It’s a Saturday night in Edinburgh’s Cowgate and the streets are buzzing with revellers.
Jah Wobble walks on stage and gives a strongman pose while sporting a ‘Dub Specialist’ T-shirt. There will be no argument from the trade descriptions act there. For opening number Albatross the East-End Londoner plonks down in a seat with the Fender P like punk royalty. He was after all one of the originals and given his name by Sid Vicious because the late Sex Pistol couldn’t say John Wardle.
The set tonight is Metal Box in Dub which delves into Wobble’s time with John Lydon in Public Image Ltd. The material allows Martin Chung and former Siouxsie and the Banshees guitarist Jon Klein soon get to work on those choppy razor-like riffs. Watching them all lock into a groove is sublime.
Memories finds versatile and jazzy keyboardist George King delivering flourishes reminiscent of Ray Manzarek from The Doors. Klein delivers something much closer to the jagged spirit of the original and together both styles complement each other well. Two young couples down the front dance as if their lives depended on it while older fans at the back nod along in approval.
It’s an arresting moment when Wobble stands up to deliver the opening speech from William Shakespeare’s Richard III: “Now is the winter of our discontent” he bellows into the mike. You could hear a pin drop as he conveyed the short spoken word performance with aplomb while throwing a few laughs in before the opening bass rumble of Poptones. The affecting circular riff fills the entire space as people begin to move and sway again getting lost in the moment. We are taken back to the autumn of 1978 and treated to two versions of PiL’s first single Public Image.
Fan favourite Swan Lake gets a roar of approval, the infectious dub groove with Klein’s unorthodox style brings just the right amount of dissonance. An epic performance by a true punk original and genre-hopping pioneer. They don’t make geezers like this anymore.
Jah Wobble And The Invaders Of The Heart, at La Belle Angele
