Hugh Cornwell Gala Theatre Durham 5 March 2009
Norm, Will and I went to see Hugh Cornwell at the Gala Theatre in Durham. It was the first time that any of us had seen him since he left the Straglers. The Gala is a nice little theatre in the centre of Durham which gets many touring shows and tribute acts. First up was a local folk singer (can’t remember his name; I ‘m sure Will can remind me). He was OK, but we decided to retreat to the local Wetherspoons for a swift drink before Hugh took the stage.
Hugh is backed by a two piece band (drummer and bass and himself on Fender Telecaster). The bass player is a young girl who plays some great fuzzy bass licks. He played the whole of his new album Hooverdam before moving onto a few old Stranglers tunes. The Hooverdam songs sound very Stranglerish; its clear that Hugh was the driving force behind writing most of the best Stranglers tunes. Hugh and the band seemed really into it, as was the crowd. A great gig.
Set list: All of Hoverdam, Tank, 24/7, lay back, leave me alone, black hair, walk on by, always the sun, golden brown, no more heroes, down in the sewer.
Website: http://www.hughcornwell.com/
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