Kicking Down The Khazi

On Saturday night, Mike and I saw Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart performing Metal Box: Rebuilt In Dub at the Thekla in Bristol.

This time last week, another legendary venue, Moles in Bath, closed it's doors. I had a ticket to see Andy Bell/GLOK there on 24th October and regrettably couldn't make it. In the same week, we lost the poet Benjamin Zephaniah. In respect of both artist and venue, I was determined not to miss this opportunity to see Jah Wobble at the Thekla, a venue that meant so much to me and was a frequent haunt in my formative gig- and club-going years, living in the city centre.

My retrospective attempt at pulling together a log of gigs I've been to is highly unreliable and full of gaps due to lost tickets and memories but it's likely to have been a quarter of a century since I last saw a gig at the Thekla. The fact that it's still there at all is a minor miracle. A former cargo shop permanently moored at the Mud Dock in Bristol's sprawling harbourside region, it's days looked numbered back when I was a regular punter.

Somehow, it's survived and thrived and, having parked in nearby Queen Square and approached the venue, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia and wellbeing. I'm not sure how old this stock photo is but it looks pretty much the same as it did on Saturday night and in the late 80s and 90s. It's had a lick of paint and a fancy neon sign since those days but there's nothing like the feeling that you're about to experience a gig or a club night in the bowels of a ship.

The inside had also had a makeover without changing things too much. Again, this is a stock photo, but it gives a sense of the size and the scale of the interior. On boarding the Thekla, you head down some stairs into the main bar and stage area. Another set of stairs takes you to an upper floor and a 'balcony view' of the main stage. There's decent lighting (and security mesh) that I don't recall from the 'good old days' and the days of sticky floors, sweat dripping down the walls and lungs clogged with smoke machines were long gone by all accounts. But it was still a real buzz to be there again after all these years.

The Thekla's capacity is 400. There was less than that on Saturday night and, from what I could see, all of a similar age, yet a real energy, initially anticipation followed by genuine excitement as Jah took to the stage with the Invaders Of The Heart: Martin Chung (guitar and FX), George King (keyboards), Marc Layton-Bennett (drums) and local lad Jon Klein (guitar and vocals).

With no messing about, the band launched straight into Albatross and for the next 100-odd minutes, the audience were taken on a dub, post-punk, jagged jazz odyssey. Jah was like a conductor, orchestrating the band, the sound (praising and directing Nathaniel at the desk) and the audience, his comments and observations random and frequently side-splittingly funny. I was feeling choked up at various points in the gig but help was on hand. I'm not sure if this is a recognised medical technique but Jah's bass performed a sonic Heimlich Manoeuvre on me. Yep, that deep.

I can't recall the setlist in full and no-one else has posted it online yet but Bristol seems to have followed the same pattern as other nights on the tour, in that Metal Box: Rebuilt In Dub was played in full just, as Eric Morecambe would have put it, "not necessarily in the right order". 

This wasn't just a straight recreation of the album versions, either. Jah recited the lyrics to Poptones, elevating the poetic impact of John Lydon's writing, before the band then launched into the song proper, ending with a tsunami of synth strings courtesy of George King (due to our position in the crowd, sadly obscured by a speaker in our light of sight).

Public Image was astonishing: a three-part, near 12-minute suite featuring the 'Rebuilt In Dub' version, a more faithful Public Image Limited rendition and then another, even more out-there dub version. What might sound like repetition was completely enthralling on stage, not least due to the inclusion of a priceless Wobble anecdote, which also - kind of - inspired today's title.

Don't take my word for it: Jane B filmed it from the balcony and posted it on You Tube.

 

It was all brilliant, to be honest, and a special nod to the additional setlist versions of Death Disco B-side No Birds Do Sing plus a cover of John Barry's theme from Midnight Cowboy. 

 

It was all over too soon: wrapped up by 9.50pm to allow for some signing duties on the merch stall before the Thekla was turned over to Saturday club night; a queue of people were shuffling in as Mike and I left and made our way back to the car.

What a night. I've been a huge fan of Jah Wobble for nearly four decades and seeing him perform live for the first time, with this Invaders Of The Heart line-up, performing Metal Box in an intimate venue that has meant so much to me, is a memory that I will treasure for the rest of my days.

If you get the chance to see Jah Wobble live - and he's got a ton of 2024 live dates lined up, including a return to Bristol - then don't even think twice, do it.

A special nod to Mike, who supplied the cover photo, which I’ve mangled and manipulated using the LunaPic app. Nice one, Mike, looking forward to more gigs in 2024!

As a bonus, here is Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart performing 4 songs for KEXP in 2016, including Public Image and a superb version of Liquidator, with commentary/music lesson from the main man.

In Wob we trust. 'Nuff said.