THE WILDHEARTS + MERYL STREEK – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 10.12.25
In the rock firmament The Wildhearts have, over the years, become something of a beloved institution. Likewise Ginger Wildheart has become a national treasure, although he would probably deny it himself. It is surprising therefore, to discover that only 250 advance tickets have been sold for tonight’s show. I was expecting it to be a sell-out! Still, by the time The Wildhearts take to the stage the place is certainly comfortably full. So there has clearly been a significant ‘walk-up’ crowd.
However, before Ginger and co entertain us we are to be warmed up by Meryl Streek. I must confess that I am not overjoyed by this prospect. The reason being that I witnessed his performance at last year’s ‘2000 Trees Festival’. That started with a taped introduction about the wrongs heaped upon the population by the Roman Catholic church in Ireland. However, it was followed by a performance that consisted of an angry Irish guy yelling unintelligibly over a backing track. I had heard a lot of good things about Meryl Streek, so I was very disappointed. So much so that I had determined to avoid a recurrence of the Meryl Streek live experience. However, it’s difficult to review an act from the bar opposite the venue where they are performing, so here I am.
Things are a bit different this time. There’s a live drummer, but no guitarist or bassist. Maybe Meryl is saving up so he can collect the whole ‘rock band’ set. Still, the lack of a bassist and drummer hasn’t done Bob Vylan any harm. Again there’s a taped intro, this time about the number of children living in poverty in Ireland. It’s a problem on both sides of the Irish Sea, Meryl. My hopes are momentarily raised, but almost immediately dashed once the vocals start. Once again they are completely illegible. Maybe that’s what he wants, but I’d be surprised if that was the case. Meryl is wearing a Steve Ignorant T-shirt, so he gets a gold star for sartorial elegance. The sound engineer also gets a gold star, because about three songs in Meryl’s vocals are finally audible!
This is a very good thing indeed because the lyrics are thought-provoking and intelligent. One song is “about an alcoholic who drank himself to death” is particularly poignant for me as my late father used to describe drinking as “the Irishman’s disease”. To a degree he probably had a point. Meryl jumps into the audience to meet his people, although some of the crowd seem a bit nonplussed by this. We get a song about one of Meryl’s uncles who chose not to work and spent his time reading instead. It’s a great concept (I wouldn’t mind doing that myself) but unfortunately the song is a bit lyrically thin. Meryl tells us that in Ireland there is a housing crisis, and at the same time there are 170,000 derelict buildings. This precedes a song about landlords, and how they are preying on the population. They’re possibly not all bad Meryl. He finishes by telling us “I want to own a gaff by the sea”. That’s fine, but make sure it’s not prone to flooding. Tonight has been an eye-opener for me, and has made me want to hear more of Meryl Streek’s work.
However, most of us are not here to be yelled at (unintelligibly or otherwise) by an angry Irish guy. We’re here to see The Wildhearts! And here they are with the addition of none other than Steve Ignorant’s chum Carol Hodge on keyboards.
With a bare minimum of faffing about the band kick off with ‘Failure Is The Mother Of Success’ from the band’s current album ‘The Satanic Rites Of The Wildhearts’. This song title is a sound piece of advice: you don’t achieve success without experiencing a few failures along the way.
Second song in though and we get a real crowd pleaser: ‘Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes’ from the ‘Don’t Be Happy…Just Worry’ EP from 1992! Some might say that this EP title is another piece of sound advice, I wouldn’t go as far as that myself though. There’s a cool dual lead guitar intro which does have a slight hint of Status Quo about it. Guitarist Ben Marsden peels off a storming guitar solo like they’re ten a penny. ‘Sleepaway’ features some sweet harmonies which you wouldn’t necessarily expect from The Wildhearts. ‘Vernix’ is something of a deep cut from the ‘Chutzpah!’ album. It features the keyboard player Carol Hodge on lead vocals. There’s an acapella section too. Well, apart from the drums.
Nobody can say that The Wildhearts are slaves to their setlist. We get ‘Geordie In Wonderland’ because Ginger enjoys playing it, bless ‘im! Ginger tells us that ‘Maintain Radio Silence’ from the latest album is about “people who play the victim”. Arguably that is something that is actively encouraged in some quarters these days. Apart from that though, we have to mention Charles Evans’ awesome drumming, with a definite Keith Moon (ask yer grandad) influence on display. I wasn’t expecting to hear the ‘Cheers’ theme tune being played tonight. It was released as the B-side to ‘Top Of The World’ and DJ Chris Moyles said he would play it until it got into the charts. Unfortunately it never did, but top marks to Chris for trying!
Ginger has a medical complaint and has already told us that if there is a problem he’ll go off, take some painkillers, and come back on. One has to salute him. Luckily it’s a case of ‘so far, so good’ though. ‘Spider Beach’ is a new song and is dedicated to Charlie Harper from the UK Subs, who is “in the room”. It turns out that he’s actually not. He’s sitting in the bar watching the gig on one of the screens. He’s getting right into it though. ‘Spider Beach’ has a synth intro and doesn’t sound like a typical Wildhearts song, if there is such a thing.
A medley of Wildhearts guitar riffs follows, and it makes you think “I didn’t know they had so many!” Ginger is in his element. He reels off a searing solo which is then followed by a guitar duet with Ben Marsden. The term ‘tour de force’ doesn’t quite cover it. As the band starts ‘Chutzpah!’ Ginger does very briefly pop off for some painkillers. Ben Marshall throws in an ace solo, pretty much shredding at one point. They don’t have time to go off before an encore so pile straight into ‘My Baby Is A Headf*ck’, another absentee from the setlist. Ben and Ginger both turn in cracking solos. Tonight has been a stunning exhibition of hard rock excellence. Gigs like this really don’t happen frequently enough. To quote the late, great Philip Lynott: “until the next time”.
The Wildhearts:
Ginger Wildheart – vocals, guitar
Jon Poole – bass
Ben Marsden – guitar
Charles Evans – drums
Carol Hodge – keys
The Wildhearts possible setlist:
‘Failure Is The Mother Of Success’
‘Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes’
‘Sleepaway’
‘Vernix’
‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’
‘Kunce’
‘Maintain Radio Silence’
‘Cheers’
‘Splitter’
‘Spider Beach’
‘Everlone’
“Medley”
‘Slaughtered Authors’
‘Diagnosis’
‘Chutzpah’
(encore)
‘Geordie In Wonderland’
‘Troubadour Moon’
‘My Baby Is A Headf*ck’
‘Suckerpunch’
‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’
