Live Review

The Wildhearts – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

• 7th Oct 2009

As I amble up to the Shepherds Bush Empire on a cool autumn evening I find myself in anticipation of a gig that at that moment in time, felt was going to be purely nostalgic, i.e. a gig in the vein of seeing bands like I used to love again, for the first time since my college days. Bands that I was of the opinion had ground creatively to a slow trot or even a halt and were just touring older material for the good times and a bit of cash in their pockets to stem the need to go out and get a proper job. Such was the case, when I went to see Terrorvision earlier in the year. A great gig and a lot of fun – not taking anything away from them but ultimately, just a bit of reminiscence. The Wildhearts proved not to be of that ilk.

The band played what were ostensibly two sets; the first being their new album ‘Chutzpah’ played in full, to a crowd who seemed to appreciate a band that in their recent history have creatively gone a bit stale, in my humble opinion, gloriously U turn from that and play songs that will plant them firmly back on the hard rock map. Many of the crowd seemed to be treating some of the songs as fresh classics and this new album definitely demonstrates that Ginger and Co are still able to write catchy, high octane, rock n’ roll with their customary fusion of downright heavy crushing riffage. Certainly, a couple of the songs on offer in ‘Chutzpah’ sound near doom laden. Others heavy, delicately melodic, with a more progressive vibe. Made converts of both me and my wife and a copy will be adorning our collection very imminently. The band visibly seemed both relieved and chuffed with how the set went down before leaving for the interval.

For the second set, out come a more relaxed looking Wildhearts – especially Ginger, who could be seen bounding around the stage with cool confidence. The crowd responded to a great stage sound (even when sat up in the gods) with gusto and all seemed at one. Such was the warmth of the crowd, it felt more like the band were playing to old friends. A lot of the old classics got played including: Caffiene Bomb, My Baby is a Headfuck, an absolutely mind-blowing rendition of Suckerpunch and a perfect closer in I Wanna Go Where the People Go. I’m not terribly knowledgeable of Wildhearts material after ‘Earth Vs’ but other songs played from earlier albums sounded just as good and as timeless. Ginger even atoned for his little outburst, where he stormed off the stage at a past London show after having a little bit of a bad day. It’s okay, the crowd have obviously forgiven and forgotten. The only down side to the show was that it went by so quickly, it felt like they’d finished before they had started. Still, they did play over 90 minutes. We just wanted more. The Wildhearts will definitely be back on my stereo full time.