After two cancellations, the expectant hardcore Stranglers fans were well up for the show in Bristol and anyone who hadn't been blown away by storm Eunice, were certainly blown away here for a sold out night of musical entertainment laid on by the headliners and their brilliant supported act Ruts DC.

Opening the festivities, Ruts DC got the crowd going with their reggae based punk, playing one of the longest support sets (45 mins) I have ever seen (they certainly have the back catalogue to do just this!). The band were tight, with a big sound from the trio. Due for a full headline tour later in 2022, they were lively and the tunes timeless.

One of the great British bands, The Stranglers, formed way back in 1974, have hit the road after an enforced covid break on the back of their latest album Dark Matters recorded with their much-missed keyboard player Dave Greenfield, who tragically passed away a year ago from Covid-19, and who features on many of the tracks recorded for the album.

Billed as The Stranglers “Final Full UK Tour", initially announced in January 2020, it has been 2 years in the waiting. With 24 Top 40 singles and 18 Top 40 albums in a career spanning six decades, the set list selection was going to struggle to meet everyone's approval but the mix of old and new had the sellout crowd bouncing from the start. This certainly wasn't a young crowd but they kept going for the 26 song set with 2 encores and nearly 120 minutes of non-stop performance.

Just to add to the special feeling of the event, it was JJ's (bass player and backing vocalist's) 70th birthday! The man looks incredible for such an age and he was regaled by the crowd, we had balloons and banners too. Marvellous.

All of the favourites were there; 'Golden Brown' 'Peaches' 'Walk on By' and 'No More Heroes' bringing the curtain down. It was lovely to hear the tribute to Dave Greenfield 'And If You Should See Dave' in the encore, staggering to think he was a key member of The Stranglers for 45 years.

What a fantastic live swansong to an amazing band, who showed they can still rock hard and left a full house happy, sweaty and probably in need of a sit down and a nice cup of warm tea before retiring for the night.

Words and Pictures (©) by Glenn Morrison