THE Stranglers made a welcome return to a packed City Hall, this was my 100th Stranglers gig.

This gig showcased their critically acclaimed Black and White Album from 1978, this album was a dramatic departure from their first two albums, a darker sound with off kilter time signatures.

On a cold Monday night in Salisbury, they totally nailed it.

They came on at 9pm and played a blistering version of the first track from the white side Tank then followed the rest of the album in chronological order, finishing off the Black and White set with Enough Time possibly the darkest Stranglers song ever, and one of the hardest to play, again with it’s off kilter timing especially with the drum pattern.

After the Black and White set the lights changed from white to coloured and we had a selection of singles and album track’s, mostly from the 1970’s period.

Even though Golden Brown wasn’t played we had gems like Five Minutes  and Something Better Change and also the crowd pleaser Always the Sun.

The whole band played fantastic, bassist JJ Burnel and Keyboard wizard Dave Greenfield along with Baz Warne lead singer and guitarist since 2006 and drummer Jim Macaulay who has replaced original Jet Black due to his health issues.

The band finished with a very energetic version of No More Heroes.

On this evidence the band will be around for a good few years yet.

Matthew Brignall