By Vlad T, Rock At Night Detroit

Live Review: Buzzcocks with Lovecrimes – The Magic Bag, Ferndale, MI – September 17, 2024

Steve Diggle. Buzzcocks. Cell phone photo -Vlad T

For the third time in recent weeks, Detroit hosted an influential, and probably seminal, figure from the late 70s and early 80s UK punk and post-punk scene. That all three artists actually originate from that scene’s motherlode in Northwest England makes this even more remarkable for fans of that era of music.

Fresh on the heels of visits by Peter Hook and the Light and the Sisters of Mercy, Buzzcocks, now fronted by the sole surviving member of the Mancunian group, Steve Diggle, paid a visit Tuesday to the Magic Bag theater on Woodward Avenue’s unparalleled corridor of live venues.

Playing to a packed house of both longtime and new admirers of the group, Diggle and his ace supporting band roared through a set spanning both angsty punk canons like “Orgasm Addict” and “What Do I Get?” and ambitious recent material such as “Bad Dreams” and “Manchester Rain.”

As a fellow member of the blank generation, this reviewer could only be astonished and heartened by the ferocity and joy Diggle displayed on stage. In true punk form, Diggle could be seen spitting to relieve the foam emanating from his wired-up delivery. He honors and stays true to the energetic legacy of gen-zero punk of which his band was a true pioneer.

It was only relatively recently that Diggle assumed vocalist and frontman duties for the band in the aftermath of cofounder Pete Shelley’s demise in 2018. Both the vocal zest and exuberance he displays, not to mention impressive on-stage acrobatics, draws strong parallels to Pete Townshend in early 70s Who mode and Paul Weller in his Jam days. In a time where some artists from his generation are prone to live ‘enhancement’ of one form or another, Diggle and his players’ ability to deliver organically makes the music real and visceral. Ever the fashion plate among his punk–era contemporaries, Diggle donned Tuesday a series of colorful Mod-pattern sweaters, which only added to the youthful aura and vitality that charged the evening.

Indeed, the feedback between performer and audience was especially strong this evening and made for sublime moments. Diggle was clearly touched by the rousing reaction and appreciation displayed by the punters in attendance. Time and time again, the frontman earnestly declared his fondness for Detroit audiences. Whereas some performers indulge the audience with one or two songs in the encore, Buzzcocks lavished the Magic Bag faithful with four, all delivered with gusto.

And we cannot overlook the tuneful and highly energetic opening set from up-and-coming SoCal punksters Lovecrimes. This tight, fresh-faced quartet, fronted by vocalist and guitarist Julian Ness (son of Social Distortion honcho Mike), is in the process of recording their first album, and, if the set this evening is any indication, they and pop punk audiences everywhere are in for a treat.