Buzzcocks: The Ottobar, Baltimore, MD 5/12/10


When Pete Shelley first walked out on stage, he looked a bit grandfatherly, somewhat portly and quite gray. Steve Diggle, on the other hand, looked a bit grizzled, but certainly younger than his years. As they opened the show with a brief intro from “Boredom,” it was quickly clear that the impression these two original members gave was accurate. Shelley, the band’s brain in a sense, it’s principle songwriter and author of a sound that mastered both melody and intensity in equal proportions, was rather stoical throughout. Diggle, who must be the band’s heart, played with abandon that eludes young, hungry performers half his age. He was, without exaggeration, all over the place, doing windmills, leaning into the crowd and tearing up the stage, literally. The interplay between Shelley and Diggle was really a perfect representation of what makes the Buzzcocks so great: their ability mix perfectly crafted pop hooks with punk rock passion and lyrical topics that ran off the beaten path of their day and to some extent still do. They are, at once, both settled and explosive.

What really made the show though was attitude. There they were, punk rock legends with nothing to prove, playing in a small Baltimore club, and they left everything on the stage. There was a joy in their performance and an appreciation for the opportunity to play. In fact, all band members spent time shaking hands with the crowd, not in some offhand way, but in genuine thanks to those who came out and loved this gig. Having worried, in the back of my mind, that nostalgia might be the order of the day, I found I was right…only this was more along the lines of what the Buzzcocks describe themselves as “nostalgia for an age yet to come.” Or, the next morning, at least nostalgia for last night’s great show!
Be sure to show up early for the opener. The Dollyrots mix punk swagger with catchy tunes and bassist/vocalist Kelly Ogden’s down-to-earth charm. They’re a band worth catching anyway, but as the icing on this Buzzcocks cake, they were a great way to warm up for the main event.

Be sure to show up early for the opener. The Dollyrots mix punk swagger with catchy tunes and bassist/vocalist Kelly Ogden’s down-to-earth charm. They’re a band worth catching anyway, but as the icing on this Buzzcocks cake, they were a great way to warm up for the main event.

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