Star rating: *****
It is debateable if there has ever been a band that divided opinion as much as the New York Dolls. What is now beyond discussion, however, is that their reunion continues to go from strength to strength, and this show presented debauched rock'n'roll at its finest.
The Garage's moderate size suited the performance perfectly, with the band sounding both loud and clear. It was sweltering too, rammed full of all sorts, from teenagers with their parents to older punks still sporting mohawks and ponytails that time forgot.
The years have taken their toll on David Johansen as well. The singer may have survived the band's past excesses, but he now rivals Mick Jagger in the weathered front man stakes.
Yet he's still capable of strutting and sneering with the best of them, and worked the crowd masterfully, even pulling off lines such as "this guitar part will blow you into the stratosphere" with aplomb.
Material from the two albums since their 2004 reformation was sufficiently sturdy to hang alongside the clutch of classics from their prime, with Gotta Get Away From Tommy a rollicking dose of rock'n'roll.
The older numbers, however, showed why so many acts touch upon the Dolls. There was a deliciously ragged Who Are The Mystery Girls, Stranded In The Jungle's theatrical boogie, and then a pulsating Jet Boy, complete with a diversion into Hey Bo Diddley.
Trash, however, carried the most weight. After its usual guttural opening, it phased into a dub reggae version, an idea lifted from their current record, before returning to its roots for the finale.
It could easily have been dreadful, yet instead triumphed, a status that applied to the whole evening.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article