Posted on June 28, 2010 - by Post Punk

Wire

Wire © Ayisha Khan

The Relentless Garage
London, UK
Tuesday 8th June 2010

It’s been a mighty long time since Wire last played a UK date, extensively toured, or played in London, as demonstrated by a muffled Irish(?) voice blurting out, “Stop playing concerts in Europe”, before bassist Graham Lewis politely replied, “What the fuck did you say?”, humorously imitating his accent.

But now they’re back in London, accompanied by a new second guitarist, Matt Simms (It Hugs Back), in place of Margaret McGinnis. Otherwise they’ve hardly changed a bit (Colin’s even wearing that shirt again). Their performance is as virile as ever, with visual subtleties such as Colin’s reliance on a lyric folder and the abundance of reading glasses the only suggestion that they’re ageing a little. Nevertheless, punk musicians less altered in ways than years; Colin is clearly enjoying his music as he danced his way through the 19 song evening.

The set list was a manoeuvre to new brain produce; it was surprisingly made up of a large proportion of unreleased material, which makes a change from the lean one or two you usually hear other bands showcase. This is all ahead of their upcoming untitled album, currently set for release early next year. Graham made comment of their new and opening song, ‘Smash’: “This song has a connection between road kill and potatoes”, but its graphitised the same with a Wire trademark bass-heavy interlude. New song ‘A Flat Tent’ is a fast, naked punk track, whilst yet another brings back the soft new-wave shades of ‘A Bell is a Cup Before it is Struck’.

They also played a large range off their last eleven albums, such as their latest ‘Object 47’; entrancing ‘Mekon Headman’ and ‘One Of

Wire © Ayisha Khan

Us’ give way to the tell-tale chimes of ‘Kidney Bingos’ and ‘German Shepherds’, before returning aggressively with ‘106 Beats That’ and ‘Spent’. And let’s face it, that’s what Wire are about. Old men with loud “fuck off” voices screaming out lyrically obscure musings. They’re still musicians at heart, taking time to meticulously tune their instruments to flex with the alternating slices of punk and post punk/new wave nuances.

Still keen to showcase even more helpings of their upcoming release, they weaved new songs around a poignant classical crust of ‘Pink Flag’ and ‘The 15th’ before finishing their third encore (yes third) with sexy, gritty funk song ‘Lowdown’ and hate-fuelled ‘12XU’ (the latter played twice as fast as the studio version so don’t even try to imagine anything milder).

Definitely not the loudest I’ve seen them, but nevertheless brilliant. And it’s great to hear a continuance of their branded sound in their new comings. A stage time of an hour and a half seems fair, but with Wire it’s consequentially ephemeral. Considering they’re probably the best band in the world (no hyperbole intended – listen to ‘Pink Flag’ , ‘Chairs Missing’ and ‘154’ for a start), let’s hope they come back real soon.