Suite XVI Italy – March, 2007(English)

Suite XVI Italy – March, 2007
15th Transilvania, Milan / 16th Sonar Club, Siena / 17th Velvet Rock, Rimini

→日本語

This time my gig mate was not the usual friend from London but a nice lady friend.  Once Waltzinblack blared out however, we both concentrated on the sound of the meninblack on stage
On all 3 days in Italy, JJ greeted in Italian at the beginning and apologised for not being able to speak it anymore.  Otherwise, he hardly spoke but blew out the audience with strong sound and vocals.
Milan was the first day of this Italian tour and they seemed to be in a pretty good shape.  They kicked off with 5 Minutes which was very powerful and tight.  Right there, the adrenaline already rushed through my system.  Unfortunately Jet was not there, but Ian who had been Jet’s drum tech for about 5 years was doing a great job filling the big shoes of big Jet.  JJ’s introduction of Ian went like this “Today we have a smaller person than usual behind the drum sets and he is very young too.  He’s been working with us since the age of 18 and is now,,, uh, 23 years old?  He makes me feel VERY OLD!”.
At one point I was looking at Dave and he was coughing between the chorus.  Cold?  Or was it just because of the beer he was drinking?  As usual, he was playing the keyboards with his right hand while drinking beer with his left hand with his little finger sticking up.
The set list included 22 songs in total.  The same set for the 3 days.  As Guilfest in summer 2006 was my only experience since they became 4-piece again, I was really looking forward to this Suite XVI tour to see how they developed.  Well, Baz already established his position as a lead vocalist of two and sounded naturally fabulous even on other songs than those from Suite XVI.  Or I should say that he’s got a great voice with various colours to express emotions if you see what I mean.  He was very lively and seemed to be truly enjoying himself.  During the keyboard solo of No More Heroes, he even showed his heading technique with an empty glass thrown by Dave.
Later my friend told me that she talked to a group of young Italians before the gig.  One of them said, “I found the Stranglers albums among my parents’ collection so know them from MKI.  I sincerely respect the band and the Stranglers are the coolest band and JJ is terrific.”
I thought it’s great to hear this!
Sonar Club in Siena was located in the middle of nowhere.  A very low stage and there was no barrier between the stage and the audience.  The stage was so low that you could easily climb up on it.
It was even much more exciting and was getting pretty wild at the front.  There was a bit of an incident that night.  In the middle of Summat Outanowt, it looked like JJ once threw a light kick in the audience in front of him, and then the next moment he was in the audience and the rest of the members broke off the music.
I lost sight of him then as there was a big guy standing right in front of me but learned afterwards that a guy was videotaping the gig.  JJ noticed it and threw his leg probably with an intention to make the guy realise that it was not a good idea to do but the guy didn’t stop videotaping.  So JJ jumped in by himself to personally teach him the lesson.
Back on stage JJ asked Baz how far they went and started again from the second verse (if I remember correctly).  He then delivered heavy an edgy bass solo and capped the song with such menace in his voice.
By this time the audience had gotten even wilder and a few English fans at the front were pushing back those crazy ones with their backs virtually to the stage.  Otsukaresama(good job done) to them.
In Rimini, the venue was quite big and there were lots of people.  We were on Baz’s side the night before where my friend said that she’d stay there again, so I left her and rushed over to JJ’s side just before the gig started.  It was already packed with people as far as to the side end of the venue and I saw some English fans there too.  The sound in this venue was superb and the Stranglers showered the audience with waves of strong and tight sound.
It was so funny that during Peaches on each day, Baz improvised with obviously unpleasant experiences he had in Italy such as “hotels in the middle of nowhere in Milan” or “stuck in the Italian traffic for hours”.
From the set list, you might think that there are not so many songs from Suite XVI but all those they played live had great drive, as expected.  In particular, bass sounded much stronger and heavier on Relentless, which was awesome.
I saw them on stage and the audience for those 3 days and felt that because they still have that power and sharpness in their live performance after having continued to create new materials for such a long time, they can still excite grown-ups - and young ones - to make them travel to see them even from abroad.  Each and every song never sounds outdated and I never tire of hearing them.  The energy the current Stranglers releases on stage may be the most magnificent of all their time.  They are truly unbroken.
I can go to their gigs abroad only occasionally but every time the gig ends, I want more.  Enjoyable time always flies and my desire for more of the Stranglers is never satisfied.  I am completely addicted to them.
This summer, although it’s a music festival, they are finally coming to Japan after all those years.  Japanese summer is very hot and humid but I really hope that Jet will also be able to make it to the stage together with the rest of the band.
Ladies and gentlemeninblack in Japan, you will have to get in shape to receive that magnificent energy from them, otherwise you won’t last till the end of the gig!　【Yuka Takahashi】

■Set List■
5 MINUTES,  GRIP,  SPECTRE OF LOVE,  NICE 'N' SLEAZY,  DEATH&NIGHT&BLOOD,  UNBROKEN,  PEACHES,  ALWAYS THE SUN,  GOLDEN BROWN,  I HATE YOU,  LOST CONTROL,  SUMMAT OUTNOWT,  WALK ON BY,  RELENTLESS,  BURNING UP TIME,  ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT,  DUCHESS,  LONDON LADY

NUCLEAR DEVICE,  DAGENHAM DAVE

HANGING AROUND,  NO MORE HEROES

 

※The Mugshots : http://www.mugshots.it/