THE TIER GARDEN: The Canteen (Barrow-in-Furness): Sunday 27th December, 2009

The last time I saw the Tier Garden play live, I was 21 years old. The band had been through a number of different incarnations with the usual personnel changes along the way. Eventually, they folded and life rolled on.
There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then. This summer, they announced that they were reforming for a one-off gig. This news came out of nowhere, and was about as unexpected as can be.
On Sunday night, the Canteen was bristling with an air of expectation.

New local indie band Audio Conspiracy got things underway, with their mix of covers by the likes of Editors, Echo & the Bunnymen and Snow Patrol.
Norman Rodger, ex-of cult band TV21, (and Tier Garden producer) took to the stage next. His lush-sounding 12-string and soaring, folky vocals were flanked by another acoustic guitar and sensitive violin playing.

The Tier Garden roared into action with their first song, India. It was as if they had never been away. When they were an active unit in the 80’s, Britain was in the grip of a depression. Thatcherite policies were crushing the welfare state, the coal miners were on strike and the country had recently been to war with the Falklands.

As it was then, so it is now, and the refrain from ‘The Army Song’ (“The Army’s not the answer”) is still as valid today as it was then. ‘Julia Says’ and ‘Caravan’ were always live favourites, and they proved so again in this set. ‘Working’ always brings back the push-pull battle between employment in the shipyard or addressing the artistic side of life.

‘Passing Bells’ and ‘No Pasaran’ were later offerings from the band, with a more bouncy, textured delivery.
The closing song had to be ‘The Afrikaan’, the band’s first single. This may have been a re-union, but it seemed to be more of a re-affirmation that they actually had it right all those years ago.

Words: David Duffin. Pictures: Martin Millar.