Hugh Cornwell

I've been a Stranglers fan since 1977, and have peripherally followed Hugh since he split from the group back in 1990. While his solo stuff is extremely respectable - akin to John Mellencamp or "better" - it is The Stranglers which gets my blood flowing. Hugh did a great job of mixing his own stuff (Hooverdam is an excellent album) with his Stranglers stuff. There were two "acts" - the first act was Hugh's solo stuff interspersed with Stranglers. The second act was Rattus Norvegicus (the "Peaches" album) in its entirety. Sometimes, Hanging Around, Get a Grip, Ugly... he performed every song with absolute high energy, and his band was absolutely rock solid, if not exceptional. (The drummer was from Blondie). GREAT night of live music with an old friend. Highly recommend it if you have even the slightest interest.

An excellent evening with Hugh Cornwell as he romped through the Stranglers' back catalog in the company of Clem Burke (ex Blondie) and a bassist who sounded 100% like Jean Jacque Burnell. Best Stuff - the sound of the bass, the great songs (Peaches, Nice and Sleazy, Hanging Around, No More Heroes, Golden Brown. and it all started early (7ish) so dinner after and home by midnight was dead easy.

The intimate setting of The Mercury Lounge was the perfect venue for this stripped down Stranglers show. OK, not really a Stranglers show but Hugh, the long time Stranglers front man played primarily Strangler songs with a peppering of solo material. The show was actually two shows. The first set was a rotation of Stranglers songs and solo. The second set was the complete first Stranglers album Rattus Norvegicus. We got there early and we were fortunate enough to be right upfront. The first thing we noticed was no set up for keyboard. Stranglers with no keyboard? Keyboardist Dave Greenfield's sound was signature for The Stranglers. We were all ready to lower our expectations. The three piece band came out. The first thing I noticed was the drummer was Clem Burke of Blondie. Clem was never up there with my favorite drummers but still pretty cool from a fan perspective. A count off and then in perfect sync the Bass, drums and guitar bang out the intro for Nice and Sleazy from The Stranglers Black and White album. In those first few seconds, any fears of this show being a disappointment were obliterated. Song after song, this three piece delivered. Steve Fishman on bass was the next best thing to Jean-Jacques Burnel, playing almost verbatim. Not an easy task. Hugh was in perfect form on guitar, vocals and performance. I have to say the biggest surprise for me was Clem Burke. He was a powerhouse on drums. He absolutely blew me away. I had no idea he could play drums with such force and style. He immediately rose through he ranks as being one of the best drummers I have ever seen. By the time we were into the second set, I had forgotten all about the lacking of keyboards. I realized that for The Stranglers, the keyboard was the icing on the cake but without it, it is still some pretty damn good cake.

This gig is up there with the UK Subs in 1979, the Damned in 1980 and all the other punk gigs I saw back ing the day. Amazing. Tiny venue, great crowd (old farts like me). Still grinning. Cheers Hugh, come back soon!

Hugh is as Hugh is completely! He and his band were endearing and badass and they didn't hold back at all. He and his band played for an extra half hour which thrilled everyone there. It would have been cruel to stop after an hour. Only an hour was scheduled and that would have been too painful for all. His solos on guitar were honed, and slightly distilled and embellished with subtlety, and punch, and were played hard and fast. The performance was intense and extremely sophisticated, and the volume was up perfectly of course. I think Hugh was getting some really unique sounds out of his guitar despite Black Cat's minor tech problems. He performed one incredible solo after another. Hugh's voice is still excellent. He has 2 fine musicians performing with him. Caz C is a fine and energetic bass player. She was totally on and up to the task despite her youth and sang backup well. She lends much visually also to the female side of the male-female energy on stage. Chris on the drums did a great job complimenting each of the arrangements with individuality and unique style I thought. Hugh and his talented crew looked happy enough with the performance and the audience. It was extra great to see him take a some more time afterwards to come back out and meet people quietly, adding more charm to the evening.