Live Review: Wire @ Union Stage — 3/9/20

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Wire @ Union Stage, Washington DC, 03/09/2020
Colin Newman performs with Wire at Union Stage on March 9, 2020. (Photo by Paivi Salonen)

For over 40 years, Wire has been one of the most innovative bands to come out of the United Kingdom, if not the world. Since their 1977 debut, Pink Flag, they’ve shifted their musical style with almost every album. Beginning as a stripped-down, breakneck-paced punk affair, Wire has embraced new textures and sounds, including electronic music.

The band’s recent show at DC’s Union Stage began with a 45-minute DJ set of electronic music, with one notable composition that sounded like a fusion of Ennio Morricone and ambient electronics.

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Music Park: Wire @ Black Cat — 9/25/17

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Colin Newman (Wire)
Colin Newman performs with Wire at Les Guess Who Festival in Utrecht on Nov. 22, 2014. (Photo by Rene Passet)

Crisp waves of psychedelic guitar washed over the audience as Colin Newman, guitarist and vocalist for legendary English band Wire, peered out from under a ballcap. In his soothing accent, Colin sings the cryptic words of “Silver/Wire,” which could perhaps be about making choices for moving ahead (silver) or being weighted down by your past (lead) maybe.

Whichever interpretation, Wire is a band that certainly continues to move ahead *while also* embracing its significant past. And the small but intensely loyal crowd at Black Cat on Monday night wanted it all — silver and lead.

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