishes,
Mike
Posted by vintagerock on January 24, 2024 at 1:27 pm
Hi Mike I hope all goes well with you my friend best wishes Peter
Posted by ciarant1step on January 24, 2024 at 5:26 pm
Hi Peter,
Sounds like a good night. I don’t know The Primitives (great name though) but the Hugh Cornwell set seems very interesting. He has written some terrific songs. Hard to believe he started off playing with Richard Thompson!
Ciaran