Album Review: Gang Of Four – Live… In The Moment

Gang Of Four are a legendary British post punk band who formed almost forty years ago, in the current incarnation only guitarist Andy Gill remains from the original line up. The remainder of the band’s members have been accumulated over the last few years, John Sterry has replaced original vocalist Jon King and the current line up is completed by Jonny Finnegan, drums, and Thomas McNiece on bass. The album was recorded at London’s Islington Assembly Hall on the penultimate date of Gang Of Four‘s 2015 tour and it features a set list that touches on most of their extensive back catalogue.

From the opening chords of Where The Nightingale Sings, from last years What Happens Next album, the Gang Of Four‘s sparse funky post punk sound is in full effect, to my ears the spiky guitar riffs sound as good as ever, and the years appear to have been kind to their material. The set is largely split between their early material and their most recent releases, whilst some will only want to hear the classics I usually prefer a band to still be producing material, not just trotting out their greatest hits. Gang Of Four‘s latest material sits happily alongside their classic songs, which of course make an appearance in the set, Damaged Goods is delivered mid set and arguably their best known song, I Found That Essence Rare, makes an obligatory appearance, a pumped up version of this classic early single is almost inevitably the final encore

When a band is reduced to having one original member in place it’s debatable whether it is the band, with only Andy Gill surviving from the original line up it almost sounds like a completely different band, but things change over time and Gang Of Four still sound fresh and relevant, if not like their old selves. The Gang Of Four‘s influence can’t be underestimated and many have acknowledged their debt to the band’s innovative sound, after almost forty years Live… In The Moment is a document of a band that have been ploughing their own furrow without compromise since the early days of the punk scene.

Live… In The Moment can be ordered on CD and vinyl here

Gang Of Four‘s web presence can be found here