Glen Matlock
24th November 2017
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand
Review by Sarah Kidd, Photography by Mark Derricutt.
It’s a Friday evening in the city of sails and it appears that summer may finally be here as fans who have arrived early take the chance to linger outdoors soaking up the early evening rays. However once the doors are flung open people quickly start to file in, eager to grab the best spot they can for the one and only Glen Matlock who is appearing in both Auckland and Wellington as part of his NZ Acoustic Tour. With its claret red velvet drapes and lush board above the bar sporting Matlocks name in lights, The Tuning Fork is the ideal venue to host this giant of the music world in a ‘up close and personal’ stripped back format.
But like all good evenings of music, a support act is always required to warm up the crowd. However in tonight’s case, the support act didn’t warm up the crowd at all, he set them on fire. Will Saunders stood alone on stage with nothing more than an acoustic guitar in his hands and an intense look on his face; but as he began to play it was with such ardent ferocity that within seconds he had commanded the attention of all who were standing before him. With two solo albums – his latest entitled Hopeful Objects released in June of this year – and six EP’s under his belt Saunders certainly has no shortage of material from which to choose from. Although he also cleverly intermixes his own pieces with some wonderfully inspired cover choices.
As lead singer and guitarist for The Quick and the Dead and his latest three piece The Lowest Fidelity; Saunders has more than a few years of musical whimsy locked away inside his head bursting to get out. Stomping about the stage in a small half circle his long legs semaphoring patterns on the wooden boards it was if the music had fully taken over his entire being, and it was a sight to behold indeed. From the tongue in cheek ‘SPD Blues’ through to the poignant ‘Heavy Little Love’, Saunders was collating new fans by the minute with his wonderfully quirky on stage persona and witty banter in between songs which covered everything from scaring off the good weather to whether or not these songs were barely even songs.
‘Matilda Mother’ by Pink Floyd was delivered beautifully while ‘Bloody Hammer’ by Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators was an unexpected but very much appreciated cover. But it was with Saunders own piece entitled ‘Worried Mind’ that he took his set to a whole new level of frenetic performance; wide eyed and voice cracking in just the right way it was track that would have stayed with many in attendance tonight long after Saunders had left the stage. In fact, Saunders could have finished his set with that and left punters with mouths agape at the whirlwind of musical prowess they had just beheld, but instead he ended with a brilliant rendition of The Undertones (who were just recently here themselves) ‘Teenage Kicks’ inciting a huge sing-a-long and leaving the audience well primed for the arrival of the main act.
Anyone who claims to be a fan of English punk music knows the name Glen Matlock; original bassist for the Sex Pistols – yes that’s right, he was there first, well before that other lad known as Sid Vicious – and credited with co-writing at least ten out of the twelve tracks on that infamous album known as Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols. However while Matlock may have been part of one of the most famous bands in English history; and to be fair many of the people in attendance tonight are here for that very reason – he is also an extremely accomplished musician who has played with some of the best in the world including Iggy Pop and of course Small Faces. Throw in the fact that he also created The Rich Kids (featuring Midge Ure of Ultravox fame) as well as Glen Matlock and The Philistines and all of a sudden you have a smorgasbord of musical wonderment. You could therefore taste the anticipation and longing in the air as each and every audience member secretly willed their particular favourite track to be played.
After being graciously introduced to the stage, Matlock appeared looking every inch the dapper London gentleman in a Versace gold dust jacket over a black button up shirt. After the cheering died down he began to fiddle with his acoustic guitar making a joke about getting the Feng Shui right before he properly addressed the audience; “How you doin’, alright? Right, now what I’m going to do tonight is a little bit of this, a little bit of that from the album; something old, something new, something borrowed, something … a little but bluesy – are you ready?” Matlock hadn’t even played a note yet and he already had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.
As his fans pressed in closer Matlock began to play, his fingers deftly working the neck of his guitar which featured a pick guard emblazoned with hummingbirds. His voice rich and robust reached out to the very back of the room; while his foot never stopped keeping time. ‘Somewhere, Somehow’ and ‘A Different World’ had the crowd focused in on this powerhouse before them, the focus shifting to jubilation as Matlock dropped The Rich Kids track ‘Burning Sounds’. “See what I did there at the end? Matlock asked the audience with a sideways grin “I put the end of ‘Twist & Shout’ in there” a possible dig at Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren who told news outlets back in 1977 that Matlock was “thrown out” for liking The Beatles. Unsurprisingly the first Sex Pistols track of the night ‘God Save The Queen’ was met with raucous howls of approval and en masse singing at the tops of lungs, Matlock encouraging the audience to clap and demanding them to say “Yes Glen” in acknowledgment that they had the rhythm down.
The ultimate raconteur Matlock worked the predominantly male crowd with the greatest of ease, regaling them with tracks such as ‘Sexy Beast’ off his latest EP of the same name and covers of everyone from David Bowie through to Bruce Springsteen, each one lovingly delivered with respect and integrity and just a twist of the Matlock charm. Splashed periodically in between sets of songs were delectable anecdotes featuring famous characters ranging from Iggy Pop through to Cher and her denial of gaining entry to a famous pub.
Musically one of the highlights of the night was undoubtedly Matlocks cover of ‘Ambition’ from Iggy Pops 1980 album Soldier. Sung with conviction, the audience stood in silent reverence as they let his words wash over them. ‘Montague Terrace (In Blue)’ was another beautifully delivered track, Matlock showcasing his obvious skills in the vocal department and proving that not only could he rock out with the best of them but that he could also lend the lightest of touches to a song.
After thanking well-known local promoter Tim Edwards for bringing him down to New Zealand Matlock moved the last quarter of his set delivering some absolute classics such as ‘Blank Generation’ by Richard Hell & The Voidoids and ‘(I’m not your) Steppin’ Stone’ by Paul Revere & The Raiders. Finishing on a rousing version of ‘Pretty Vacant’ everyone present played the encore game before Matlock once again returned to stage; this time with company as he invited his guitarist from the 90’s – Paul O’Brien – who now resides here, to join him on stage for ‘Debris’ by Faces and ‘All or Nothing’ by Small Faces which had the audience singing the chorus at the tops of their lungs. With a tip of the head and a “God Bless and Goodnight” the legend left the stage to waves of applause, only to reappear back at the merch desk where he took the time to meet and greet each and every fan who stayed behind.
The epitome of a true English gentleman.
Glen Matlock:
Will Saunders:
Were you there at The Tuning Fork to witness this acoustic punk gig? Or have you seen Glen Matlock perform somewhere else before? Tell me about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Don’t Put The Brakes On Tonight
- Somewhere, Somehow
- A Different World
- Burning Sounds [The Rich Kids]
- God Save The Queen [The Sex Pistols]
- Sexy Beast
- Ambition [Iggy Pop]
- Ghosts Of Princes in Towers [The Rich Kids]
- Montague Terrace (In Blue) [Scott Walker]
- John, I’m Only Dancing [David Bowie]
- Hungry Heart [Bruce Springsteen]
- On Something
- Hook In You
- Blank Generation [Richard Hell & The Voidoids]
- (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone [Paul Revere & The Raiders]
- Born Running
- Pretty Vacant [The Sex Pistols]
- I Love To Boogie [Marc Bolan]
- Debris [Faces] [encore]
- All Or Nothing [Small Faces] [encore]
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