In 2016, the legacy of The Saints sits primarily as punk rock originators and innovators of the mid to late 1970s. With the looming shadow of their early singles and albums, particularly the 1977 landmark I’m Stranded and its follow up Eternally Yours, the last 35 years have seen constant lineup changes and forays into various musical avenues. With such a large back catalogue and yet another new lineup assembled by only constant member Chris Bailey, the band’s performance represented all aforementioned facets of the band’s history.
Opening with fan-favourite 1978 single Know Your Product, the band quickly asserted their comfort and presence onstage. With You Am I guitarist Davey Lane on lead guitar, the group remained tight and focused throughout. Despite recruiting Lane as a more than capable guitarist, the sheer danger and ferocity of founding guitarist Ed Kuepper’s work was severely lacking. While Bailey’s songwriting was always of a high standard, it doesn’t need to be explained that Kuepper’s manic buzzsaw guitars cemented the band’s place and influence in the punk rock canon, arguably more so than the guitar work of punk contemporaries The Clash or the Sex Pistols. While Lane’s performance was excellent in its own right, such a crucial element of the band’s sound hasn’t made its way back since Kuepper’s brief reunion with the band in 2009.
With such a controlled and professional performance, coupled with a close to two hour set including all the band’s hits and well-known material, plus various deeper cuts and covers from the band’s staggering 16 album discography, the set quickly became predictable as it coasted along. Great songs were great, average songs were average, and the inclusion of some ended up somewhat bizarre (see: cover of Leslie Gore’s It’s My Party featuring Kat Spazzy on guest vocals). With the appeal of the band’s early material, and by extension pub and punk rock in general, manifesting itself through economy and stripping back the unessentials, the drawn out pacing and parent friendly vibe of the set did little to honour the band’s original methodology of stripping back tired and predictable rock ‘n’roll to its core primal elements.
Closing with a double encore of (I’m) Stranded and a hard rocking version of standard River Deep, Mountain High the set ended on a strong high, though not without the crowd’s patience tested with too many acoustic songs to count and a bit too much of Davey Lane’s 12-string guitar noodling. But hey, when you’re one of the most important punk rock bands of all time, you can do whatever you want.
WORDS BY JOE HANSEN
IMAGE BY ZO DAMAGE
LOVED: Legendary bands in small pubs.
HATED: L-shaped bandrooms.
DRANK: Coopers Pale Ale.
