The Buzzcocks may not get the credit that some of their contemporaries get when the history of punk is brought up and hardly ever is their name spoken in reverential tones alongside the likes of The Clash and the Sex Pistols.
When the plaudits are being bandied around it’s the Buzzcocks who are well overdue acknowledgement for how inspiring their music was and how influential they really were.
Featuring the band’s main men Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, their resurgence and popularity of late have led to packed crowds and the Tramshed venue provided the group with another, at times, overly enthusiastic crowd, many of whom threw themselves about just like it was 1977 all over again.
First up was a surprise. Newport’s finest the Darling Buds provided the evening’s support and produced an enjoyable set that got much of the crowd bouncing with Hit The Ground and especially Shame On You, a perfect opener for the Buzzcocks to follow.
Darling Buds
Hitting the ground running, the Buzzcocks opened with Boredom from their iconic Spiral Scratch EP, from January 1977 but sounding as fresh as the day it was released, and with plenty of crowd interaction, as they spat out the choruses with a venom.
It quickly became a band greatest hits with the first ever single Orgasm Addict, Autonomy and a driving Why Can’t I Touch It all in blindingly quick succession.
Shelley, sounded just like Shelley of old. His high nasal vocal delivery just about cutting through the cacophony of sound being produced by the on-form Diggle and rest of the band.
Noise Annoys, Love You More and What Do I Get were just a couple of the highlights with Steve Diggle striking all the guitar-god poses and enjoying the banter with the animated audience. Coming back for a well-deserved encore their last song Ever Fallen In Love(With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) brought to conclusion what was a superb evening of pure nostalgia, and not a little energy.
Steve Diggle
Main image: Pete Shelley
Images: Tony Chapman