The Stranglers live in Glasgow: I saw a band that after 50 years are still exciting audiences

The Stranglers kicked-off their 50th anniversary tour of the UK and Ireland with a gig in Glasgow as the band showed that after five decades, they can still thrill an audience.

A terrific 28-song setlist was met warmly by the audience with the band dividing the tunes up into two sets which Jean-Jacques Burnel joked had been the first time the band had did this in 47 years.

From the off, you could see that they were really up for this gig as it was the first night of their 'Fifty Years In Black Anniversary Tour'. Baz Wayne revealed that he also got himself in the mood for the gig by watching a couple of episodes of Still Game the night before.

It was the bands first performance in the city in over two years, with them having a great connection to Glasgow as they played their first Glasgow gig away back in February 1977 at the Queen Margaret Union. A few months later in June 1977, the band returned to perform at Glasgow City Halls which is a concert that is infamously known as the gig that got punk 'banned' in Glasgow. Councillors had been unsure about the new music scene and decided to head along to the gig with there being a stage invasion that was enough for councillors to effectively 'ban' punk in Glasgow.

Although there was no stage invasion last night, they are still able to get fans on their feet. The spirit of The Stranglers is alive and well as fans rushed towards the front of the stage to dance when the band performed "Hanging Around" off their debut album.

Nobody was budging after that, as people continued to enjoy the varied setlist which of course included hits such as "Peaches", "Always The Sun" and "Golden Brown".

The band finished their set with "Something Better Change" before returning for the encore. JJ Burnel thanked the audience for their patience over the years as the band has continued to evolve with personnel and style. Tributes had been paid earlier on to Dave Greenfield and Jet Black who have both passed away in recent years.

It was then two final songs two complete the night with the set being rounded off by "Go Buddy Go" and "No More Heroes" as the band received a standing ovation from an audience who had been thoroughly entertained.

The Stranglers have been entertaining Glasgow audiences for decades with their gigs at the Glasgow Apollo through the late seventies and eighties being legendary. Hopefully, this isn't the last time that we see the band in the city.