Give me a chance, I'll do it when I've time. It was one of the best gigs I've been to in along time, so I want to give the literary juices time to flow, and be able to do it justice, so for now take a look, if you dare, at some of the other reviews.
It's coming soon ... honest
Right, I'm going to do it, the review.
First up were Stretch, 3/4 of whom of course, used to form Wolfsbane. Things have changed pretty dramtically since then, with Jeff switching from bass to guitar/vocals, both he and Stever Danger (who looked resplendent in his tuxedoy type thing) chopping the hair, and the music has switched from full on metal to a sound and attitude more in common with Manic Street Preachers and some little band begining with W. However, on first hearing, which is whay tonight was for me, they still have a little bit to go in the song writing department before they are up with those other bands. Still, time will tell...
And so, if rumours are to be true, to the last opportunity to see one of Britains best and most consistent bands to emerge in many a year, The Wildhearts. Ever the awkward bastards, instead of starting with one of the countless well known classics, they hit the stage with one of the B-sides to 'I wanna go..', namely 'Sin in Sin'. This is quickly followed by 'I wanna ...' itself, and for the next hour or so we're treated to a selection of music of the highest quality, played by a band who look as if they're actually enjoying themselves. 'Greetings from Shitsville', 'Everlone', 'Nita Nitro', 'Caffeine Bomb', 'Whoah shit..', 'Baby is a ...'. You get the picture, classic after classic, and there's more, 'TV Tan', 'Miles away girl', etc, they're all there.
Possibly the biggest cheer, and the best of news of the night is when Ginger introduces the new guitarist Jef, with the words 'and he thought he was going to be out of a job at the end of November', which seems to be an indication that the band will carry on. Well, actually, the biggest cheer may have been when Ginger had a few pleasant little words for his record company and their re-release of the 'Fishing for Luckies' CD, never one to mince words is Ginger, consistency see, he'll slag them all if he needs to.
Encore, now there's a novelty for them, see's the band abondoning the rigid formula that most bands use of playing the same stuff every night, now it's request time, and time for the band to decide what they fancy playing. Tonight we're treated to 'Geordie in Wonderland', 'Jonesing for Jones', 'Nothing ever changes..' and most surprising of all 'Weekend' off the 'Don't be happy...just worry' EP. This version features guest vocal spots from all the members of the band, and, gulp, the road crew, before the spotlight is turned on god knows how many people who are crammed into the place. '29x the pain' of off the 'Suckerpunch' EP is also given an airing, complete with the football chant at the end.
Eventually, after god knows how long and how many songs, the band decide that they will finish, but even know they're still going with the refrain from the end of the PHUQ album, 'don't worry bout me, don't worry bout me, I'll be alright, don't worry bout me .....' And I guess that sums things up, Ginger looks happier than in a while, comments about how he's never seen Rock City so full, and surely he knows how popular and important the band are to British music, so the hope must be that 'don't worry bout me ..' extends to 'we'll stick around, don't worry bout us .'
Well, I did it, finally the review, although I still don't think I did it justice, besides I prefer the quick review I did, so I'm leaving that one here as well.
Excellent, Jonesing for Jones and Geordie in Wonderland (sorry Kev), loads of others, At the Weekend, Nothing Ever Changes but the Shoes, 29X the Pain. Hot, damn hot, slag off record company, looking happy (wow!), indicating they may not split, hot, damn hot.
Overall Dave Verdict: Hot, damn hot, but if you didn't know they were one of the best bands in the country, well, they're one of the best bands in the country.
A link to a Wildhearts page. This ain't been updated it seems for yonks, so, if someone knows of a more up to date page, let me know. Cheers.