Set in the heart of Northampton, The Roadmender is a criminally under utilised venue that sits empty most nights of the week. However, as tonight’s near-capacity crowd proves, there’s a real hunger for live music in the town so hopefully the owners will take note and turn it into the bustling mid-size venue which the town desperately needs.

Having drummed with XTC from their inception until their cessation from touring in 1982, Terry Chambers helped bring to life songs that shaped a generation. However, it’s in the live environment where songs become three-dimensional and the dream of hearing the classic XTC songbook in concert has finally come true with EXTC: XTC’s Terry Chambers & Friends. Named and approved by original XTC frontman Andy Partridge, EXTC take us to within the width of a cigarette paper of the original XTC sound, and if there were any doubts you need look no further than opening track ‘This Is Pop’. Putting a spring in the step and a smile on every face, the band play with an energy that rolls back the years. Of course, having an enviable discography to chose from doesn’t hurt and when vocalist/guitarist Steve Hampton asks the crowd to take the roof off during ‘Senses Working Overtime’, they’re only too happy to oblige. With Terry Chambers and bassist Terry Lines also providing vocals, a warm lustrous sound is created and is put to good use on closer ‘Making Plans For Nigel’ which proves that dreams can come true.

Although they had a few dubious song titles, the Stranglers always seemed more cerebral than their peers. Maybe it’s because they were a little older, more worldly, or more well-read, but whatever the reason it’s something Hugh Cornwell has carried over onto his solo career. Since departing his former band he’s left a trail of albums in his wake that evidence a curious artist who is keen on exploring new territory and if you need proof, look no further than tonight’s opening couplet ‘Coming Out Of The Wilderness’ and ‘Too Much Trash’. Two cuts from his recent, critically-acclaimed Moments Of Madness album, they present an artist very much in the here and now so it’s rather annoying that the biggest cheer of the evening (thus far) is reserved for a cover of the Stranglers ‘Nice ‘n’ Sleazy’. It must be difficult for an artist like Hugh to be tethered so tightly to his past, especially when he has such delectable new wares on offer, but if it bothers him, it doesn’t show and along with his band turns ‘Nice ‘n’ Sleazy’ into a ground shaking affair.

The set will follow this pattern with two solo songs punctuated by a Stranglers track and while ‘Golden Brown’ doesn’t sound quite the same without the keyboard gravy, that it doesn’t is a salient point. A live rendition shouldn’t be a carbon copy or a mere facsimile (we have the studio version for that), it should take on new form and that’s precisely what happens here. It’s a loose, jazzy version (and is that Hugh singing “Gordon Brown”?!) that finds this power trio displaying a decidedly light touch (imagine an alternate reality where Ornette Coleman covered the Stranglers) to deliver a track that wraps the entire crowd in a fuzzy Novocaine© buzz. The two tracks from Monster are indicative of Hugh’s modus operandi, first, ‘Pure Evel’ (written about motorcycle madman Evel Knievel), then ‘Mr. Leather’ (in homage to Lou Reed) avoid stereotypical subject matter and that’s exactly what elevates Hugh (and, indeed, his tenure in the Stranglers) above the pack.

It’s three tracks from his collaboration with Robert Williams that close the show and it is those three tracks, performed by three musicians who are bang on point that ensures this gig will live long in the memory.

Hugh Cornwell Set List:

1. Coming Out Of The Wilderness
2. Too Much Trash
3. Nice ‘n’ Sleazy
4. Wrong Side Of The Tracks
5. Delightful Nightmare
6. Golden Brown
7. Totem And Taboo
8. Bad Vibrations
9. Dead Loss Angeles
10. Moments Of Madness
11. When I Was A Young Man
12. Tank
13. Pure Evel
14. Mr. Leather
15. Nuclear Device (The Wizard Of Aus)
16. Another Kind Of Love
17. Duchess
18. Wired
19. Big Bug
20. Mortha
21. Wrong Way Round

EXTC: XTC’s Terry Chambers & Friends

1. This Is Pop
2. Statue Of Liberty
3. Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)
4. Towers Of London
5. Senses Working Overtime
6. Ball And Chain
7. The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead
8. Rocket From A Bottle
9. Living Through Another Cuba
10. Generals And Majors
11. Making Plans For Nigel