{"id":82236,"date":"2023-06-29T11:12:09","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T09:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=82236"},"modified":"2023-06-29T11:12:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T09:12:11","slug":"review-of-the-beat-and-bow-wow-wow-at-camden-roundhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2023\/06\/review-of-the-beat-and-bow-wow-wow-at-camden-roundhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVING IN THE ’80s: The Beat And Bow Wow Wow Party Like It’s 1982 At The Roundhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PICTURES: Sam Wells, WORDS: Matt Catchpole<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It’s a scorching Camden summer’s evening and we’re here to witness the return of the leaders of two bands whose moment in the sun stretches back more than 40 years.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes it was 1982 when Dave Wakeling<\/strong>‘s band The Beat<\/strong> and Bow Wow Wow,<\/strong> fronted by precocious Burma-born teen Annabella Lwin<\/strong>, were at the peak of their powers.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A time when rocketing inflation was causing a cost of living crisis and a right-wing Tory government was at war with the unions. Sound familiar?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

But as fellow ’80s survivors ABC<\/strong> once said: “That was then and this is now”. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Could these icons of ska and tribal post-punk still be relevant all these years on?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Read on to find out:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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WILD AT HEART – Annabella Lwin in full flow. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After an energetic opening blast from Clash <\/strong>covers outfit London Calling<\/a> <\/strong>– it was time for a stripped down Bow Wow Wow to strut their stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backed by impressively mutton-chopped guitarist Wild Bill ‘Lightnin” Woodcock<\/strong> and sensational drummer John Montgomery<\/strong>, <\/strong>Lwin is a force of nature as she bounces onto the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just 14 when the band broke through, she’s clearly delighted to be back in the city where she was first discovered singing along to a radio in a West Hampstead dry cleaners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Burundi beats made famous by original drummer Dave Barbarossa <\/strong>are keenly in evidence as the band launch into c30 c60 c90 Go! <\/em><\/strong>– the world’s first cassette single.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitted out in a striped dress in Jamaican colours, her hero Bob Marley <\/strong>emblazoned on the front, Lwin treats us to a breathless run through her repertoire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She reminds us her song Aphrodisiac<\/strong><\/em> was used on the soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola<\/strong>-directed 2006 film Marie Antionette<\/strong> and also pays tribute to original guitarist-songwriter Matthew Ashman<\/strong> who died aged just 35 in 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a nod to the headliners she performs a ska-ified cover of Marley’s Cheer Up <\/em><\/strong>and Bow Wow Wow’s hit cover of The<\/strong> Strangeloves<\/strong>‘ I Want Candy <\/em><\/strong>gets a well received airing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smiling and shimmying back and forth, Annabella cuts a very different figure to the moody, sensual figure of her youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her excellent band give a new freshness and vitality to the songs and though based in the US, she clearly retains a fondness for the capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You can take the girl out of London, but not the London out of the girl!”, she declares on her first London show for seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set closer, Go Wild In The <\/em><\/strong>Countr<\/i><\/b>y <\/em><\/strong>– a top 10 hit in 1982 – is a fittingly vibrant end to a bright and breezy set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n