The clocks went back an hour last weekend and now the nights are drawing in, winter is about to take hold, so what best to do on these cold dark nights, go see a band with Reggae, Fusion Punk and World Music influences, a bit like Jah Wobble And The Invaders Of The Heart is what I thought would act as a pick me up, and boy did it do that and some. Jah has been one of the vanguards of Bass playing in this country and abroad ever since his baptism of fire playing for the out there Public Image Ltd, but since parting ways with them back in the early 80’s he has forged his own path, but definitely with the ethos that fired Public Image Ltd into the world, a need to stretch boundaries and take on the established way of playing to the masses, as in don’t, play the music that moves you and feels right, and the rest will follow.

To arrive at The Cluny on a getting cold Wednesday night in Newcastle is something I’ve done many times, but tonight felt different, this was to see someone I’ve never seen play live since about 1980 in Newcastle with Public Image Ltd, so walking in grabbing a pint with my companion for the night Steve and then sitting down next to Mr Wobble himself for a short chat before he had to run off and get ready for the gig was great.

This was another slight oddity of a gig too, as there was no support band, just Jah Wobble And the Invaders Of The Heart, but as the man himself said “we play a very long and wonderful set, so don’t need support”. What followed was a set filled with Funk, Jazz, Dub, Punk, Reggae and World Music that included a dub version of ‘Public Image Limited’, ‘Visions’ and ‘Poptones’ interspersed with songs that span a musical life that could not actually be described in words other than dance dance dance!

This was a band on fire musically, Martin Chung on guitar was quietly getting on with dropping everything and anything he wanted with ease, a player of little exuberance but mountains of talent, Marc Leyton Bennet on drum had the whole thing glued together with testing tempos and beats that had to be so precise as to please Mr Wobble, which he did with ease, then George King on keyboards added the lasting depth and texture to the songs. If there was one thing about going to a live set of Jah Wobble’s, its the your not ever going away feeling cheated or unhappy with what he’s gives to your heart and calling him a maestro or national legend is not without merit, the angst still exists, as all the shouts of “bollocks” in-between songs and the need to count in with gusto gave a sense of purpose to everything, this in turn fired up the crowd (a really good crowd for a Wednesday night in October too), nobody was leaving this gig and not wanting to do it all again sometime.

You can find Jah Wobble on Facebook and his website is here

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