Live Concert Photography: Wire at Baby’s All Right 9/30/17
Currently comprised of founding members Colin Newman (vocals), Graham Lewis (bass, vocals) and Robert Grey, a.k.a. Robert Gotobed (drums), along with Matthew Simms (guitar), the British post-punk/art punk quartet Wire initially formed in London in 1976 — and originally, the quartet, which featured its founding trio and Bruce Gilbert (guitar) was associated with London’s early punk scene, appearing on The Roxy London WC2 compilation, an album that’s largely considered one of the earliest documents of the punk scene. However, within a few short years, the band quickly became central to the development of post-punk while expanding the sonic and songwriting boundaries of rock and punk especially during the course of their first three critically applauded albums — 1977’s Pink Flag, 1978’s Chairs Missing and 1979’s 154.
Subsequent albums have further cemented the band’s reputation for experimenting with song arrangements, instrumentation and song structures, including an increasing emphasis on synthesizers. Interestingly enough, while only receiving comparatively modest sales throughout the peak of their popularity, the band’s influence has managed to be incredibly influential with many of the biggest bands of the 80s and 90s including The Urinals, Manic Street Preachers, Big Black, The Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Minor Threat, The Feelies, The Cure‘s Robert Smith, Guided by Voices’ Robert Pollard, My Bloody Valentine, The Smiths‘ Johnny Marr, Henry Rollins, and a lengthy list of others ether citing the band as an influence and/or they’ve covered Wire’s material on album or live. Additionally contemporary bands such as Fischerspooner, Elastica, Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Blacklist, Franz Ferdinand and Blur‘s Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon have all cited Wire as an influence on them and their work.
Over the years, Newman and Lewis have focused on a number of solo projects during the band’s hiatuses but since the early 00s, the band has been rather productive, releasing new material, as well re-mastered early material; in fact, the band had been touring across the States to support their most recent effort, Silver/Lead and the tour included a three night run at Baby’s All Right, an intimate setting to catch a legendary band. I caught the band during their last night at Baby’s; check out the photos, below.
For these photos and more, check out the Flickr set here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm3Jzgm9