Gang of Four

The Forum, Kentish Town, London - Tuesday 24 June 2025

I entered this one with a hint of trepidation. Here I was, coming to see a band I have been listening to for over thirty years, but have never seen live. Add to that several other factors; this is their final ever tour (and indeed tonight was the last show on home soil), it was a hot and humid night to be in an indoor venue, and there are only two original members left, so would I be getting the authentic feel?

That last bit is particularly tough.

How can you hope to replace the two missing people? Bassist Dave Allen died earlier this year (although he hadn't been involved with the most recent tours because of health) - but was responsible for laying down those thunderous funk-punk lines that almost single-handedly pushed bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana into being. Even the second 'original' bass player, Sara Lee (who played on albums three and four in the early 80's and had been on the previous tour to this) was not involved.

Then there is the issue of Andy Gill. He was without doubt one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation, and while there had been a falling out in 2011, his tragic death in the first waves of COVID robbed any opportunity we may have had of seeing him in this final set of shows.

So, with that in mind, how did the replacements and the band in general, fare?

Heartworms:

Well, if you are at all interested in the previous question, I will leave on a tenterhook or two, while we assess tonight's support.

Heartworms are built around the singer / songwriter / guitarist, Jojo Orme, and provide an interesting accompaniment to the main proceedings. The overall impression the three piece gave, as the heavy bass lines made the seats around us quiver, was of some dark, resonant goth-punk hybrid - something like Gary Numan meets Nine Inch Nails. Orme herself is an interesting proposition, moving around the stage throwing bizarre shapes, like some ethereal mash up of Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush.

The vocals are too far back in the mix to make much of them, but the music is good and deep and throbbing. My notes simply provide the following on their set. Second song - good use of theremin; third song, very Cure-like start, with a big build up; fifth song has a Portishead feel (never a bad thing); while I noted that the last sing had a strong vibe, with lots of good ebb and flow to it, almost like a heavy version of something from 1980's era Wire. I also noted that Orme's dancing only got weirder through the set!

Overall, not at all bad, and I will be checking some of her work out online, without the fuzzy curse that tends to befall support bands in the way they get mixed.

Gang of Four:

Set One

Well, what was it to be?

I'm not going to get to involved with describing each individual song - more the feel of the show. They split the show in two - a run through of their seminal 1979 debut Entertainment! (in correct running order), followed after the interval by a 'Best of the Rest' set.

What can I say? That first 45 minutes blew me away! Any fears I might have had were completely unfounded - in fact, here were a band that seemed to have one last thing to prove before they retired. Everything was left out on the stage, in what can only be described using words like 'blistering'. 'thunderous' and undoubtedly 'epic'.

Gail Greenwood (of Belly) more than did justice to those legendary bass lines, although I'm not sure if Dave Allen would have ever adopted her legs fully stretched rock pose. But Ted Leo (without his Pharmacists)... wow! While I understand that generally, when you replace someone in a band you want to add your own stamp to things - but on a final tour like this, what I wanted to see was Andy Gill guitar parts played in an Andy Gill style - and boy oh boy, did Leo deliver. It's like he studied him meticulously for the last few decades, perfecting that Wilko Johnson rip-off stutter walk, and the visceral assault on the guitar strings to get that angular, choppy rhythm that made Gill's name so great.

Natural's Not In It and Not Great Men were the perfect build up to Damaged Goods, that first single, which grabbed you by the throat and shook you to the core. That honestly might be the best individual live track I have ever seen. Barely able to breath, we race more songs totally on point, including my favourite track from the record, I Found That Essence Rare - building back to the crowd pleasing At Home He's A Tourist (their almost Top of the Pops song). An enthralling rendition of Anthrax brings set one to a close.

Set Two

I spent the ten minute interval musing on what I had just witnessed. I can honestly say, if they hadn't bothered to come back out for part two, I would still have more than got my money's worth. I guess that is what happens when you bring one of the best LP's of the whole post-punk era to such vivid life.

I'm sure everyone could argue about which songs they felt could have been included amongst 'the best of the rest' - maybe Cheeseburger or Call Me Up, for instance - but that would be nit-picking. Jon King returns to stage, beating a microwave oven with a baseball bat, whilst dancing, singing and trying to do it all whilst attempting to keep his beats in time with Burnham, as they power through He'd Send In The Army (Burnham starts messing with him towards the end).

We build back towards an epic (there's that word again) celebration of the almost poppy, We Live As We Dream, Alone - a driving, urgent, breathless funk masterpiece, with it's manic refrain and over 2,000 people singing along. James Smith of Yorkshire's Yard Act, add some squally guitar work to another perennial crowd favourite, What We All Want. Leo comes into his own again, reprising Gill's lead for the echoingly bleak Paralysed, totally nailing the disengaged tone of both guitar and vocals.

The backing singers for another crowd singalong, I Love A Man In A Uniform, included Rhoda Dakar (The Bodysnatchers) and Kathy Valentine (The Go-Go's) - and Valentine stepped forward, strapped on a guitar and joined for a rampant version of the one post-80's tune on show tonight, I Parade Myself (from 1997's Shrinkwrapped), with Jon King's erratic twerking-come-dad dancing getting ever more peculiar.

We cruise towards a triumphant end with To Hell With Poverty, a crescendo of funk and noise - "To hell with poverty, we'll get drunk on cheap wine!!"

They go off and are soon back on. We get some rarities - the Damaged Goods B-Side of Armalite Rifle, followed by the never released early tune, Elevator (which King basically admits was a poor imitation of Dr Feelgood), before they bring their three-man horn section back out for a reprise of Damaged Goods - what an apt way to end - "I'm kissing you goodbye."

I can wish that I was old enough to have seen the original four-piece live, but I was about eight when that finished, so that is unrealistic - although I am a little sad that I never saw the King - Gill line-ups of 20 years ago, but again that is now a futile dream.

How could it be, that four men who met in Leeds in 1976, could turn songs with heavy duty lyrics about fascism, consumer greed, the ills of capitalism and excessive militarism, into such funk-punk masterpieces? I'm not sure, but this gig will live long in the mind - heck, it may well be in the top four or five shows I have ever seen.

In the end, Greenwood and Leo provided excellent facsimiles for Allen and Gill (and took a respectful back seat at the end for Burnham and King to take the initial bow). Burnham's drumming was precise and monumental, even more incredible given that he broke his leg a month or two ago. King laid it all out there for this final telling, he could barely talk between songs, he was so out of breath from his efforts.

I would usually recommend you go and check them out, but unless you are in Europe and get to one of those last handful of gigs, your luck is out.

Gang of Four: Damaged Goods (A more than passable fan shot version of the last song)

Set One (Entertainment!):

Ether

Natural's Not In It

Not Great Men

Damaged Goods

Return The Gift

Guns Before Butter

I Found That Essence Rare

Glass

Contract

At Home He's A Tourist

5:45

Anthrax

Set Two (Best of the Rest):

He'd Send In The Army

Capital (It Fails Us Now)

Outside The Trains Don't Run On Time

We Live As We Dream, Alone

Paralysed

What We All Want

I Love A Man In Uniform

I Parade Myself

To Hell With Poverty

Encore:

Armalite Rifle

Elevator

Damaged Goods (with horns)