Goldblade pulled out the stops for a fantastic set, lots of OTT tongue in cheek punk rock posturing - 'Do you believe in the power of rock and roll?'
Then, following a short Don Letts DJ set, the lights went down and ... confusion! Technical problems (hmm, when did that last happen at the Roundhouse - let me see...) meant that the intro to 'Oh Bondage' was lost, it didn't kick in (lights and sound) until halfway through the first verse! Still, X-ray Spex were playing live for the first time in however long and it was great to see them again and to have your ears pulverised by Poly's high pitched squealing! I thought age might have mellowed it, but gladly not! She had a permanent grin on her face all night, constantly waving to the crowd and thanking us.
The songs came thick'n'fast, most greeted with with a roar of approval, except a few of the non-album unfamiliar ones, but they still went down well. The band were a bit nervous and occasionally out of time, but that just added to the fun. All the old faves were played (not a huge back catalogue of course!) and the moshpit bounced along throughout. My faves? Art-I-Ficial, a storming Identity, I Am A Poseur, I Can't Do Anything and of course Dayglo to finish.
The encore? Another rendition of 'Oh Bondage', good to hear all of it this time, with Poly sharing shreiked chorus vocals with her daughter and some Dayglo-costumed middle-aged woman whose name I missed. Great shout-along stuff! Lights on, people streaming out - but they came back for more and finished with another rousing 'Dayglo'.
They had clearly enjoyed themselves, as did we in the crowd. Great time & glad to have got the chance to see the band as I'd missed them first time round. 9/10
