With the death of their keyboard player Dave Greenfield in 2020, The Stranglers announced that 2022 will see their last full tour. But if this is their final bow, they are taking it with all the idiosyncratic brilliance we’ve come to expect from them over the past half-century.
A rousing Toiler On The Sea kicks things off, setting a tone of exuberance that suits more punk-inclined material like (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) and Tank. Keyboard player Toby Hounsham ensures that Greenfield’s magic isn’t missing from the band’s sound, while frontman Baz Warne leads the audience like the world’s cheekiest ringmaster. As ever, it’s Jean-Jacques Burnell, the only remaining original member, who provides the sonic bedrock, his funkedup bass lines ensuring Nice ‘N’ Sleazy, White Stallion and Peaches get the audience moving and grooving. From their moody post-punk take on Bacharach and David’s Walk On By, through the strutting swagger of Peaches to the reflective new-wave of Always The Sun, laddish pub rock with Go Buddy Go and the closing punk blitz of No More Heroes, The Stranglers invariably deliver with inimitable flair.