Ash / Idlewild / Chicks
Wolverhampton Civic Hall
The most commonly made observation of Ash as a four piece (five if you include DJ Dick Kirtaine) is their distinctly metal edged sound particularly on 'Nu-Clear Sounds'. This observation can again be made when they play live- especially tonight. As the Chicks arrive on stage, they declare "tonight is heavy metal T-shirt night". The Marilyn Manson fans around me all give their vociferous approval.
It soon becomes apparent that the Chicks can't actually play very well and after twenty five torturous minutes of bumbling through their set wandering in and out of time with each other, are replaced with the highly impressive Idlewild. Now slightly calmer, Roddy Woomble refrains from rolling around on the floor so much but still gives the highly energized performance that the punters expect. DJ Dick's pre-Ash set is greeted with yawns from the aforementioned MM fans who eventually lose patience with the Coventry born deck master's choice of drum and bass, despite his excellent scratching skills. Just as things start to turn nasty, Tim Wheeler arrives and picks up his flying-V guitar that has now become so familiar. 'Projects' opens the set and during 'Angel Interceptor', it seems that Ash are almost in danger of sounding messy and overdone- something that has never been a problem before.
The set features a good balance of new and old material- justice is very much done to 'Jack Names The Planets', 'Goldfinger' and 'Petrol' all of which now sound superb with Charlotte, who leaps around the stage all night. But the highlight comes during 'Innocent Smile' in which the middle section sees them not so much grow up, as transform into the Northern Irish version of Sonic Youth. You would scarcely believe that they had it in them to produce a three minute art-rock interlude of guitar noise accompanied by an intense strobe show- the Marilyn Manson fans shit themselves.
