Review - Wire - Fleece & Firkin

I first saw Wire in January 1978 when they were supporting XTC at the Lyceum. The Lyceum is now where The Lion King is playing; Wire are now a three-piece (albeit augmented by a guitarist) and have recently released a new album Red Barked Trees, which is both a far cry from debut Pink Flag and also not a far cry. They failed to play "12XU", "I Am the Fly" or "Outdoor Miner", but attacked with a buzzsaw set of loud and shouty songs, some of which were from the new album. Between song banter and announcements were completely absent, so a setlist can't be given here. But not to worry as they did something that sounded like "Oh Spence" and blew the fuses in the second encore. This pleased the assembled crowd, which, like me, seemed also to have seen Wire back in 1978 and were intimately acquainted with The old Marquee Club. A fun blast from the past - 3/5