Wire @ The Arches, 11 Sep

It's "Pink Flag!" over here and "Pink Flag!" over there—all through the night. Nostalgia is a delicate thing at a rock show. There’s a certain unspoken tension between an audience and a long-loved band still operating—strongly, I might add—after 30 years. So yes, as expected, it’s a push and pull tonight between the past and the present—we erupt into applause after every new Wire song not only because we enjoyed it but also because we might hear an old Wire song next. So it goes. But let’s be adults here: it’s not 1977 anymore, this isn’t a paltry reunion tour, Wire are a different band, and they’re soaring through their later material (still fantastic and absurd in its own right) with undeniable energy and precision. That said, honestly, something off of Pink Flag or 154 would really hit the spot. Please. And there it is: the band rips into the familiar bass-stomp and half-spoken bellows of Lowdown. Soon after, the spasmodic Two People in a Room and the eerie pop of The 15th put a reminiscent smile on everyone’s faces. Sorry Wire, we’re like children, I know, but it’s because we look up to you. [Jorge Marticorena]