Band:
The Wildhearts Venue:
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Date:
6 May 2004
Over
the past few days I have had the privilege to see two of most charismatic
front men and two of the most underrated song writers in the world of rock
today.
I'm talking about Wasp's Blackie Lawless and Ginger of the Wildhearts.
Both have had their talents masked by both their individual, and their
bands antics on and off stage.
But both men are about to show the world that the past is the past and the
future is what they are both concentrating on now.
A near capacity Newcastle University plays host once again to The
Wildhearts. But before all that, young hopefuls the Glitterati take the
stage with some gusto delivering a set full of that youthful enthusiasm
that some of the more recent young stars lack. A band that given the right
sort of breaks and encouragement could go far.
Therapy on the other hand are old hands and give the fans what they expect
from Irish trio. With the added bonus of handing out a list of tracks
among the crowd so they can choose tonight's set. This meets the fans
approval with their very own ‘menu of rock’ to choose from.
As the Wildhearts hit the stage Ginger informs the crowd that Newcastle
United are losing 2 – 0. He goes on to say that no matter what the end
result is, this party’s not gonna stop for anybody. The band then get
straight down to business with the first part of a two part set getting
off to a storming start. Starting with ‘I wanna go where the people Go’
then straight into ‘Greetings from Shitsville’, the more recent ‘Top of
the World’ and then ‘Vanilla Radio’.
But this is only the start of what has got to be one of the finest
performances from the band in recent years. Ginger informs the crowd that
the release of the latest album ‘Coupled With’ has nothing to do with the
band and actively encourages the fans to download it or copy it as the
will not be receiving any royalties from it.
The band then launch into ‘OCD’ off the aforementioned album. The classics
just keep coming with ‘Caprice’ and ‘Someone that won't let you Go’. After
such a blistering hot attack on our senses the band leave the stage for a
short while before quickly returning for the second half of the show.
This continues much where the first half left off with a medley of
classics including Status Quo’s ‘Down Down’ and ‘Caroline’, and AC/DC's
‘Whole Lotta Rosie’. Then it’s back down to business with ‘Head Fuck’,
‘Geordie in Wonderland’, ‘Jonesing for Jones’, and even the theme from
‘Cheers’ and ‘Suckerpunch’.
As the time reaches 11.25pm the band manage to squeeze in ‘Nita Nitro’
before the lights are put back on and the band are forced to leave the
stage. You can’t help get the feeling the band would have continued
playing on all night given half the chance as they appeared to be enjoying
the show as much as the punters.
The band have been given a second chance to make it into the big time and
if tonight's performance is anything to go by then 2004 could very well be
the year of The Wildhearts.
Setlist Included:
1. I wanna go where the people Go
2. Greetings from Shitsville
3. Top of the World
4. Vanilla Radio
5. Girlfriends Clothes
6. Beautiful thing You
7. O.C.D.
8. Someone that won’t let me Go
9. Caprice
10. Status Quo / AC/DC medley:
Down Down
Caroline
Whole lotta Rosie
11. My baby is a Headf*ck
12. Jonesing for Jones
13. Geordie in Wonderland
14. Sky Babies
15. Cheers
16. Heroes
17. Suckerpunch
18. Be A Natural
