The Wildhearts - Exeter Review

It is always a shame when, for whatever reason, a concert disappoints. There are a myriad of reasons why a live performance can be disrupted or affected, and most bands will have their share of concerts throughout their career that just do not go to plan. Sadly, for the English rock band The Wildhearts, last night's show at the Exeter Phoenix was one of those shows. The Wildhearts are a band that I have been into for a while, but have only really dived into their catalogue in a big way over the past couple of years. I have had a copy of their 1993 debut album Earth vs. The Wildhearts for years at this point, but it was only during the run-up to the 2019 iteration of Bloodstock Open Air that I started to expand my Wildhearts knowledge. The band were a relatively late addition to the line-up, replacing a band that had to pull out, but I think it is fair to say that they delivered at the festival and went down well. While The Wildhearts are not a metal band, they are a band that are well-liked by a lot of British metal fans, and their 40 or so minutes on stage at Bloodstock was well-received. It was the catalyst for my greater enjoyment of the band in any case, and they were probably the band of the Saturday that weekend for me. I resolved to catch the band on their next tour, and when it was announced that they would be playing a relatively local show for me in Exeter, I jumped at the chance to pick up a ticket. The bulk of the band's current tour was supposed to happen last year, but it was inevitably delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I think that the Exeter show was an additional date that was added to the rescheduled tour, and the wider tour was also rebranded to support the release of the band's tenth studio album 21st Century Love Songs which came out on Friday. Everything had seemed to come together nicely for The Wildhearts to roar out of the pandemic in style with an album and its supporting tour, but sadly the tour seems to have got off to a bit of a rocky start. It is my understanding that COVID-19 scares limited the band's rehearsal time, and the tour's opening night in Cardiff suffered from monitor issues which the band soldiered through. I am sure that the band were hoping that a Sunday night playing to a packed house at Exeter's well-regarded Phoenix would help the tour to really kick on - but sadly it was not to be.

Before The Wildhearts took to the stage however, the growing crowd were treated to 40 or so minutes of uncompromising metal from Raging Speedhorn. Raging Speedhorn have been going for over 20 years at this point, and I recently saw them put on an impressive set down in Cornwall at something of a mini festival. Raging Speedhorn's sludgy, groove-based metal will never truly be my thing, but the band hit the stage with the intention of getting everyone's attention - and I am sure that they succeeded. Given their limited space on stage, the band's two frontmen barely stepped on it once. Founding vocalist Frank Regan largely stood on the platform behind the barrier, while Dan Cook spent most of the set in the crowd - prowling up and down in front of the barrier and getting those down near the front involved. Raging Speedhorn's brand of metal was probably not the cup of tea of many in attendance, and I think it is fair to say that at first large portions of the crowd did not know what to make of the band. Given the effort that the band were putting into their performance however, and their continued effort to get the crowd involved, those in attendance soon started to warm up to what Raging Speedhorn were doing. It helps that the band's riffs are packed full of groove, which each song being backed by moments of Sabbath/Pantera-esque power which Regan and Cook spit over the top of with their caustic voices. Their songs are not necessarily instantly catchy as a result of the venom, but after seeing the band twice in a relatively short space of time some of the songs were certainly starting to stick in Exeter. There is more nuance in the band's sound than is instantly apparent, and I enjoyed their Exeter efforts far more than I had previously - as I think did a large portion of the crowd.

Half an hour or so later The Wildhearts took to the stage with relatively little fanfare and immediately launched into the anthemic Diagnosis, one of the three songs from 2019's Renaissance Men that were played throughout the band's hour or so on stage. Due to its hooky chorus and strident style, the song made for a great opening cut - but it clear throughout that something was wrong. Main man Ginger (vocals/guitar) was having some issues with his in-ear monitors, a resurgence of the issues that plagued the Cardiff show, and there was a lot of gesticulating and glances towards the crew at the side of the stage as a result. Such things are common during the early portions of sets however, so the band soldiered on - blasting through Vanilla Radio and Sick of Drugs with real gusto. It was wise to open the show with three very melodic songs, and it was clear that the large crowd was ready for a good time. All three of the opening numbers had their choruses sung loudly by the crowd, at the atmosphere early on was excellent. Ginger addressed the crowd following the third song to plug their new album, and to introduce one of the two new numbers played - Remember These Days. To make things more interesting however, and keeping with the theme of the song, Remember These Days was part of a medley that included some riffs from a number of their early songs - before a snippet of the excellent Splattermania was played. This medley certainly excited the die-hard fans in the room, as did the fast-paced punk of Caffeine Bomb that followed. By this point however it was clear that Ginger was not happy. He was still having a lot of issues with his in-ear monitors, and he was also having trouble keeping his guitar in tune due to the heat. He had to spend quite a bit of time tuning up before The Jackson Whites as a result, and his sense of humour was clearly waning at this point - so much so that he lashed out at his pedal board following the song. I think it was at this point that the atmosphere dropped. Ginger's previous rants at and about his monitors and guitar had had a strong dose of his trademark sardonic humour, but his lashing out at his pedal board seemed to be pure anger. From this point on the crowd seemed wary about what would happen next. The music was still great, but it was clear at this point that Ginger wanted to be anywhere but on stage. The rest of the band gave their all, but I think that they just wanted to get through the gig at this point - and it is a real shame as they sounded powerful. Dislocated and Splitter were both packed with the band's trademark venom, while Let 'Em Go was still sung loudly despite the drop in atmosphere. Mazel Tov Cocktail and a rare outing for the oldie Caprice brought the set to an end - with Ginger hurling his guitar unceremoniously into the barrier and storming off the second the song came to an end. This also marked the end of the evening, and while the crowd hung around for a bit I am not sure that anyone was genuinely expecting more. There was something of a stunned silence that eventually led to some calls for an encore - but the houselights soon went up and it was clear that the the show was over. The setlist was:

Diagnosis

Vanilla Radio

Sick of Drugs

Remember These Days/Turning American/Schizophonic/Girlfriend Clothes/If Life is Like a Lovebank I Want an Overdraft/Splattermania

Caffeine Bomb

The Jackson Whites

Dislocated

Splitter

Let 'Em Go

Mazel Tov Cocktail

Caprice

A three-song encore was planned according to the setlists on the stage, but it did not materialise. It was probably for the best however, as Ginger was clearly not in the right frame of mind to be performing. Those who follow the band will know of Ginger's long battles with depression - a rabbit hole that he sadly seems to be down again at the moment. I really hope that Ginger gets better again soon, and it was hard seeing him in such a dark place. The band still sounded great, despite all of the monitor issues, and musically the evening was a strong one. It is gig that will probably be remembered for the wrong reasons however, and I really hope that things improve for Ginger and the rest of the band as the tour rolls on.