Live Review: The Pack / Bobbie Peru – The Star And Garter, Manchester, UK, 26th January 2019

For my first live review of 2019 we return to The Star& Garter for the first tour by The Pack in forty years, the band’s frontman, Kirk Brandon, is well known through his work with Spear Of Destiny, Theatre Of Hate, Dead Men Walking and his solo work but The Pack is where Brandon started his journey back in 1979, there is no finer venue for the return of The Pack that one of Manchester’s longest stranding live venues, The Star And Garter. Manchester seems to be well and truly alive tonight, the downside of this is that it means that we arrive at the venue just in time to catch Bobbie Peru, another act from Manchester’s thriving punk scene who have stepped into the breach at the last minute as Desperate Measures, who were on the bill as main support, sadly aren’t playing tonight. The last time I saw them was in the surreal brightly coloured surroundings of a festival in an off season holiday camp, I can’t help feeling that their raw proto punk would have been more at home in the dark crowded confines of The Star & Garter. 

Bobbie Peru‘s blend of post punk and alternative strikes the right chord with those that have managed to arrive at the venue for the early start time. Bobbie Peru channel the post punk scene of the early to mid eighties, resembling and a Mancunian cross between The Chameleons and Killing Joke. To emphasise their post punk credentials they drop a thunderous heavyweight version of the Devo classic Whip It before building to impressive finale that proves that there are still many bands lurking in Manchester’s punk scene that are just waiting to be discovered. It’s also of note that tonight, to the best of my knowledge, has made Bobbie Peru the only band that have supported Kirk Brandon with The Pack, Theatre Of Hate and Spear Of Destiny.

A long and somewhat overly dramatic fanfare heralds the long awaited return of The Pack, tonight’s crowd is testament to the enduring appeal of Kirk Brandon’s outfits amongst his die hard supporters, many of whom have travelled from across Europe for this tour, who have ensured that tonight The Star & Garter is as busy as I’ve ever seen it. The Pack is now made up of two original members, Kirk Brandon and Jonathan Werner, along with former Spear Of Destiny guitarist Warren ‘Woz’ Wilson and Steve Grantley from Stiff Little Fingers, they open with Saint Theresa, a song that confirms that The Pack‘s sound is a primitive incarnation of Brandon’s later outfits.

This is Kirk Brandon returning to his punk roots, it’s a more than welcome trip down the rabbit hole back to the late 70’s as The Pack are a stripped down template of the sound of Brandon’s later outfits, Theatre Of Hate and Spear Of Destiny. Many of tonight’s crowd would have been too young to catch The Pack first time round, so tonight gives the opportunity to catch up on the punk origins of one of the original post punk bands, something that is underlined by a furious Pack Of Lies, another song that sadly shows that the protest songs from forty years ago sadly remain relevant in 2019. Tonight also demonstrates that Kirk Brandon still possesses one of the most distinctive voices of the punk scene, something that has not diminished with the passing of four decades.

Tonight we witnessed a snapshot of a band that has sat in suspended animation since the late seventies, this was not about nostalgia, we saw as much of the original band as was available playing material that has lain untouched and almost forgotten. Many would not be familiar with The Pack as their existence was sadly short lived, but for me it was a worthy sacrifice given the outfits that were spawned after The Pack had gone their separate ways. For many the highlight of the night is when The Pack deliver the prototype version of the song that would become better known as Theatre Of Hate’s Legion, this is greeted with a rousing reception before they head towards an intense finale that gets a raucous singalong and signals the end of a somewhat short, but gloriously sharp, set.

Tonight, if only for a few moments, the crowd in The Star & Garter were taken back to the tumultuous decade that gave birth to the punk scene. The Star & Garter remains full long after The Pack have left the stage and the bar continues to do brisk business until the music is switched off which signals that it’s time to head back out into the cold Mancunian night. Sadly The Pack‘s return is only likely to be a brief resurrection as Kirk Brandon will be returning to arguably his best known outfit when he tours the United States with Spear Of Destiny next month ahead of the annual Westworld Weekend, an event that celebrates the music of Kirk Brandon in all of it’s incarnations.

Kirk Brandon‘s website can be found here

Bobbie Peru‘s online presence is here

The Star & Garter‘s website is here

Live photography is by Gary Hough, his Instagram account is located here and you can click on any of Gary’s photos to view a slide show of the images