In the
cold light of day it's a bit difficult to maintain a grip of the
magic from last night.
Akin to a
midsummers dream the whole evening feels as if it existed in a time
and place that thrives on only having a tenuous link to reality.
Gigs
shouldn't be this good, but occasionally they quite simply are.
The
Wildhearts owned the night.
That's
one of those terms that is used so often that it has begun to lose
all meaning.
'They
owned it' doesn't really carry a certain sense of weight to it any
more, but this was a show that deserves to be described in such a
way.
From the
moment Ginger surveyed the sold out crowd it was as if a fire was
lit.
The power
of an album that was released twenty years ago had not been dampened
in the slightest, and the crowd were there to bear witness to the
resurrection of the tracks played.
Over the
years The Wildhearts have been described as everything from grebo
punks to heavy metal warriors.
All
descriptive terms that are often completely right while still being
completely wrong.
The
Wildhearts are really just The Wildhearts.
An
extension of the fever dreams of Ginger himself.
A mish
mash of rock and roll, pop harmonies, and a magpie tendency to throw
everything at the wall to see what will stick.
Often
emulated by others, but never surpassed in the schizophrenic rush to
get the party started, this is the band that people should have on
their bucket list as one to see.
The whole
Earth Vs The Wildhearts album was played in a blur.
It just
felt like one classic song after another after another was laid out
to trip over each other in their haste to be heard.
The band
themselves looked as if they were equally as caught up in the moment
as the audience were.
Strange
to think that it has taken twenty years for the songs to get the full
one hundred percent appreciation that they deserve.
By the
time the initial set was locked down they had provided proof that
rock and roll can transcend just about anything.
Proof of
that will this morning be throbbing through the tired knees of people
who couldn't manage to run for a bus most days, but didn't even need
a second wind to get them through dancing like an amphetamine fuelled
teenager for a substantial period of time to the wondrous sounds of
the Wildhearts.
A second
set of fans choices was the proverbially icing on the cake.
Very
obviously the fans went for the 'best of' material and who could
blame them.
If a
famous alcohol beverage manufacturer made gigs then this is the gig
they would make.
If anyone
left the ABC wanting more then that would just be an expression of
sheer greed.
Similar
superlatives could be expressed towards Eureka Machines who played
prior to The Wildhearts.
With two
fantastic albums under their belts they had recently considered
calling it a day, but with a successful pledge campaign now completed
they are back with what I consider to be their best album to date and
a newly invigorated attitude.
Their set
was a prime example of how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
How good
they are is still bedding in with people, but the lack of exuberant
bouncing around was no reflection on how the band were perceived and
maybe a little more to do with age.
Everyone
I spoke to was very quick to praise the performance and rightly so.
Hopefully
it doesn't take twenty years for them to get a sold out audience for
'Remain in Hope.
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