Gang of Four Live

Ha! That was me when I saw them in Boston, except I began at "Oh, Gramps," and ended up at "FUCK YEAH I GOT WHAT I ASKED FOR WOOOOOOOOO!"

ROFFLE! OTM!

They seemed prepared at any moment to tear capitalist society apart with their teeth. Jon, anyway.

Surely you fucking jest.

Andy Gill threw some sort of minor hissy fit at the presence of some cigarette smoke in the non-smoking venue during "He'd Send In The Army" but thankfully stopped short of pulling out his goddamn cell phone. Dude also delivered a hair-raisingly vicious "Paralysed." RESPECT.

Overall I enjoyed myself VERY THOROUGHLY INDEED, participating fully in their cheesy fuckin' Rock Spectacle(tm) down to getting my paw on ye olde Sonic Phallus(tm) during "Anthrax" along with several other ecstatic chicks. Afterwards I was drenched and exhausted (as with every other G04 show I've attended) plus my face hurt from smirking. Worth every penny. I left them a xeroxed dollar bill on the stage.

Also, two words: fog machine.

Like goddamn rabid wolverines on crack, is what.

Hollywood gave birth to entertainment. It's time entertainment gave some love back. Join Virgin Megastore in welcoming our hottest new Megastore to the hottest city. "We're thrilled to be celebrating the grand opening of our new West Coast flagship with a special guest appearance by Sir Richard Branson, and rooftop performances from INXS, Gang of Four and Dredg," says Simon Wright, Chief Executive, Virgin Entertainment Group International.

One of my major musical regrets in life is never seeing Gang of Four while Andy Gill was alive. So I’m going to see the King/Burnham/Lee lineup with David Pajo replacing Gill next week. I know basically zero about Pajo/Slint. Hoping for the best.

Thinking of going to see this lineup . I did luckily see the Andy Gill lineup when I was a wee lad long ago (1980 & 1981 & some later times including 2005). My regret is missing Gill and his band when they were on that last tour before he got sick and passed away.
King is a great frontman, and Burnham /Lee rhythm section is strong

They are playing the legendary Roxy here and I'm stoked

Yah, I've got tickets for the Roxy show too. Mildly annoyed that I didn't see the Andy Gill Gang-Of-One line up back in 2017 (or whenever it was), but really looking forward to hearing Hugo play.

This show was ridiculously fun. Pajo absolutely nails the guitar parts. I was giddy.

otm. was great watching how much fun Jon and Sara were having playing with, and watching, Pajo. and he's inscrutable, occasionally breaking into a smile, like when Jon practically tackled him.

Cool!

yeah that was terrific

It was incredibly weird watching Pajo in Gang of Four, esp when everyone else is so outgoing and so rawk. And not just playing the guitar parts (which he nailed) but also Gill's vocals, but in his kind of speak-mumble. Honestly at first I was a little put off by it but as the show went I just became hypnotized by Pajo's weird/awkward vibe. Haha there were times it felt like Christian Family Rock Band with Sullen Death Metal Teen playing guitar.

I thought they were a little hesitant at first & sometimes it sounded like an above average cover band, though I'm willing to cut a lot slack since it was only their second show, but there moments when it was absolutely transcendent. I bet in two weeks they'll be the best band in the world.

Seeing them in one week, so I’m hoping they’re 50% better!

The DC date for the original lineup (Andy/Jon/Dave/Hugo) tour about 10 years ago was one of my favorite shows ever.

Saw last night show at Black Cat in DC and yep Jon King still dances like he did when I first saw them 40 some years ago. Pajo handled Gill’s duties well, although I had trouble hearing his vocals from where I was standing. Weakest song was the newest “I Parade Myself “ from 1995. Others were from 78 to 83.

Re comment above about Pajo not being outgoing rawk in his movements , Gill largely was not either. So Pajo stayed true to band legacy.

Had to skip that show (long drive, work night). Glad to hear it was pretty good!

On a small handful of songs they had 2 backup singers. One was drummer Hugo B ‘s daughter and the other was Dolette McDonald ( best known for being part of 1980 Talking Heads Remain in Light tour

Show was OK but non-essential. I guess it was worth it to see Hugo play and answer any "what if Pajo played in a Gang Of Four cover band?" questions that I never thought about asking. Enough middle-aged dudes were singing along that I often heard them more than I did Jon King.

The show featured ( as billed in advance) Go4 songs from their essential 78-83 era delivered by some musicians from that era plus Pajo who proved he could handle the Gill role. I didn’t expect more. They proved their essential songs hold up. As someone who sometimes sees soul oldies shows ( Stylistics and others) I am ok with that . While Go4 this year may not have been essential in that same way it was when a younger me first saw them circa 1980, it still was satisfying.

Gill used to move quite a bit, but to be fair, that probably changed when he was older and in poor health:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW8MvjwN33M

FWIW, here is a highlight of that Old Grey Whistle Test DVD box set - I really wish the BBC would make full sets available rather than just a few songs licensed out to different sets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2JVX1ExGaM

i loved seeing sara lee and hugo they rule

I really wish the BBC would make full sets available rather than just a few songs licensed out to different sets

Oh man, a few years ago there was a YouTube account full of complete & uncut '70s episodes (even had the BBC title leader and countdowns at the beginning) that was up for a couple months before the BBC shut them down.

Looking at those shows, I saw that one reason many clips don't get licensed out is that the final performances of the night always had burned-in credits run over them, and there probably aren't any copies of that footage without them.

Gah! I wish I had known, I would've ripped that shit for posterity.

There's a fair number of full '70s episodes on this t0rrent site I'm a member of. Let me know if there's anything in particular you're looking for and I'll see if it's on there.

Oh wow, that would be awesome thanks!

The ones that immediately come to mind are:

• Richard & Linda Thompson
• Gang of Four
• Television
• Talking Heads
• Bob Marley & The Wailers (this was back when Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh were still in the group too!)
• The New York Dolls
• The Patti Smith Group.

If they have the '80s in there:

• The Smiths
• Elvis Costello & The Attractions (probably 1986)
• The Replacements (also 1986 - Bob's still in the band)

Hope that's not too much, but any of them would be awesome!