Islington Academy

Set list

1. Girl From Mars
2. Meltdown
3. Orpheus
4. A Life Less Ordinary
5. Evil Eye
6. Clones
7. Walking Barefoot
8. Starcrossed
9. Out of the Blue
10. Shining Light
11. Renegade Cavalcade
12. Detonator
13. Goldfinger
14. On a Wave
15. Projects
16. Vampire Love
17. The Boys Are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy cover with Brian Robertson)

Encore

18. Darkside Lightside
19. Burn Baby Burn

Review

Back with a new logo, a grizzly beard and meatier biceps (Charlotte included), Ash continue to grow up before our eyes. Tonight’s whiskey-stained St Patrick’s Day incarnation is a slightly shambolic mix up of new album Meltdown, and a torrential rip-up of their ever-increasing back-catalogue.

Don’t worry though, Ash haven’t matured on us. Tim Wheeler still finds time to call XFM presenter Christian O’Connell “a c-nt” and live out childhood fantasies of jamming with Thin Lizzy guitarist, Brian Robinson who joins them for a cover of “The Boys Are Back in Town” before the encore. Their new single “Clones” too, is a bit childish. Nodding towards Slipknot and missing out everything that makes Ash songs great, it’s rather a throwaway. Luckily, their first proper single from Meltdown, “Orpheus”, is pretty damn superb - loud and proud with one of those trademark brilliant choruses.

There’s plenty of other new stuff too. “Starcrossed” is a doe-eyed ballad of Bon Jovi proportions, whilst “Out of the Blue” is a buzzing, turbo-charged riot. The only nod to Ash’s much-forgotten Nu-Clear Sounds era is “Projects”, which gets lost amid classics like “A Life Less Ordinary” and “Shining Light” where Wheeler forgets the words.

Typically, there’s a few cringe-worthy moments where the harmonies don’t quite come off (“Walking Barefoot” overcomes this via the song’s pure intrinsic quality), but few notice amid the crowd of flying limbs and film stars. An eager Tim spots James Nesbitt before dedicating St Patrick’s Day to “people like us”.

As well as the Thin Lizzy duet, the indisputable highlight is new album closer “Vampire Love” which starts with an ear-splitting, spiralling riff before powering off in a spree of hi-octane bass and their lushest chorus yet. “Tonight, I want you in my arms…” may sound familiar, but no more so than “Renegade Cavalcade”, whose “hey, hey, hey’s” evoke fond memories of Weezer playing Green Day.

As the only remaining Britpop band of any interest or relevance, Ash, the undoubted Peter Pan of indie, remain on course for the interstellar domination that seemingly still eludes them. Don’t take them for granted though, they may just get serious.

Rating: 4/5

Review 2

A change was in the air, something was a foot escapism and deluded sense of attitude and appearance stood before us. Ash are a band who have suffered it all from the self destructiveness of their bass player to a new sound of beautifulness and back to the hard rock of the past. Improvement was effective and balanced across the unit, a more serious attitude has appeared something that showed on their faces. As rick stated beforehand, there is more confidence in the style of music and the style of play.

The gig was a celebrity drawn affair with Simon Pegg from Spaced, and James Nesbitt from Cold Feet being the main attractions, apart from Ash of course. The abundance of energy showed by the excited crowd when the fresh faced but older troops arrived on stage was euphoric, amazing and powerful it even rocked the free Jameson’s whiskey.

Ash where back to there electrifying best, playing mostly the new album but some old favourites. They ripped through a set list, which started with the classic “Girl From Mars” that was followed by a rapturous applause, and new songs such as Meltdown and Orpheus. Which in turn ripped through the ears like the speed of light, through a plane of sheeted glass. “A Life Less Ordinary” taken from the film of the same title brought the crowd back to some normality, with its simple yet beautiful tale of love and its complications. The excitement and the alcohol was now starting to bubble over and when the opening chords of evil eye hit the deck, the place erupted into a mad crowd suffering arena of madness and mayhem the WWE would have been proud off.

If this was 2004 why did it feel like the Middle Ages, full of excitement with music to discover new worlds with. “Starcrossed” is everything above and more the hope it brings and the stunned sadness its melody chimes, sends a modern day message to everyone on this planet.

Followed by more new songs and old classics like Shinning Light the gig couldn’t get any better, Well it did. “Vampire Love” was preceded by the arrival of Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Jackson on stage, ready and waiting in anticipation the crowd got a welcome addition with the destructive nature of “The Boys Are Back in Town”. The pure power and adrenalin put into the song blew the crowd away and sent shivers throughout the arena. Something had just been witnessed, that would in all fairness never happened again.

It was history in the making, the making of a modern rock band welcome back Ash.

Review 3

James Nesbitt is in the pit, a member of Thin Lizzy is waiting in the wings and hideous novelty Guinness hats are bobbing atop the crowd. The commercialisation of St Patrick’s Day has reached critical mass in the little-known Irish enclave of Islington, and only the arrival of world-renowned anti-Corrs Ash can save the day.

Literally in the spirit of the occasion, the band stride onstage to Tomoyasu Hotei’s stirring “Kill Bill” anthem and get straight down to business. “Anyone here Irish?” asks frontman Tim Wheeler, a boozy glint in his eye and filthy grin across his face. “Would any of the ladies like a little more Irish in them?” Thank you, Colin Farrell. (To his credit, drummer Rick McMurray bashes out a punchline beat.)

The revellers may have lost sight of the real reason we’re here - and considering doors opened at half-seven and Ash come onstage at ten, sans support, it’s fair to assume many have drunk away the will to live already - but this gig is a double celebration, both of the band’s fourth full-length album Meltdown, due in May, and the fact that they’ve weathered ten years together. Logos old and new rotate behind them to illustrate the decade, from the cutesy handwritten insignia bassist Mark Hamilton designed at school to the sleekly oriental symbol for 2004, but the most striking change is in themselves.

Even on their 1994 Infectious mini-album Trailer it was clear Ash could write songs - “Jack Names the Planets” was proof enough in itself - but their confidence in their own abilities was lacking, the teenaged Tim’s sweet but weak voice never quite having the oomph it needed. With the arrival of additional guitarist Charlotte Hatherley in 1997, to add harmonies, even more songwriting nous and no small shot of charisma (tonight, her denim micro-skirt luring camera phones, she quietly radiates cool), they finally began to believe in their own potential.

Meltdown tracks debuted, from singles “Clones” (“a song we stole from Slipknot”) and “Orpheus” to newies “Evil Eye”, “Starcrossed” and “Vampire Love”, bear the influences of Jane’s Addiction and Metallica - they’ve coined metal that’s heavy on the melodies - and the post-pubescent Tim now has the pipes to match. Alongside the much-loved “Girl From Mars” and “Shining Light” the new material sounds harder but no less hypnotically lovely; given the disappointing reception to Nu-Clear Sounds in 1998, it seems their growing pains are long gone.

Soaked with sweat and giddy with their own brilliance, Ash encore with the aid of Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson and deliver “The Boys Are Back in Town” to barely contained hysteria. Robertson’s actually Glaswegian, but no-one seems to mind. But then Ash didn’t just wave a flag tonight, they nailed their colours to the mast.

By Emma Morgan