Pere Ubu at The Sage, Gateshead

It appears that we have all been existing in a dream world in which we believed, among other things, that The Beatles were the greatest band in history. This is not the case for in the real world, Pere Ubu released their first record which immediately shot to the top of the charts in most countries around the globe. They were bigger than the aforementioned Beatles and yes, even bigger than Foreigner!!

Or so claimed David Thomas as Pere Ubu came onto the stage at The Sage, Gateshead on Monday 15 April.

From then on we were transported into the strange world of Pere Ubu as they took us on a surreal journey through some of their 'songs' both old and new. These were interspersed with wry humorous comments from Thomas delivered in a way that suggested that this was all just a bit too much of an effort for him. Why, he even had to sit down occasionally to rest his weary body and at one point removed his boot to adjust a sock, something I can't recall seeing before at a rock gig. Of course it's all part of the Thomas persona and there was nothing indolent about the musical performances of Thomas or the band. The singer was flanked by Gagarin and Robert Wheeler on synthesizers and keyboards. Wheeler was particularly energetic as he waved around a plastic electric ray-gun or teased strange sounds from his theramin. Just behind the two keyboards, guitarist Keith Moline and bassist Michele Temple faced each other rather than the audience. Temple rocked back and forth as she pounded out the thumping bass rhythms putting me in mind somewhat of Tina Weymouth, though that may be simply because I know few other female bass players. At the back of the stage, drummer Steve Mehlman shook his long blonde hair in time to the beat as he hit the snares with such ferocity that they sounded like gun shots.

Thomas had a clipboard holding together pages of lyrics, which he referred to particularly for the newer songs such as 'Mandy', 'Musicians Are Scum', 'The Road Trip Of Bipasha Ahmed' and the encore, 'Thanks'.

After an hour and twenty minutes Thomas realised that he had given us twenty minutes more than he intended. Without thanks, band introductions or final bows, Thomas left the stage to wander through the audience and out of the auditorium through the rear doors, leaving the band to finish the final song and leave the stage at the rear. Thomas could then be found shaking hands and signing merchandise for us faithful fans. But, as he made clear, it was not because he liked us.

We eventually left the venue and found ourselves back in the dream world in which we had previously existed.