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At about midway through the North American leg of their Another…Bites tour the Buzzcocks played at the Fine Line in Minneapolis. Nearly ever other tour I’ve seen them on they played the much larger First Avenue, but I appreciated the intimacy of Fine Line for this show. Although the stage is much lower and narrower, leaving guitarist Steve Diggle significantly less space to play in, it didn’t appear to dampen his enthusiasm.
I’ve always enjoyed the dichotomy of the super-manic, Townshend-esque Diggle against the stoic Pete Shelley. A local music critic sounded off-put by Shelley’s lack of stage patter and outward excitement. However from where I was standing (directly in front of Shelley) I could see that he didn’t miss a thing and while his smile may have been fleeting, I’m willing to bet he was enjoying himself.
The band played their first two albums, in order, at an intense pace. Based on the number of apparently exhausted people with really wide smiles I saw when the lights came up at the end – I think everyone had a good time.
