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In
the unlikely surroundings of Somerset House on the Strand (ordinarily
home to civil servants working in public records or the tax office),
support acts Fi-Lo Radio and Electric Soft Parade thrashed their
way through decent sets.
| "The
crowd moshed wildly, applauded rapturously and then quietly
dispersed. This is polite punk, the kind you can take home to
your mum..." |
But
despite their best efforts the crowd remained resolutely sedate
- until Ash
took to the stage and the crowd surged into life.
That's
the thing about this Irish foursome. They're crowd-pleasers, pure
and simple. There were no real surprises but there didn't need to
be. The ticket-buying masses got exactly what they'd come for.
"A
Life Less Ordinary", "Angel Interceptor",
"Goldfinger"... the band moved flawlessly through
their back catalogue.
And
in amongst the classics were new tracks like "Ophelia",
"Renegade Cavalcade" and "She's Mine",
which all had the instant appeal of Ash at their best.
anti-cool
figures
"Here's
the song which put our careers back on track" announced
frontman Tim Wheeler as the stage was flooded in a white glow for
"Shining Light".
Afterwards
the crowd roared, making Wheeler beam: "It's good to see
some proper Ash fans. We've just been supporting Gary Barlow,"
- a reference to the band's recent stint supporting Robbie Williams
at Knebworth.
But
then this is a band that takes on all comers. The beautiful people
were out in force, but among them were a variety of determinedly
anti-cool figures: in front of me a gangly teen played air guitar
and mimed the lyrics, while a middle aged couple to my left hugged
and swayed in time to "Sometimes" as though at
a David Gray concert.
This
was the second time I'd caught Ash live and on both occasions I
was struck by how little their mint renditions differ onstage to
on-record.
knock-out
outing
Of
course it's more exciting in the flesh, guitarist Charlotte Hatherley's
harmonies are more apparent and Wheeler is a good showman whose
inter-song banter convinces. It's just that the whole package is
in tune, together, and, well, exceptionally good.
 After
a knock-out outing of "Oh Yeah", the set finished
with the band's most recent release, "Envy" followed
finally by "Burn Baby Burn".
The
crowd moshed wildly, applauded rapturously and then quietly dispersed.This
is polite punk, the kind you can take home to your mum. In fact
she's probably got the 'Best Of' album on the car stereo.
Throughout
the gig, planes flew overhead, lights flashed, looking for all the
world like UFO's.
Perhaps
it was the "Girl from Mars" of Ash's most famous
hit checking out the gig. I think she'd have approved.
|
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