This is at least the fifth time that we've seen The Dirty Strangers and Electrics on the same bill together and the third time in the last 12 months, so we know how well they work together. We got into The Troubadour in good time for yet another classic Friday night with the Dirties what could go wrong.
On came Electrics who kicked into gear with U Don't Know Me ALan Blizzard and Robert Jones guitars sounding good on that familiar riff, but something was missing and after about a minute ALan called a halt so they could get Jenny Lane's bass working, it sort of sprang into life and while AL was looking a tad uneasy they launched into Looks R Deceivin the main deceit being that everything was ok as they sounded really good.
Viktim/Suspekt had a good bass rumble at the start as the guitars wound round the lyrics it was good and punchy. Fuk No More was too prophetic as the gear reALly didn't give a Fuk No More about two thirds of the way through the bass dropped out again, The sound guy was onstage before the song was done, changing leads and as it got more serious ALan Clayton joined the stewards enquiry as they called for a new DI Box to finALly sort things as Jenny took a ciggie rolling solo.
Remember had a lot of anger both in the playing and vocals as they wanted to remember what it was like to be tight having fun. In between songs we had some fun with AL not hearing his personAL assistant's questions as to what drinks he wanted, No Shit he wanted Coke with his JD but please can he have it after the set please!
It being close to Midsummers Nite FALls was being played just before it actuALly got dark and the splenetic guitars took us to the danger zone, they all wanted to chant along to Looking Like FU that may have been dedicated to the sound man as they reALly wanted to be left alone.
They closed with a surprisingly upbeat My City closing out a set that was full of ragged glory among the tech difficulties.
Before The Dirty Strangers got going current Bass maestro John Proctor really gave the bass amp, DI box and gear a good going over, making sure it didn't let him down. The Dirty Strangers opened with Special Girl it thankfully had ALl the bass punch it needed.<
Dirty AL then enquired of the packed club R U Satisfied and once we'd assured him we were, they flew through this classic at manic speed. Liberty Smile had a great low slung guitar solo from John Rollason. Lol Fox's drumming kept the replies on point during TALk To Me.
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After they played T-T-T-T-Troublemaker AL made sure we all knew it had multiple T's at the start as they are that sort of T-T-T-Troublemaker. As ever they were looking for that Hunters Moon that had a good bass kick to it. Some bloke called Keef got name checked before She's A ReAL Botticelli that seemed to be a bit slower than usuAL.
Pirates Don't Get Pensions was about as political as this set got, we can only hope the same applies to ex-mps. Brr it's the middle of June so it must be a Cold Night, well it certainly wasn't sweltering but as ever The Dirty Strangers sounded hot. AL had his normal cheeky grin during Baby as he battled it out with John Rollason for who played the slinkiest guitar part, John may have won that battle.
Most of the audience joined in the obvious moves during Hands Up, yup we've been caught in the act once more. AL dedicated My Girls A Getaway Driver to his main squeeze Jackie as they careened through the bands recent single like they wanted to do handbrake turns up Finborough Road.
They played a juicy version of Diamonds as the slower pace saw John Proctor sounding a lot more deliberate. It was back to the recent singles for La La La I Couldn't Care Less that most of us sang along too.
They reminded us that every once in a while they do actuALly go Sarf Of Da River. I think this was the point of the evening that ALan Blizzard joined in the fun, but I forgot to note that down. AL dedicated Bad Girls to my own Bad Girl Jo once more as she was in the middle of the pit at the front. As ALways they paid homage to the bands spirituAL home on Shepherds Bush City Limits and everyone joined them singing along to Gold Cortina the perfect car for a rogue to drive around town.
They closed by emphasizing that tonight had been one uproarious House Pardee oh hell yes it had, as ever The Dirty Strangers had left everyone smiling and happy.
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