Search - Wire :: Live at the Roxy-London

Punk Rock History Lesson

directions | Space Time Foam | 01/15/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Though much concert documentation has been made of early punk groups such as The Ramones or the Sex Pistols, lesser known groups have not had their live material unearthed in official form. Wire is one of the most important punk/post punk groups from the time but has been reticient to release live recordings until recently ("Wire on the Box:1979"). By 1979, Wire were clearly in the post punk camp. It is fascinating to hear them progress to this stage live. The first disc includes two full concerts from 1977 from the Roxy where Wire are clearly still in the traditional punk phase (including the unreleased Ramones take off "Mary is a D---") but with later traits to come (classic songs such as "Strange" come off well). The sound quality is reasonable for a recording of this nature. The 2nd disc (I had heard about the concert from a friend who was in the scene at the time, great to hear it live)is from CBGB's from 1978 and unfortunately, the sound recording takes a nose dive in quality, which is a shame because by this time Wire had fully evolved into the band it would become (highlights include "I am the Fly"). However, in releasing the full concerts, instead of the usual greatest hits live or tampering with the sound, Wire has done the listening public a favor. This is assuredly the way they sounded live but is furthest from nostalgia (Wire still record and perform) but rather a blueprint for future bands who decided to take their sound from the sonic minimalism of punk and into something more sophisticated and essential."