Stranglers

That the Stranglers were top-notch musicians was hardly something to discover on the occasion of their Milan show at Transilvania Live. The surprise, instead, is the desire to have fun, and to entertain, that these aging British lads still hold onto, in spite of the troubles that have beset them and, needless to say, of time's merciless passing. Fresh from the departure of frontman Paul Roberts, and temporarily without drummer Jet Black, who is stuck back home for health reasons, the two survivors of the original line-up, Dave Greenfield and Jean-Jacques Burnel, close ranks and confirm themselves as the true keepers of the men in black sound. Greenfield with his oxymoronic synth-keyboard virtuosity, Burnel with a bass prone to melodic filigree that nonetheless never abdicates its role as the rhythm section's guide.

Unique in their own way. Unique and infectious, judging by the ease with which twenty-three-year-old Ian Barnard clones old Jet on drums (though Burnel, during the interview, somehow lets us in on the mystery) and by the commendable tenacity with which guitarist Baz Warne shoulders not the relatively bearable burden of standing in for Paul Roberts, but the far tougher task of taking on the role of Hugh Cornwell, the singer who was the founding father of the Strangulers and who left the band in 1990. That's because the songbook tackled onstage belongs mostly to the happier days.

A tourbillon of glorious hits, only partly interspersed with forays into the current, more modest repertoire: from the irreverent "Peaches" to the Eighties pop schmaltz of "Always The Sun", from the pastel-colored baroque flourishes of "Golden Brown" to the romantic gallop of "Duchess". And between energetic tributes to Bacharach's "Walk On By" and to the Kinks's "All Day And All Of The Night", there's still the proto-reggae-punk of "Nice 'n' Sleazy", the mocking "Hanging Around", the belated heartache of "North Winds Blowing" and, of course, the closing anthem "No More Heroes". Flawless performances, all born of passion, as if to remind us that class often wears dark clothes. And tonight was no exception.

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