“Have you ever been on a Ferry? To France? Alone?” asks the dishevelled lighting technician in front of me. A titter goes round the audience. “What?” I think. “Is that a joke?” This was the first of many impenetrable aspects of Hugh Cornwell’s Cockpit gig on Thursday night.

Turns out the stage presence easily mistaken for a roadie was Hugh Cornwell himself, looking nothing like the polished, cane-twirling, burlesque-dancing gentleman in his recent ‘Totem and Taboo’ video, whilst touring with his album of the same name. Armed with the killer combination of liberal power chord usage and inaudible lyrics, he shouted his way through a host of classic Stranglers’ tracks as amassed balding heads swayed in unison. Trundling through such old time greats as ‘Bring on the Nubiles’ and ‘Bitching’ (Nope? Not ringing any bells?) preceded by an indistinct rendition of ‘Something Better Change’ recognisable only from the line “I’ll stick my fingers down your throat,” the former Strangler has, it seems, progressed to other forms of pharyngeal interference. A few decent guitar solos were overshadowed by a lack of originality or range of material; Hugh’s face looked as pained as I felt. “Play Peaches!” someone shouted. No such luck.

Words: Kate Jay 

3/10