Bow Wow Wow in Sheffield - Still Wild, Still Candy, Still Utterly Unstoppable
- Phil Wright
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Network Sheffield – 1st November 2025
WORDS / IMAGES PHIL WRIGHT
Sheffield’s The Network might only hold about 150 people, but on Saturday night it felt like a time machine back to the early ’80s. The tiny venue pulsed with Burundi beats and tribal punk energy as Bow Wow Wow stormed the stage — led, gloriously, by Annabella Lwin, the original voice that launched a thousand mix tapes. Forty-five years on, she’s still got that fierce sparkle that made Malcolm McLaren’s teenage discovery such a lightning bolt in the first place.
From the first shimmer of “Sun, Sea and Piracy”, I knew we were in for something special. It was loud, bright, and gloriously unpolished — exactly how Bow Wow Wow should sound. Lwin strutted and twirled, her voice rich and confident, while the band behind her — Wild Bill “Lightnin” Woodcock on guitar and a rhythm section that could wake the dead — powered through a set that fused nostalgia with genuine urgency.
Between songs, Annabella told us about being fifteen when it all began, fresh from modelling for Vivienne Westwood and being thrown into McLaren’s madcap post-punk experiment. “I didn’t really know what I was getting into,” she laughed. “And here we are, still doing it.” The crowd roared back, because we could all see it — she’s not just still doing it, she’s owning it.
The setlist was a proper feast: “Louis Quatorze,” “Sexy Eiffel Towers,” “C30 C60 C90 Go!”, “See Jungle (Jungle Boy)”, and the absolute riot of “Baby, Oh No!”. Every song landed with the same cheeky confidence that defined them in 1982, but they weren’t just museum pieces — there was grit, groove, and a real sense of playfulness.
One of the night’s most moving moments came during “The Man Mountain”, a track written in memory of late guitarist Matthew Ashman. Lwin took a breath before launching into it, and for a brief few minutes, the punk chaos gave way to something tender and timeless. Then, just as quickly, the band crashed into “Aphrodisiac” and all sense of calm went out the window again.
I ended up chatting to a dad in the bar who’d brought his fourteen-year-old daughter — she was dancing like she’d discovered fire. Proof, if any were needed, that ’80s music isn’t dead, it’s just been waiting for kids like her to catch up.
The energy never dropped. When the unmistakable riff of “Go Wild in the Country” hit, the place turned into a sweaty, bouncing blur of smiling faces. And of course, the encore — “I Want Candy” — was pure euphoria. Everyone knew it was coming, everyone screamed the words, and for those few minutes, it felt like we were all part of some glorious, shared flashback.
What struck me most wasn’t just the nostalgia — it was how alive it all felt. This wasn’t some heritage-act cruise through the back catalogue; this was a band still punching above their weight. As other reviews from their 45th-anniversary tour have said, Bow Wow Wow aren’t just revisiting history — they’re rewriting it, one high-energy night at a time.
So yes, maybe the venue was small, the lights were minimal, and the beer slightly warm — but it didn’t matter. Annabella Lwin still commands a room like a born frontwoman, and Bow Wow Wow still sound like the future as imagined by the past: glittering, tribal, unapologetically fun.
Forty-five years on, and the candy still tastes sweet.
SET LIST
1 Sun, Sea and Piracy
2 Louis Quatorze
3 Sexy Eiffel Towers
4 W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah No! No! My Daddy Don't)
5 C30 C60 C90 Go!
6 See Jungle (Jungle Boy)
7 Baby, Oh No!
8 Love Me
9 The Man Mountain
10 The Joy of Eating Raw Flesh
11 White Smoke, Blue Smoke (Annabella Lwin song)
12 Do What You Do
13 Naked Experience
14 Stone Jumping
15 Aphrodizziac
16 Do You Wanna Hold Me?
17 Go Wild in the Country
Encore
18 I want candy.
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