Gang Of Four, The Macbeth, London
We sent one lucky reader to the secret, invite-only Gang Of Four gig last month. Here is Olivia Demosthenous's review!
We sent one lucky reader to the secret, invite-only Gang Of Four gig at the Macbeth last month. Here is Olivia Demosthenous's review!
Gang Of Four are back. A time for giving, a time for rejoicing. A time for rocking out in the scarlet-hued, homey-vibed venue of Hoxton's intimate music venue The Macbeth. The mood is gloriously exuberant and laced with anticipation yet wontedly comfortable, the intimacy and unpretentious exclusivity of the night giving you the feeling of being at a nuclear-family gathering; like-minded non-judgmental GoF-loving souls gathered together to enjoy some grand music and good times. The band have the full attention of the audience right from the start of this very special gig. Opening with 'Return The Gift', they are as sharp and attention-grabbing as you'd expect, with the piquant non-conformist lyrics and melodic-punk beats complimenting each other so succinctly, as if kept in a box married and interlinked together and living contentedly in some sort of musical Shangri-la, emerging on this night to leave us all in awe.
The relevancy of the lyrics after all the years is humbling. The matter-of-fact, insightful, humourous yet philosophical and true, politically analytical, humanly intuitive songs are as graspingly entertaining and fresh-sounding as ever. You wonder how Jon King feels singing lyrics he wrote in his twenties, now that he's in his fifties. Has his outlook changed much? (In 'Anthrax' he talks about love being a disease. Now that he's settled in life his perspective surely must have changed to a more optimistic one?) Is he surprised himself by how potently his lyrics still resonate with the audience? Either way, it doesn't take long for him to be swinging from the light fixtures and getting us all merrily riled up with his playful ways. Each member has his own personality and role on stage and they are as mesmerizing to watch as they are to hear; Jon relishing his role as mesmerizing frontman, Andy King stern and intriguing, banging out his professionally-asperous chords with enviable ease and skill, and newer members Mark Heaney (drums) and Thomas McNeice (bass) injecting youth, and impressive dedication, doing the tracks as much justice as you could wish.
Between songs they host brief Q&As, where the questions are more cheese-based and jovial rather than anything heavy-handed or derived from Mastermind. The greatest and most crowd-pleasing song of the night is the deliciously irreverent 'Damaged Goods' which has us all singing along with vivacious glee. For this show, they stick mainly to the familiar and loved tracks, but prove they haven't lost their touch for musical genius with their more recent output when they play new song 'Hero'. I was slightly disappointed like a petulant child that they didn't play 'Natural's Not In It' - an obvious choice, and therefore probably why they missed it off the setlist, but still one of my favourites that I would've been in seventh heaven to hear live.
What Gang Of Four has over most modern day bands is that not only are their songs just simply and plainly excellent from a musical perspective (melodic, strong and powerful basslines, forever-inquiring and pertinent lyrics) but they are accurately anarchic and a timeless commentary on society, and the human condition.
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