X RAY SPEX.
GOLDBLADE
The Roundhouse
6th September
3/5
It may have been 30 years since X Ray Spex last played Camden’s Roundhouse but tonight the venue was just about sold out with close to 3,000 packing it out. We arrived to find John Robb and Goldblade ploughing through songs from new album Mutiny. Stripped to the waist John puts 150% into his bands piratecore punk rock with some manic dancing and the crowd lapped it up. Look out for them on their Big Cheese sponsored ‘Mutiny’ tour in October. With Roxy legend Don Letts manning the decks between bands there was a real air of this being a very special gig indeed. Taking to the stage looking elegant Poly Styrene and the rest of the band look a bit nervous and the sound isn’t great as they rip into ‘Oh’ Bondage Up Yours’ for the first time in Camden for 3 decades. Her voice is unmistakeable, but a little shaky at times and as the gig goes on they get a bit more into their stride. The crowd are going crazy though and many can’t believe they are actually seeing X Ray Spex after all these years. Bonafide punk classics like ‘Warrior In Woolworths’ and the storming ‘Identity’ with its honking sax crash by, but for me, its not until the haunting ‘Germ Free Adolescents’ that Poly and her band really hit their mark. There lyrics and image always were ahead of their time and this moment sums it all up perfectly.Its all over too soon for many though and already people are praying they will tour. For me though, it was all about nostalgia and hearing some of these songs live – just one more time.
Eugene Big Cheese
