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When we spoke before the gig, Buzzcocks guitarist Steve Diggle made clear to me his unceasing attitude towards music: ‘It’s important just to feel alive. I mean, where’s the spirit of the kids today’ Of all the things we discussed; from the fortunes of our mutual favourite football team, to the ‘lap dancer’ culture of the X Factor, none invoked a greater impassioned consensus than that quote. The Buzzcocks’ performances are still feisty, blaring and shuddering with political energy, and a young whippersnapper such as myself cannot help but curse the lack of a modern day equivalent.
Even when watching a balding Pete Shelley belt out classic tunes while a guitarist old enough to father most of his audience writhes around like Hendrix, it’s easy to see why Buzzcocks were so pivotal in the emergence of punk and the development of Mancunian musical talent. The first half of the evening was a marvellous showcase of Buzzcocks’ eye for the relevance of simplicity, their ability to provide great entertainment from basic chord progressions and edgy creativity. They manage to encapsulate both the essence of punk and the pleasure of songwriting longevity. A perfect blend of angry noise and mature, reflective composition was a perfect warm-up for an audience clearly itching to hear old favourites they had fallen in love with.
That said, with around half an hour of the set left, the real magic began. An inimitable medley of ‘Promises’, ‘Love You More’ and ‘What Do I Get?’ followed the beautifully written ‘Totally From The Heart’ and ‘I Don’t Mind’. Second only to those of The Beatles, Shelley’s melodies are engrained in the consciousness of anyone who encounters them, and the older, hardcore punk fans shared an admiration with the energetic and impressionable youngsters for the appealing quality of Buzzcocks’ work.
The anticipated encore served only to confirm the gifted performers’ place in history, as ‘Harmony In My Head’, ‘Ever Fallen In Love With Someone (You Shouldn’t Have Fallen In Love With)’ and ‘Orgasm Addict’ were met with rapturous familiarity and gratitude. Diggle told me that it was important to ‘get the message down on the record’. This may be true, but his enthusiasm for energising an audience shone through as he ranted and preached into the microphone at various interludes, in particular during his own composition ‘Harmony In My Head’ when he took centre stage as an inciter and a performer.
Some may see Buzzcocks as an old timers’ club, reliving past glories via the general appreciation of their music. Others may see them as a consistent motif of the punk movement and its continued ability to inspire change to this day. Personally, I think they are a pleasurable, yet distressing reminder of the fact that the modern music scene is complacent, convoluted and cheap, and that true desire for revolution and creativity never, ever fades.
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