Ash at The Anson Rooms, Bristol
Thursday, 1st March 2007
Meg Rowell went to see the band...
I'm not the world's smiliest person. In fact, sometimes, people stop me in the street and tell me to cheer up. And yet I've just grinned my way continuously through an explosive hour-and-a-half long set by indie-heroes Ash, at The Anson Rooms in Bristol.
Having been an Ash fan in my teens, and being somewhat of a sceptic about bands making 'comebacks', I'm not quite sure what to expect from tonight's gig. The rest of the audience, however, appear suitably excited, and as Tim Wheeler and co. take to the stage, the atmosphere is nothing short of electric.
Kicking off with Lose Control, the opener to their 1977 album, it's instantly apparent that this band haven't lost it. They ooze rock'n'roll and Tim Wheeler exudes the pure passion and charisma of a seasoned, yet youthful, frontman.
They storm their way through tracks such as Burn Baby Burn, Jesus Says and Orpheus, and as the audience is just about at boiling point, launch into an exhilarating combo of classic singles Goldfinger and Oh Yeah. The only question in my mind, as they belt out the climatic chorus of Oh Yeah (she was taking me o-ver...) - is how on earth are they going to top this?
Top it they certainly do, by ending the set with the anthemic Girl From Mars, as the audience pushes forward in an attempt to get as close as they can to those heady days of 1995.
I won't deny my early cynicism about seeing Ash tonight, but by the end of the first track, any doubts were wiped clean away. I'd forgotten how much I loved these songs. I'd forgotten just how well loved Ash were. I fell in love with Tim Wheeler all over again and was taken back to the days when Ash were the cool and moody soundtrack to a disillusioned generation.
Returning for a four-track encore, they end on a high with the irresistible Kung Fu, the crowd filling in the silences and Tim Wheeler appearing genuinely chuffed, almost bemused, by their generous reception. Ash are a band that in their heyday, had some great, great songs. Rather than deny this, as many bands do, and overload the audience with new tracks, they appear, quite rightly, to still be basking in their former glory, getting the balance just right between some rip-roaring new tracks, and those heart-wrenching old classics.
