The Buzzcocks at the Lemon Grove, Exeter University

The Buzzcocks began their latest Another Bites tour on the 13th January 2009. The idea is very simple - they play their first two albums - Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites - in their entirety plus some of their other hits. They even do the intro and outro using bits of Boredom. This is the music that established their reputation and introduced a load of people to the more cerebral side of the punk rock revolution. These are thoughtful songs that pull you up short and it's very difficult not to move about to them.

And the crowd on their first date at the Lemon Grove, Exeter University were highly appreciative and really had a good time.

I was there with the usual reprobates - Gary, Rich and Nick. Actually, that's not a bad name for a band.

Support was by The Lurkers, a band who I'd somehow contrived not to notice over all this time. I suppose that's what lurking is all about.

I don't (whisper it) like every song by The Buzzcocks. Their opening number is called "I hate fast cars" when obviously I absolute llllooooovvve fast cars. I can't sing along to a sentiment like that but I suppose it represents a kind of song writing achievement - fast cars are part of the rock'n'roll scene and here Pete Shelley's singing about how much he doesn't like them. I bet he does really, though. Maybe The Buzzcocks are just playing "Opposites" when they play this.

But the songs I like I really like . I mean I really, really like them. And that - I would suggest - is the way it should be. There's no mediocrity with this band and obviously if I thought they produced rubbish I wouldn't have seen them four times since the year 2000.

My absolute faves are Harmony in my head and Autonomy. Autonomy had haunted me for years. When I was a student at Coventry Poly, we used to go to the Dog and Trumpet, which was in a cellar in the city centre, under the HMV shop (hence the name). Friday night was punk night and they played Autonomy there a lot. Although I'd heard loads of Buzzcocks albums by then, I never made the connection and often wondered who played this song and what it was called. I spent most of my time on the dance floor on those nights and never seemed to have the time to ask the DJ what it was.

I was travelling up to Bristol with The Usual Reprobates (see above) to see The Buzzcocks for the very first time, when I asked these punk quiz pro-celebrity grand masters if they recognised this song and I hummed it to them. Autonomy had passed the Old Grey Whistle test years before and I'd been carrying it around for all those intervening years so I made a reasonable fist of the tune. I thought it was called I want you.

"That's Autonomy!" cried Gary and he punched some keys on the CD player and there it was, my long lost song with that haunting ending that doesn't fade. Somehow The Buzzcocks make it slow to a crescendo. I don't know how else to describe it but it demonstrates how these guys just know how to write songs.

The Buzzcocks even agreed to share a riff with founder member Howard Devoto who used it for Magazine's seminal Shot from both sides hit. That's a one of my all time favourites, too. I can't imagine that sort of thing happening in the "every things a threat" 21st century.

Bring back Captain Scarlet.

As a live act The Buzzcocks imbue a great deal of energy into their audience. The sound quality was good. The Usual Reprobates saw them at The Phoenix Arts Centre a few years ago, also in Exeter, and were deafened for days afterwards. No probs this time, though. If anything their performance on this first night of their tour was more energetic than before.

It occurs to me that Steve Diggle could be the punk rock equivalent of Cliff Richard. He never seems to change.

But for the complete nostalgia kick, I suppose Pete Shelley ought really to be playing a replica Starway guitar. His first guitar was a bargain basement from Woolworths that broke along the grain at the top when it got thrown across the rehearsal studio. He carried on playing it at live venues and it became an early part of The Buzzcocks myth.

Eastwood Guitars are now offering Pete Shelley endorsed replicas. These are of a much higher quality than the original - which could hardly be any lower - and come in an especially small guitar case that wouldn't take a proper, unbroken guitar.

This little legend constantly inspires me to get the best sound from my cheapo eBay special. I would never have thought of going to Woolworths to buy one and now they are no more. This makes you realise what an achievement it is for The Buzzcocks to keep going for 30 years. And how good they are what they do. It's not easy to play well with rubbish, ether, as my guitar teacher constantly points out. He hates my made in China Medusa but I reckon that if I can play that well I'll be able to play anything. (Ellis, bless him, reckons I'm wasting my time even if I am saving my money.)

The only disappointment for me was that they didn't play Everybody's happy nowadays. We need affirmative messages like that even more, during these gloomy times.

"Life's an illusion, love is a dream,
Life's an illusion, love is the dream."

Go and see The Buzzcocks and find out about the quality of their performance for yourself. And remember that these are the guys that started the self-promotion indie record label revolution that gave punk its chance and to all manner of creative types - myself included - ever since.

The Buzzcocks at the Lemon Grove, Exeter University

The Buzzcocks began their latest Another Bites tour on the 13th January 2009. The idea is very simple - they play their first two albums - Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites - in their entirety plus some of their other hits. They even do the intro and outro using bits of Boredom. This is the music that established their reputation and introduced a load of people to the more cerebral side of the punk rock revolution. These are thoughtful songs that pull you up short and it's very difficult not to move about to them.

And the crowd on their first date at the Lemon Grove, Exeter University were highly appreciative and really had a good time.

I was there with the usual reprobates - Gary, Rich and Nick. Actually, that's not a bad name for a band.

Support was by The Lurkers, a band who I'd somehow contrived not to notice over all this time. I suppose that's what lurking is all about.

I don't (whisper it) like every song by The Buzzcocks. Their opening number is called "I hate fast cars" when obviously I absolute llllooooovvve fast cars. I can't sing along to a sentiment like that but I suppose it represents a kind of song writing achievement - fast cars are part of the rock'n'roll scene and here Pete Shelley's singing about how much he doesn't like them. I bet he does really, though. Maybe The Buzzcocks are just playing "Opposites" when they play this.

But the songs I like I really like . I mean I really, really like them. And that - I would suggest - is the way it should be. There's no mediocrity with this band and obviously if I thought they produced rubbish I wouldn't have seen them four times since the year 2000.

My absolute faves are Harmony in my head and Autonomy. Autonomy had haunted me for years. When I was a student at Coventry Poly, we used to go to the Dog and Trumpet, which was in a cellar in the city centre, under the HMV shop (hence the name). Friday night was punk night and they played Autonomy there a lot. Although I'd heard loads of Buzzcocks albums by then, I never made the connection and often wondered who played this song and what it was called. I spent most of my time on the dance floor on those nights and never seemed to have the time to ask the DJ what it was.

I was travelling up to Bristol with The Usual Reprobates (see above) to see The Buzzcocks for the very first time, when I asked these punk quiz pro-celebrity grand masters if they recognised this song and I hummed it to them. Autonomy had passed the Old Grey Whistle test years before and I'd been carrying it around for all those intervening years so I made a reasonable fist of the tune. I thought it was called I want you.

"That's Autonomy!" cried Gary and he punched some keys on the CD player and there it was, my long lost song with that haunting ending that doesn't fade. Somehow The Buzzcocks make it slow to a crescendo. I don't know how else to describe it but it demonstrates how these guys just know how to write songs.

The Buzzcocks even agreed to share a riff with founder member Howard Devoto who used it for Magazine's seminal Shot from both sides hit. That's a one of my all time favourites, too. I can't imagine that sort of thing happening in the "every things a threat" 21st century.

Bring back Captain Scarlet.

As a live act The Buzzcocks imbue a great deal of energy into their audience. The sound quality was good. The Usual Reprobates saw them at The Phoenix Arts Centre a few years ago, also in Exeter, and were deafened for days afterwards. No probs this time, though. If anything their performance on this first night of their tour was more energetic than before.

It occurs to me that Steve Diggle could be the punk rock equivalent of Cliff Richard. He never seems to change.

But for the complete nostalgia kick, I suppose Pete Shelley ought really to be playing a replica Starway guitar. His first guitar was a bargain basement from Woolworths that broke along the grain at the top when it got thrown across the rehearsal studio. He carried on playing it at live venues and it became an early part of The Buzzcocks myth.

Eastwood Guitars are now offering Pete Shelley endorsed replicas. These are of a much higher quality than the original - which could hardly be any lower - and come in an especially small guitar case that wouldn't take a proper, unbroken guitar.

This little legend constantly inspires me to get the best sound from my cheapo eBay special. I would never have thought of going to Woolworths to buy one and now they are no more. This makes you realise what an achievement it is for The Buzzcocks to keep going for 30 years. And how good they are what they do. It's not easy to play well with rubbish, ether, as my guitar teacher constantly points out. He hates my made in China Medusa but I reckon that if I can play that well I'll be able to play anything. (Ellis, bless him, reckons I'm wasting my time even if I am saving my money.)

The only disappointment for me was that they didn't play Everybody's happy nowadays. We need affirmative messages like that even more, during these gloomy times.

"Life's an illusion, love is a dream,
Life's an illusion, love is the dream."

Go and see The Buzzcocks and find out about the quality of their performance for yourself. And remember that these are the guys that started the self-promotion indie record label revolution that gave punk its chance and to all manner of creative types - myself included - ever since.