Whilst a busy March is now over, April still promises to be another strong month of gigging. It will not be as busy as March was, but with it containing five gigs, three of which are in London, there will certainly be plenty of adventures to be had over the next few weeks. As I write this, I am already back from my first trip away of the month - as I spent much of the Easter long weekend away taking in live music. I will discuss Dan Byrne's show in Bristol tomorrow - but today's piece will cover a night in the Wiltshire town of Trowbridge with The Wildhearts. With the possible exception of a fleeting visit during a family canal boat holiday many years ago, Saturday saw my first visit to Trowbridge. Not exactly known as a live music hotspot, the town's Grade II listed Town Hall previously hosted live music in the 1960s and early 1970s - but has served only occasional civic purposes since, despite the town council having not been based in the building since the 1970s. In recent times, though, the building has undergone a period of restoration utilising government funding - with it turned into a multi-purpose cultural space that officially re-opened in 2025. Part of this regeneration included reinstating the building's ability to host live music - with a 500 capacity room on the first floor designated for such. Given that the building only formally reopened towards the end of last year, not many bands have played this new space - with Saturday's Wildhearts concert one of the first in the building for many years. Whether Trowbridge becomes a regular spot for live music remains to be seen - but I was impressed with the space and would happily return. Trowbridge itself was perhaps less interesting - but there was a lovely park near to where I was staying and everything was within close walking distance. I even managed to pick up a few 1980s metal LPs for surprisingly low prices in a strange little shop in a pretty empty old shopping centre - but that aside the town was not exactly full of life. It was easy to get to on the train, though, only just over half an hour further on from Bristol. The reason for the trip was a night with The Wildhearts - a band I last saw just a few months ago in Torquay. I already had plans to be in Bristol over the Easter weekend, so when the band announced a few shows around a festival appearance tying in Trowbridge seemed like a good idea. I was initially put off by the cost of the Premier Inn, though, but when frontman Ginger Wildheart announced that he was recently diagnosed with cancer, and would not be seeking treatment for it, I decided that I had to make the effort. Who knows how many more opportunities there will be to see the band - and with the excellent Torquay show still relatively fresh in my mind I bit the bullet and paid for the hotel. The ticket and trains were pretty cheap, too, which helped - and it was not long before, following a bit of a nap in the Premier Inn, that I was in the Town Hall waiting for the action to start. The stage was a temporary affair, likely due to the listed status of the building, but it served its purpose - and gave the room a bit of a festival-esque vibe. I was not sure what the turnout would be like in a place like Trowbridge - but the room soon filled up and at points the queue for the merch nearly reached the stage. There was a lot of love in the room throughout, then, and Wiltshire turned out in numbers to support The Wildhearts.
Before The Wildhearts' set, though, the growing crowd were treated to 45 minutes from Silveroller - a young rock band with a single EP to their name whom I had not heard of before they were announced as the support act on this long weekend of live shows. I gave the band a cursory listen online beforehand, and thought that they sounded good - but I was not prepared for how much I was going to enjoy their set. A couple of songs into it, I thought that Silveroller could be the best unknown support act that I had seen for a long time - and this view continued until their very last note. There was not one moment of their set that I did not enjoy - and I picked up a copy of their 2024 EP At Dawn as soon as the set finished. Sound-wise, Silveroller very much take their sound from the early 1970s British rock scene. They somewhat reminded me of a mix of early Bad Company and very early Whitesnake - but with a much stronger Hammond organ presence. I have seen reviews comparing them to bands like the Faces and The Black Crowes - but frontman Jonnie Hodson does not have the bluesy, gravelly voice to really make those comparisons work for me, with his smoother voice much more traditionally hard rock in tone. If anything, they reminded me of a British equivalent of what Dirty Honey are currently doing in America - unashamedly retro but with the songwriting to back it up and a great stage presence. Hodson really made the stage his own during the show, with some David Coverdale-esque microphone stand tricks thrown in - whilst the rest of the band really rocked. Sammy Murdock (guitar/vocals), who seems to be quite a new recruit, mixed hard rock riffing and delicate bluesy moments with ease, whilst throwing in plenty of solos, whilst Lucas Tadini (keyboards/vocals) underpinned everything with his organ. Hammond organ is always a winner for me - and the mix of hard rock riffing, melodic vocal hook, and roaring organ drew me in from the off and never let go. Songs like Hold and Black Crow showed the band at their most rocking, but there were slower moments like Let Me Down Slow which was the bluesiest and most emotive moment of the set. A cover of Hard to Handle is perhaps where The Black Crowes comparisons come from, but it gave something for people to sing early on, whilst a newer single in Trouble Follows Me had those brief shades of early Whitesnake I sometimes heard in their sound. Perhaps the best was save until last, though, with the epic and slightly more sprawling Silver Sun a vehicle for a big chorus and plenty more soloing. With some of the best songs not on the EP, which I am looking forward to digging into, the future looks bright for this band - and their set was worth the price of admission alone.
Following a trip to the merch and then to the toilet, it did not seem all that long before the stage had been cleared and it was time for The Wildhearts. Setlist-wise, the show was largely the same as it was during last year's winter tour, but I felt that this Trowbridge show was better than last year's Torquay show. A hugely better support act helped, but the sound in the room on Saturday was loud and crystal clear. Everything could be heard with real clarity, from each specific vocal microphone, to the two guitars, and the subtle keyboards. It was one of the clearest live sound mixes I had heard for a while - and it really made the band's intricacies shine. Ginger was on fine form, too. He seemed surprised to receive such a reception in somewhere like Trowbridge - and there was lots of banter between him, the other band members, and the crowd throughout. I did notice that many of the staff at the venue were quite elderly - and the thought of them enduring Ginger's off-colour sense of humour and foul language was pretty amusing. It was the music that mattered, though, with the heavy and meandering Failure Is the Mother of Success kicking things off. It was one of three songs from last year's Satanic Rites of the Wildhearts (which I reviewed here) to appear in the set - and the mix of heavy riffing and the slow-burning closing section is a big part of what makes The Wildhearts special. The 15-song setlist covered most of the band's career, too, although it was certainly not a setlist for the casual. It was quite deep-cut heavy, and I actually appreciated hearing some of these songs live for a second time following that previous Torquay gig. There were a few big anthems for everyone to sing along with, though, with both Nothing Ever Changes but the Shoes and Mazel Tov Cocktail hitting the crowd early on - but for each of those were was a Vernix. The non-album track is not one that I am hugely familiar with, but it came alive more this time compared to last time - with its constantly changing pace and complex vocal harmonies bringing the best out of the whole band. The clear mix likely helped - and it allowed me to appreciate what both Ben Marsden (guitar/vocals) and Carol Hodge (keyboards/vocals) brought to the band vocally. Hodge also impressed with some fluid guitar solos, even during songs which did not have one originally - and the band overall had a great sense of rehearsed looseness. The clarity of the mix and the overall volume really allowed the band to sound heavy, too, with newer cuts like Maintain Radio Silence and Splitter both sounding larger than life. I appreciated getting to hear the new cut Spider Beach again, too, from the band's upcoming album Northern Spirit - and I enjoyed it a lot more this time. Hodge featured a lot during it, both musically and vocally - and the melodic, slightly industrial tune showcased what the current five-piece version of the band can achieve. By this point the band were starting to reach favourites territory, and the crowd-pleasing Everlone saw plenty of singing in the room - and the piece was stretched out somewhat to include a few other riffs from the band's lengthy canon. This segued into the lengthy Slaughtered Authors - another song which has not been played live all that often over the years. Despite this, though, the song is a real anthem that fits nicely into the set - with a plethora of riffs of its own, melodic mid-sections, and another huge chorus. There were only two songs of the main set left by this point, but the modern classic Diagnosis certainly raised the roof - before a lengthy take on Chutzpah rounded out the show, with Marsden throwing down plenty of soloing during the chaotic and heavy number. Unlike in Torquay, though, there was time for an encore this time - although the curfew only allowed for one more. The classic oldie My Baby Is a Headfuck was the song chosen for the encore, which again saw plenty of singing from the large crowd. It brought the night to an anthemic close - with the power of The Wildhearts not in doubt. The setlist was:
Failure Is the Mother of Success
Nothing Ever Changes but the Shoes
Sleepaway
Mazel Tov Cocktail
Vernix
Kunce
Maintain Radio Silence
Cheers
Splitter
Spider Beach
Everlone
Slaughtered Authors
Diagnosis
Chutzpah
-
My Baby Is a Headfuck
Despite having seen a very similar show just a few months ago, I had an excellent time on Saturday with The Wildhearts. The band's fire and the excellent live sound ensured that the show was the best Wildhearts show that I have seen to date - and I hope that there are more to come in the future. With Ginger's condition, though, each Wildhearts show that happens is one to cherish - and with at least one more album to come, that has already been recorded, there are things to look forward to for Wildhearts fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment