Night Of The Wildhearts.
I’m making it sound like a horror movie there but this was a most enjoyable spectacle for a Saturday night after over a year of lockdowns under our belts. My friends, this was an adventure of sorts for this band of brothers, as with all artists they are used to having an audience in front of them, instead me and many others cheered on from our sofas, waving and shouting and singing into the laptop maniacally.
It was a setlist filled with all the golden oldies, although Ginger wasn’t pleased with ‘Greetings From Shitsville’ condemning it to the depths of the musical abyss. One of my favourite lyrics features in ‘The Revolution Will Be Televised’ and as the introduction began I launched myself gracefully off the sofa singing ‘give us hope, you arrive alone, you die alone’ as my cat looked on, mortified.
With the ‘Caffeine Bomb’ exploding on my ‘TV Tan’ it was too late for a ‘Diagnosis’ instead our combined perspective beautifully summarised in ‘My Baby Is A Headfuck’ as we are all so ‘Sick Of Drugs’.
A night of fan favourites, the band feeling a bit rusty after so long in hibernation, but nevertheless a rip-roaring, bruiser of a show with glad tidings I might add, news of the new album entitled ‘21st Century Love Songs’ due on September 3rd via Graphite Records. YEE-HAA! I must mention Rich Battersby, what a class drummer, an absolute machine, and with CJ, Danny and of course Ginger they make a phenomenal live act. Three days later I’ve still got ‘Red Light Green Light’ running through my head, some songs just stand the test of time.
Despite the frustration of being dormant for a year, they took the night by the scruff of its neck and flung it around our homes unabashedly. For the big finish, Frank Turner emerged from the shadows and had a warble along to ‘Let ‘Em Go’ and ‘I Wanna Go’, he was in proper fan boy mood as anyone would be, who would say no to singing with these guys?
A gig to remind us what we have been missing, so let’s raise a glass of ‘Suckerpunch’ to the assholes of the year!
The Wildhearts – By Request Live Stream on Saturday 17th April.