Dead Men Walking
The Marr's Bar
MUSICIANS who play unplugged gigs tend to walk a fine line between acclaim and ridicule. Kurt Cobain and Eric Clapton both prompted the former for their famous acoustic sets, but lesser artists could so easily generate the latter.
So the crowd who turned up to see four sardonically named Dead Men Walking Mike Peters from The Alarm, Spear of Destiny's Kirk Brandon, Pete Wylie of The Mighty Wah! and Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols must have wondered if these ageing heroes could cut the acoustic mustard.
The collective's grim name turned out to be a misnomer because every member showed plenty of life as they played one of the best live performances I've seen.
All the classics were there: Wylie gave us hits like The Story Of The Blues, Peters went for Alarm hits like 68 Guns and The Stand, Matlock for Pistols numbers like Pretty Vacant and Brandon for classics like Never Take Me Alive.
It was both a polished performance and like watching four mates whiling away an evening jamming together harmonising for each other and joining in spontaneously.
Matlock even threw in one or two Small Faces numbers in tribute to one of the Sex Pistols' formative influences.
The former Pistols bass player hinted before this tour that Dead Men Walking might consider future outings together. On the strength of this performance, someone should spare them from the gallows.
John MacBrayne
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