THEATRE OF HATE – PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 9.11.18
‘Oh my word….It’s 1982 all over again!’. Yes, this evenings packed concert at Patterns, Brighton was just as though we had all stepped into Dr Who’s Tardis and landed back in 1982. It was a terrific set performed by the special five-piece post-punk band, Theatre Of Hate.
Thirteen months on from their last exciting performance at Patterns, Theatre Of Hate were back. The Brighton & Hove News music team were there last time to review it, see what we said by clicking HERE.
The live band tonight was are fronted by the magnetic Kirk Brandon, with assistance from the ever present bassist Stan Stammers, with the current Spear Of Destiny guitarist Adrian Portas (formally of New Model Army), Chris Bell who was the original Spear Of Destiny drummer (as well being on the stix for the Thompson Twins and Gene Loves Jezebel) and Clive Osborne (from The Dynamite Band) on saxophone.
In 1980, Kirk Brandon formed Theatre Of Hate from the ashes of heralded punk band The Pack. Joining Kirk was the aforementioned Stan Stammers along with Luke Rendall, plus old school friend, Steve Guthrie and Canadian born John “Boy” Lennard, who revolutionised the band’s sound with his haunting sax lines.
Theatre Of Hate’s debut double-A-side single, ‘Original Sin’/’Legion’, topped the independent chart in 1980, and their debut album ‘Westworld’, released in 1982, was produced by none other than Mick Jones from The Clash and held the number one position for an amazing 21 weeks. The single taken from the album, ‘Do You Believe In The Westworld?’ has become an anthem and is still widely played in clubs and on international radio, as well as featuring on numerous compilation albums.
Supporting the likes of The Clash & Ian Dury lead to Theatre Of Hate headlining major venues across the UK and Northern Europe.
Sadly, Theatre Of Hate called it a day in 1982, with Kirk taking Stan forward to form Spear Of Destiny. The band has resurfaced over the years to play some very special shows.
Having been asked to join The Damned for a massive show at London’s famous Roundhouse in December 2014, the band once again joined the fray. A short set of dates around the London anchor show attracted rave reviews, as did a 6 night night sold out run in December 2014. Then in 2015 they made two short jaunts across the UK in April and December both sets of dates wowed large crowds.
During touring in 2014 and 2015, the band constantly recorded at Oxygen Studios in Manchester, the first new studio album in 30+ years ‘Kinshi’ was released on October 14th 2016. The 12 new songs were simply stunning and now in 2018, the band have been very busy with the album in getting label releases in Europe and in the USA. Plus now today (9th November 2018) eager fans have been served ‘Sensou’, which is the first of a planned three 10” vinyl releases from the band.
Tonight, the Patterns audience were treated to sixteen career spanning compositions that all simply flowed one into another. The beauty of this band is that their songs from 1980 still sound relevant today and have not dated and thus the new material coming through in the same mould, just sits perfectly in the set. It’s as though Kirk and pals have conjured up that timeless formula.
Having said that, I personally felt that this evening’s choice of material was of a higher calibre than that experienced just over a year ago. Tonight, the lads were well on form and as the crowd roared and cheered and so Kirk’s beaming smile got wider and wider.
I couldn’t honestly pick out a favourite tune from this awe inspiring performance as they all absolutely hit the mark! I hope that they reconvene back in the city in far less than the 13 months that we had to previously wait.
Tonight’s setlist reads: ‘Poppies’, ‘It’s My Own Invention’, ‘Black Irony’, ‘Rebel Without A Brain’, ‘The Swarm’, ‘Nero’, ‘The Wake’, ‘Facade’, ’Conquistador’, ‘Slave’, ‘The Klan’, ‘Incinerator’, ‘Original Sin’, ‘Do You Believe In The Westworld?’, (encore) ‘Legion’, ‘Propaganda’
For more Theatre Of Hate information, visit:
https://www.kirkbrandon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kirkbrandonofficial
