If The Stranglers – formed in 1974 – are a punk band, their audience at Fringe by the Sea was, although appreciative, surprisingly staid.

Celebrating their 50th anniversary, the musicians dropped by North Berwick on Tuesday evening as part of their European ‘Fifty Years In Black Anniversary Tour’ – and were greeted with devotion by an admittedly older crowd.

With a 19-song set list that included the big hits and anthems Golden Brown, Peaches, Always The Sun, and Burt Bacharach cover Walk On By, it also included songs from more recent albums, including White Stallion and Relentless.The Stranglers at Fringe by the Sea (Image: Isla Aitken)

The singing and cheering were enthusiastic, if civilised – lead singer Baz Warne laughed off some cheeky banter from the crowd, and asked if North Berwick was a posh town, before launching into a Morningside accent.

Another demand by a heckler for some chat from the only original band member left in the line-up, Jean-Jacques ‘JJ’ Burnel, saw the bassist step to the microphone, pause, and then say: “Bonsoir. Je t’adore.”

Still on the road at the combined age of 227, The Stranglers provided an incredibly polished sound, Baz’s voice strong and smooth, JJ providing the instantly identifiable bass sound, and keyboardist Toby Hounsham, who replaced original keyboardist Dave Greenfield when the latter passed away in 2020, delivering Golden Brown’s beautifully rhythmic harpsichord riff on keyboard.

A verse mix-up in Peaches left the audience slightly confused and Baz smiling wryly in JJ’s direction but, as drummer Jim Macaulay told the Courier afterwards: “It's not always necessarily possible to concentrate for a full hour and a half, and normally you just hope that you make the mistake on the songs that no one's going to notice. But today, we did it on a hit. 

READ MORE: What's still to come at Fringe By the Sea 

“That's the beauty of being the drummer. No one cares if I make a mistake. No one knows except the odd nerd out there.”

Ending the set on No More Heroes – sung with gusto by both Baz and the crowd – the band left the stage with no fanfare and no encore, much to the disappointment of an adoring audience, who loitered for some minutes cheering and clapping and calling for more.

Jim Macaulay, who has played drums with the band for 13 years, said: “The catalogue of songs they've got and the fan base that they've got, it's amazing. 

“You know, every gig we do, we have 1,000s of people turn up just specifically to have a nice time with us. Definitely can't ask for more than that, can you?”

And what did the band think of the ‘posh’ North Berwick crowd?

Jim said: “We're on a little run of five or six [gigs] at the moment. 

“This is the middle of it, and they've all been brilliant. With each one that passes you think, ‘Well, it can't possibly be better than the one that we did last time.’

“And then we do that, and it's great. What a crowd, yeah ­– the atmosphere is good. It's fantastic.”