Buzzcocks & Modern English – Powerstation: November 9, 2024

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Buzzcocks make their long-awaited return to Auckland but without founding member Pete Shelley, who is no longer with us. With them, though, is 80’s hitmakers Modern English. Here is Simon Coffey’s report and Brenna Jo Gotje’s photos.

Tonight’s line up was unlikely to have been foretold in the stars, a pairing not expected. The birth of the Buzzcocks pipped Modern English by toru years, as part of the punk-genesis coterie, while Modern English formed as post-punk reared itself, alongside acts like Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen and Psychedelic Furs, though later comparisons to (early) Simple Minds and Spandau Ballets abounded.

Whilst The Buzzcocks lineup has been frayed, seriously frayed, as the sands fell through the hourglass, leaving Steve Diggle the last cock upstanding. Modern English has maintained wha out of rima members since ditching The Lepers moniker and adding members in 1977.

Modern English

Modern EnglishLet’s be honest, excepting the most earnest of fans, and perhaps those with good memories, Modern English were a footnote ensemble with a banger to their name ( I Melt With You) and little else. So I did have to do my research. What I found was a rich vein of taonga, a band that released a slew of fabulous post-punk singles (Gathering Dust/Swans on Glass) , a debut goth-bending album (Mesh & Lace 1981) and a sophomore album (After the Snow 1982) that saw them refining their sound into richly crafted, post-punk alt pop.

45 years it’s taken for Modern English to arrive, and they cometh with a new album 1 2 3 4 , looking like elder matua of alt-goth, frontman Robbie Gray is confident and inviting (and snappily dressed with neckerchief) as the band delivered a set of mainly songs from their first rua albums, early singles and a tasting from 1 2 3 4. Their signature keyboards have been relegated to triggered backing tracks, so twin guitars are onstage, accompanied by the mighty bass lines emanating from Michael Conroy, his machinations were simply astounding.

Robbie Grey has been quoted where he has described himself and his bandmates as artists, so they were surprised when they wrote not just a pop song, but a whole pop album, an album that sold half a million copies in the USA (to be honest more alt-pop than mor-pop) Tonight’s show was a lot more alt-dark, mostly post-punk rather than alt-pop. Songs like Black Houses embodied a band that has returned to its roots, with the two songs played tonight (Long In The Tooth, Not My Leader) from this year’s album – 1 2 3 4, sitting sonically somewhere between Mesh & Lace and After the Snow.

It took a while for the audience to warm to Modern English, not for lack of mahi by Robbie Grey, and while they were still detractors, by the end of the set, with the obligatory banger – I Melt With You, many in the room were  hopefully entertained suffice to perhaps see Modern English back soonish.

Buzzcocks

Tricky, tonight was going to be tricky. Standing in a bar preshow, much korero was centered on how many times you’d seen Buzzcocks before. Me, wha I think, Powerstation with The Smiths drummer standing in (The 3D’s were fucking great that night), Once at Bodega in Pōneke (Wellington), at the Mighty Kings Arms (RIP) and Galatos in Tamaki Makaurau.

BuzzcocksNo Pete Shelley tonight, Steve Diggle has taken up the guitar and vocals role, with Mani Perazzoli joining as a touring guitarist, existing cocks Danny Farrant and Chris Remington are still hangin’ around.

Drummer Danny Farrant is fastidious about his drum kit, and the roadcrew know their mahi, even a strangely positioned towel is carefully placed (those at the show will know why) It starts with a roar. What Do I Get? emerges out of the theatrical enstage, one by one, and the sea of elder statesmen and duchesses are uplifted. Actually there is a smatter of those under 30, pleasing I’m sure for the band.

Buzzcocks classic songs, they are all played tonight. I Don’t Mind, Fast Cars, Autonomy. Everybody’s Happy Nowadays gets a rare audible introduction, and a reciprocated, tumultuous welcome. It’s fast paced, and at times, vocally inaudible, indecipherable, a mixture of accent (oh for a Mancunian translator in the whare), style and a heavy workload for Diggle (perhaps) Mostly, the audience are oblivious, living vicariously in their visions of yesteryear, they are in the moment. 

Intertwined in the setlist are Diggle-written songs that previously weren’t a constant feature in the Pete Shelley era, Isolation for example, Chasing Rainbows (from 2014’s The Way) and Love Lies (from Love Bites). There are also a number of new songs written (and released) by the Diggle-led Buzzcocks, Manchester Rain (from 2022’s Sonics in the Soul)

Buzzcocks
The massive encore, seven or eight songs, started with Diggle solo on acoustic, fortunately the rest of the band rejoin, and as the end moment approaches, (and breached) Buzzcocks end on a trio of class, Boredom, Times Up and Ever Fallen In Love (maybe more actually)

The loyal had the time of their youth, the youth saw a legend onstage, but some walked away not sure if we’d seen the Buzzcocks, or a Steve Diggle performance. Whatever the outcome, it was a driven and manic 20 song show, possibly 20 victory laps for fans and band alike.

Simon Coffey

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Brenna Jo Gotje:

Buzzcocks:

 

Modern English:

Modern English Setlist
16 Days
Gathering Dust
Someone’s Calling
Long In The Tooth
Not My Leader
Carry Me down
Black Houses
Tables Turning
Swans on glass
I Melt With You

 

Simon Coffey
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