THE WILDHEARTS + THOSE DAMN CROWS + BEACH RIOT – CHALK, BRIGHTON 11.9.21
Well, it’s been a long time coming, pandemic and all that. Still, The Wildhearts are finally back in Brighton, with a mid-way stop on their current UK tour celebrating the release last Friday of the explosive top ten LP ’21st Century Love Songs’.
They are currently sitting at their highest album chart position since 1995’s ‘PHUQ’, which shows just how much fire is still burning in the four-piece.
It’s the first time they’ve played the new CHALK venue, as the past few dates have been at Concorde 2 in both 2019 on the ‘Renaissance Men’ tour (review HERE) and previously in 2018.
Those arriving late tonight miss an absolute treat as Brighton’s own Beach Riot kick up an almighty storm. They blast their way through 7 fuzzed-up garage rockers. Favourites from the set were ‘Sofa Surfer’ and the punky ‘She’s A Hurricane’ which got the plug pulled on it halfway through due to the set overrunning.
Catch them on Spotify.
South Wales Valley boys ‘Those Damn Crows‘ take command of the stage from the get-go with their straight down the barrel hard rock numbers.
The enigmatic frontman takes a quick trip along the bar and into the crowd rallying up the fans. It’s hard and heavy with some decent sing-a-longs for that extra bit of crowd participation. They’ve certainly brought their supporters here tonight as such tracks as opener ‘Who Did It’ and ‘Sin On Sin’ get a huge reception, but it’s final number ‘Rock n Roll Ain’t Dead’ that gets them singing.
With the crowd warmed up from a mixture of the Brighton sunshine and two belting support bands, you can feel the excitement growing as intro tape ‘Don’t Worry About Me’ sings from the PA as The Wildhearts take to the stage. Then those first notes of ‘Diagnosis’ ring out, kicking off a superb three-song salvo including ‘Vanilla Radio’ with a crowd chanting “Where’s My Elvis” with glee and the ever catchy ‘Sick Of Drugs’.
The Wildhearts line-up has been consistent and the steadiest it’s ever been these past few years, and it feels really like the band of old with the fan favourite line-up of Ginger, C.J, Danny and Rich.
It’s a night of old and new tunes, but for me, not nearly enough from their latest album. I’d have thought the title track would have been a killer opener, but it sadly lacks in the set. I guess it’s trying to get a delicate balance to keep the old and new fans happy.
‘Remember These Days’ sits perfectly in the set and gets a medley of classic Wildhearts tunes thrown into the mix, including ‘Turning American’, ‘Schitzophonic’, ‘Girlfriend Clothes’, ‘If Life Is Like A Lovebank’ and ‘Splattermaina’. It’s a pleasant surprise, and it’s impossible not to sing along.
We get a fast and furious ‘Caffeine Bomb’, which has lost none of its pogoing charms and still kicks like a mule setting off the pit with a few daring to crowd surf their way across the fence. Then a sweet double of ‘Dislocated’ and ‘Splitter’, both immense tunes and a perfect combination of punk and metal. ‘Caprice’ receives a rare and very welcome outing, and so does the formidable ‘The Jackson Whites’.
Still, it’s left to the encore to deliver a three-song banger of ‘Inglorious’, a 100mph ‘Suckerpunch’ and the crowd favourite ‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’ ringing every last drop of strength out of the band and crowd alike with the largest sing-along of the night.
The Wildhearts are firing on all cylinders right now, putting bands not even half their age to shame and showing how to deliver a genuinely magnificent rock show like no other, a night full of fist punching, lung draining anthems. The Wildhearts have always had the songs, and the latest platter goes to show they’ve still got a killer riff or twenty, and in a live setting, they smash it.
As Ginger says before the band departs, “We needed this and so do you”, and we most certainly did!
The Wildhearts are still an outstanding 10/10, here’s to another 30 years!
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