Set list
- Meltdown
- Girl From Mars
- Evil Eye
- Clones
- Shining Light
- Renegade Cavalcade
- Detonator
- Goldfinger
- Kung Fu
- Vampire Love
- Walking Barefoot
- Orpheus
Encore
Review 1
I got the feeling that most people were there to watch The Bravery, I met a bunch of girls who were saying “Do you know anything about the band after? We don’t even know what they’re called…” That was pretty funny! Maybe Ash aren’t so popular in the US. But there was probably a fair share of us hardcore Ash fans there, because people were screaming out requests, especially for “A Life Less Ordinary” and “Sometimes” (from where I was standing, anyway, which was like one person away from the left side of the stage, almost right in front of Charlotte).
I think Ash also knew that a lot of the people were just hanging around after The Bravery to see if they could get their money’s worth. Tim was telling the audience (before “Detonator”) “feel free to move around, you know… the next song is a good one to do that.”
After starting of with mostly songs from Meltdown, Tim said “It’s time for old school Ash” and went into all the 1977 songs. People went crazy! But no moshing, just jumping about, and mostly confined to the front.
Tim seemed to be enjoying himself, but Charlotte appeared pretty pissed off the whole night. Might’ve had something to do with her guitar problems at the very first song, she had to keep telling the audio guy that it was too soft, then too loud, and adjusting the levels etc. I’m surprised they didn’t sort that out during the soundcheck! The only time she smiled was when they were playing “Kung Fu” (which must be a very fun song to play, as fun as it is to listen to), it was during that musical interlude in the middle you know and they were all huddled together, just jamming, and sort of deciding when to continue the song.
Also, since I was standing so near the front, I saw the set list that the band had pasted on the floor (between Charlotte and Tim) and so could get really excited about the songs they were gonna play!! Also, the last two songs on the list were “A Life Less Ordinary” and “Burn Baby Burn” (which turned out AMAZING), but the band stopped before that. People started screaming for an encore, but I don’t think there was any real doubt they wouldn’t come back on again, since a guy came out (before the encore) and starting tuning all the guitars again!
Oh and Tim dedicated the last song to The Bravery and The Crimea. That was a nice gesture. (But the Crimea were kind of bad…)
Overall, it was my first Ash gig and I loved every moment of it!! I’ve fallen in love with them all over again, and I must say it was definitely worth getting -that- much deafer for,
Review 2
Man this show was great. The turn-out wasn’t that huge but that is what made it all the better, much more personal! There were about 100 people there I’d say. The first band to play was called The Crimea. They weren’t anything special that’s for sure. The 2nd band was, of course, The Bravery. They put on an awesome show and the singer was full of energy. “No Brakes” and “Honest Mistake” sounded awesome.
Then of course, were our favourites, Ash. Rick came out first, then Mark, then Charlotte, then Tim. They all looked good and ready to put on a great show. They were quick to start, blaring the intro to “Meltdown”. I was disappointed the crowd did not have more energy during this song because I felt like bouncing off the walls. Next they went quickly into “Girl From Mars” which was played with such awesome energy. They then paused and Tim said it was great to be back to Texas before starting “Evil Eye.” After “Evil Eye” I decided that I wanted Ash to play their 1992 demo song “American Devil” so I was screaming it out. Since I was right in front of Tim, probably 2nd or 3rd closest to him than anyone in there he heard me and laughed before starting the wicked intro to “Clones”. Next, “Shining Light” was played followed by “Renegade Cavalcade” which blew the place apart because some fans finally started getting more into it. A great performance of that song.
After pumping everyone up from Renegade I yelled to Tim to play “American Devil” again, which he responded that they hadn’t played the song in 10 years, laughing. I was glad to see them laugh because that was about the only 2 times they were laughing during the whole show. Laughter is good!…although I think they should bring that song back!, “Detonator” was played next and the crowd had the same energy as on Renegade, which totally kicked ass. Next, Tim said “The next song is from 1977” and I think he looked at me like he knew it was one of my favourite Ash songs and played “Goldfinger”. After “Goldfinger”, Tim announced “Kung Fu” and the crowd went somewhat nuts during this song too. I think I then yelled for Tim to play “American Devil” a 3rd time, saying “Come on, just a riff!” when he finally told me “We aren’t playing that!” So Tim continued with “Vampire Love” causing one of the girls in front of me to go insane because it was one of her favourite songs from Meltdown. Next Tim announces, “Here’s a request of my own,” and starts up “Walking Barefoot”. That song just blew by for some reason, I think because I was still shocked at how awesome “Vampire Love” sounded live. The guitar riffs were just badass. TIm announces “This will be our last song” and “Orpheus” was then played, which I must say is 100x better live. The album version is garbage compared to the energy and rhythm this song had live. Then, the band walks offstage and the crowd cheers for 5-10 minutes before they all come back on.
Ash instantly started playing “A Life Less Ordinary” which sounded fucking awesome as well. After this, I yelled for Ash to play “Season” at a last attempt to get them to play something old, even though I knew they would stick to the set list. So, the intro to “Burn Baby Burn” starts and the crowd is finally jumping around at this point! Finally, Tim thanked us and wished us a goodnight and Ash walked off the stage as Mark was waving bye to everyone. The show rocked! After the show, I got acknowledged by Mark and chatted with Tim a little. Great show!!!!!
Review by FireSka