Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach

Set list

1. Jesus Says
2. Girl From Mars
3. Goldfinger
4. Cherry Bomb
5. Shining Light
6. Folk Song
7. Jack Names the Planets
8. Sometimes
9. A Life Less Ordinary
10. Kung Fu
11. Burn Baby Burn

Review 1

Playing in New York… to a rabid audience is the wet dream of many a guitar wielding teenager, though most probably fantasise about playing in some well-known venue in the village, or even midtown if you can pull the crowd. Tonight’s line-up finds the newly dubbed “likeable to a US audience” Ash opening for eternal frumprock ballad-weavers Coldplay. The venue - stuck in the middle of nowhere, or Long Island to be exact, in a concrete-floored arena in open air with sea-breezes floating over the sterility. It’s alright for some.

Ash play to a less-than-half-full “stadium” and never quite get their show on the road. The thick-necked baseball cap clad audience is drooling over their hotdogs waiting for the headliners and it just doesn’t translate into the same kind of appreciation as a 16 year old fuelled by festival fumes and tired tent erection. “Girl From Mars,” “Goldfinger,” and “Kung Fu” barely get applause, and even after US radio chart topper “Burn Baby Burn” you could hear the faint sound of waves lapping the coast. So what does this mean for the kids? Well, don’t drop a tear in your beer just yet - Ash will get a little tumble action from the right audience, but at a Coldplay gig? Looking for their seats led by a venue-employed usher? Unlikely.

On the other hand, when the post-Travis current favourites off all things embodied by the typical American student, Coldplay take the stage, it’s like electricity and sparks have struck down on the beach. The show goes very Radiohead, with big black and white screens, pianos, even a touch of Yorkian dancing. Ironic quips at Nelly and ’N Sync give the ironic audience a chuckle, and even though they do have a few nice songs, it’s nothing to wet your pants over, unless wetting your pants is your speciality - in which case, carry on.

Review 2

Ash takes steps to impress Uncle Sam. Five minutes before Ash take to an open air stage as the opening band on the Area2 tour - also staring Moby, David Bowie, and Busta Ryhmes - a good proportion of the band are a sleep on the floor of their dressing room. This is the result of a late night / early morning drinking session with Steve Coogan. By the four o’clock stage time, they’re burning, baby burning, under the scrutiny of an acute New York summer, making friends with fantastic songs and easy charm.

The bad news is that only 3,000 of the 20,000 seats in this gorgeous seated amphitheater have anyone sitting in them; the good news is that those who have fronted the rush hour traffic to see Ash are whooping and hollering and eating it all up. You might call this the green shots of discovery. For their part the band deliver a 40 minute set that is as universal in its appeal as anything that (frequently) crosses the Atlantic in the opposite direction.

Ash make a lot of effort, and the audience - some of them cheering from a hundred feet above - make a lot of Ash. Together they make a lot of noise. This band already have the songs, they’re willing to put in the work, all they need now is a little luck. Ash could well make a splash here.

Rating 4/5