APB funk up Ironworks

VETERAN 80s Ellon band APB may have moved into the grey since the days when they toured America.

But they helped the years fall away for those in the crowd of a certain age with an energetic set at the Ironworks on Friday.

The punchy funk-cum-punk arced back to some of the hits – such as Rainy Day – which got national radio play thanks to the enthusiasm of Radio One’s late John Peel.

And frontman Iain Slater paid tribute to a female member of the crowd dedicating the track to her for helping get them "stardom" on influential 80s new music platform The Kid Jensen Show.

But it didn’t take long for the set to kick in with the rattling pace and surprisingly tender lyrics of future-vision A Palace Filled With Love.

Tracks from new album Jaguar – such as like Cradle To The Grave – proved that the core of Slater, guitarist Glenn Roberts and drummer George Cheyne is still a functioning creative force.

The twanging bassline of Danceability – not a million miles away from US TV’s Seinfeld theme – was just one example of Slater’s unique basswork. Dinosaur-heavy on Talk To Me, it was matched throughout the set with the signature stuttering guitar of Roberts, as on Shoot You Down.

The band always dared to be unshowy in their arrangements and more powerful because of it – as in the strength of the unison voices of Roberts and Slater on One Day.

And a rare performance of full-on punk stormer Chain Reaction before encore finisher Death Of Rock n Roll from the new album, was a reminder of how good it is to have APB back. MC