Rock City
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Show notes
With Seafood.
Set list
- Lose Control
- A Life Less Ordinary
- Angel Interceptor
- Submission
- Cherry Bomb
- Goldfinger
- Shining Light
- Walking Barefoot
- Candy
- Kung Fu
- Girl From Mars
- Sometimes
- Pacific Palisades
- Wild Surf
- Oh Yeah
- There’s a Star
- Burn Baby Burn
- Nicole
- World Domination
Encore
Review 1
Seafood have the tough job of opening up tonight’s sold out show. Starting with their cracking single “Cloaking” from the latest When Can We Start Fighting album things look promising, Seafood certainly do rock and look like being a band to look out for in the future. “This Is An Exit” and next single “Splinter” are highlights of a set that is let down by the bands tendency to let songs drag on a bit to long. The audience seem to be waiting for the headliners and although they do get a round of applause, the band seem annoyed that no-one is moshing, “You can move you know if you want to” moans the singer. Seemingly annoyed the singer starts shouting in the microphone and bashing it on the floor. Apart from the shameless plugs of there new album and merchandise, Seafood perform a good set, although let down in places its worthy of 6/10.
A little after 9:30 and Ash take to the stage, there’s barely room to breathe as 1,600 fans cram in to the room, but no-one seems to care judging by the screams as Tim and co walk on. Rick still donning a mohawk, Tim looking his usual cool casual self, wearing a brown shirt and jeans, Hamilton ready to rock, while Charlotte performs barefoot. Without any introduction “Lose Control” is thrashed out at such a pace that the barrier surges forward and PA system cabs go flying. The brilliant “A Life Less Ordinary” comes next followed by a return for “Angel Interceptor”. “This songs written by that geezer” says Wheeler pointing at Rick before “Submission” sounding ten times better than on Free All Angels. “Cherry Bomb” receives a warm reception from the audience, before “Goldfinger”, sends the room crazy, as you’d expect.
As you all perhaps know this is only the second time Ash have played Rock City since being banned back in 1996, a fact which Wheeler only to happily points out “This is the 3rd time we played this place”. Tim retells the story, Ash on high, album number one in the album chart, aftershow party, fire extinguishers, booze, you fill in the gaps, anyway the result is Ash being banned from the venue. “We’ll see you on the way down” says Tim as he recalls what the band were told by the venue. That however didn’t happen Ash returned to form which leads Tim to shout “This one’s for rock city” before “Shining Light”. The top ten single sets the room alight, and everyone around is singing a long. The single that never was “Walking Barefoot” comes next after a false start. Its time for Tim to grab the mic as the orchestra start to “Candy” is heard roaring through the speakers. Everyone is singing and clapping alone, to a surprisingly raw version. More songs of 1977 come next both of which receive the largest cheer and heavy moshing of the night, the songs of course are “Kung Fu”, and “Girl From Mars”.
14 songs into the set and material from the underrated Nu-Clear Sounds album seems to be missing, which is why when “Wild Surf” returns to the set I personally am over the moon. “Oh Yeah” with an extended chorus on the end, which Tim lets the crowd sing, goes down a storm with the crowd and Ash can do no wrong. It’s back to material from Free All Angels again next starting with the bands next single “There’s a Star”, as the snow machine blurts foam in to the crowd and Tim battles on completely covered in the stuff. Single of the year “Burn Baby Burn” follows. While “Nicole” is riffed out at such a furious pace that Wheeler snaps a string on his beloved flying v but carries on regardless, “Good night see you soon” is Wheeler’s introduction to a rocking version of current album closer “World Domination” of course everyone knows Ash will come back.
After five minutes of shouting and screaming Ash return quickly for an encore launching straight into “Jesus Says” from Nu-Clear Sounds, and the sets highlight “Uncle Pat” which makes a warm welcome back into the set list. “This was our first single back in 1994” states Tim before launching in “Jack Names the Planets” another highlight of the set. “This is gonna be our last one” as shouts for Numbskull grace the room, as Tim screams the first line everyone goes mad, including Tim who goes crazy smashing his microphone to the floor. Overall a great night and well worthy of a 10/10 score, the whole band looked at top form with Hamilton his usual cool self rocking away like mad and climbing all over monitors, Charlotte looking her usual self hiding behind her hair and rocking like mad. I’ve seen hundreds of bands play here before but none with as much passion and excitement as Ash.
Review by Steven Woodhead
Review 2
Angelic Upstarts: A Triumphant end-of-year show for the conquering quartet.
It probably wasn’t supposed to pan out for Ash in this way. Onstage before at least 1,600 fans on a freezing Nottingham night, Tim Wheeler tells how his band first played this venue, got drunk and acted like arrogant fools. “We’ll see you on the way down,” he was told by the people who run the venue - people who had, of course, seen all this behaviour before. Well, that way down came with thier second album, Nu-Clear Sounds: a record of much artistic sweetness but a sour commercial aftertaste, which saw many cast in Ash’s direction the kind of patronising look reserved for all the plucky British hopefuls who, second time around, turned out to be nothing more than plain hopeless. The fact that this (still) young band have returned with possibly the most surpising album of the year to a sold-outtour of the country’s larger halls is a nod and a credit to their tantalisingly developing talent.
If it weren’t for the fact that Rock City is so packed that it’s hard to see the bands, Seafood’s set might just have been tolerable. But even if you can see the stage, you can’t actually see the band - they’re hidden behind a fog of pink light, plodding through a set that is threatening to last until the new year. It’s said that in their own environment this is a band well worth the ticket price, but we’ll have to take that on trust. Because tonight Seafood have chosen niceness over charisma, and not only is that a bad choice it’s irritating.
Ash open with “Lose Control” and the audience take their cues from the title. This is a very good show, and even for the casual observers of the band every second song is one you’ll recognise . So that’s “Kung Fu”, “Goldfinger”, “Shining Light”, “Oh Yeah”, and “Girl From Mars”. The four of them look good, move well and relate to their audience with as much style as any band who have scrawled their name on the toliet walls of as many venue’s as Ash have. At times its like watching The Ramones, which of course, is a compliment.
Somehow it’s the moments from the bands current portfolio that are the most impressive. There has been something of a tendancy in the press to take Ash for granted, and that’s a real shame when they open up “Burn Baby Burn” or the luscious “Candy”, it seems that natural progression has met intriguing potential; and met to an effect that is far better than many of the hometown hopefuls to whom we’re willing to offer anaemic applause. And, it’s here, and in the future, that Ash could really ascend to something special.
Review by Kerrang