The Stranglers & Mi-Sex, Auckland Town Hall, 15 February 2020: Concert Review

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The Stranglers performed at Auckland Town Hall last night, where the British punk-rock legends delivered a near-perfect set to the crowd, packed with playfully acerbic wit and a selection of fan-favourite tunes.

Opening for The Stranglers was New Zealand band, Mi-Sex, who filled the Town Hall with grim sci-fi synths before thunderous drums led the group into Graffiti Crimes. Strong vocals in But You Don’t Care led to the first of many wild, front-and-centre guitar solos, growing increasingly complex and intense throughout following numbers, It Only Hurts When I’m Laughing and Stills.

The anthemic chorus and howling guitar solo of My Sex Your Sex stirred the crowd into Blue Day, before the group closed with the dirty guitar and phenomenal drums of Computer Games and the manic keys of People. In its current incarnation, Mi-Sex feels like a beautifully strange combination of The Doors, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, and Guns N’ Roses guitar solos. It doesn’t always click as perfectly as you’d hope, but when it does, the collective performance is brilliant and magnetic.

Following a half-hour intermission, The Stranglers took to the stage through a recording of Waltzinblack, as the crowd screamed appreciation before slimy, grimy keys led into (Get a) Grip (on Yourself) and the astounding drumming and bass-line of Norfolk Coast. There’s a honey-tinted griminess to much of The Stranglers’ music, and much of this still holds itself together in a live performance; filthy, slimy basslines from JJ Burnel mixed wonderfully with Baz Warne’s tearing guitar and the ethereal, otherworldly keys of Dave Greenfield.

Burnel switched to vocals on 5 Minutes, contrasting his delightfully rough and ferocious voice with thumping drums and bursts of light from the stage, before raindrop synths in Freedom Is Insane delivered a gorgeous, wild solo on the keys. Warne shot a handful of playful digs into the crowd, asking the audience in the seated section if they’d like cucumber sandwiches, and baiting the crowd with jokes about The Black Caps.

The only off-point of the evening was, sadly, Golden Brown, which made me feel as though I was losing my mind with how disastrously out of time everything was. It’s a complex song, but definitely one that many of the crowd were there to see – fortunately, none of them seemed to take much notice, and continued grooving away on the floor and the edges of the upper seated area.

The set continued through Time To Die, with its western-surf-pop guitar riffs and solo, into a furious mash of keys and drums in Skin Deep, and the grittier, punk-rock vibe of Nuclear Device. A brief pause and a single, orgasmic bass note heralded the arrival of Peaches, so disgustingly sexy that it eradicated any memory of bad timing a few songs earlier.

Closing out with a brilliant back-to-back solo on both keys and guitar in Walk On By, The Stranglers finished up their set with the gorgeous heavy rock of Relentless, before a wild ending of Tank and No More Heroes. For fans of The Stranglers, it was a near-perfect gig. All the sass and attitude of a mouthy punk rock band combined with stadium-rock drums, 80s glam synths, guttural basslines, and spooky, spacey synths.

~Oxford Lamoureaux

Click any image to see a full gallery of photos of both acts by Rachel Webb.

The Stranglers

MiSex

The Stranglers Setlist

Waltzinblack
(Get a) Grip (on Yourself)
Norfolk Coast
No Mercy
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy
This Song Will Get Me Over You
5 Minutes
Unbroken
Golden Brown
Always the Sun
Time To Die
Skin Deep
Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)
Peaches
15 Steps
Walk On By (Dionne Warwick cover)
Something Better Change
Relentless
Hanging Around
Tank
No More Heroes

Oxford Lamoureaux
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