The Wildhearts – Club Academy, 30/09/09

A drizzly walk to the Academy did little to raise my spirits for the show tonight, but what I experienced in the Academy most certainly did – a rock show that, whilst intimate, was also epic.

Black Spider, the support act, seemed a pleasing start to the evening – down and dirty rock, reminiscent of the music you listened to whilst growing up (if you had a certain kind of parent), good crowd interaction, strong riffs and good rhythms. They seem well in touch with their heavy rock roots. Having never heard them before I didn’t expect much, but was pleasantly surprised by their well-paced and engaging set.

The Wildhearts have been a love of mine for some time and, having not seen them live for some years, I was always going to be at a loss as to what to expect – frankly, I was blown away, and remembered the reason I fell in love with them to begin with. One of the most underestimated rock bands in the UK, if tonight’s performance was anything to go by – even with nearly 20 years under their belts – The ‘Hearts still have what it takes to take the country by storm.

From the word go, I felt an amazing surge of energy not only from Ginger and Co, but also from the crowd itself; the atmosphere was so fantastic I wanted to bottle it and keep it for when I feel under the weather.

The gig was made up of two sets, as outlined by Ginger in a pre-show preparatory statement – the first to be the new album played in its entirety, an ambitious plan, which had the potential to flop, however the Wildhearts pull it off with fantastic energy and skill. Looking round the room I see that for a lot of fans, the new songs are still pretty unfamiliar, but nevertheless they are accepted and chanted along to like old classics.

The newest album Chutzpah, whilst lacking the finesse of older Wildhearts material, retains the Wildhearts pop sensibilities and contains some sure-fire crowd-pleasers, notably the heavier Jackson Whites and Plastic Jebus, as well as the fantastically catchy You Are Proof That Not All Women Are Insane.

Refreshingly, Ginger genuinely seems to give a shit about the fans – passing out bottles of water and dealing out light hearted banter to the crowd, which only goes to emphasise the intimacy of such a fantastic band playing such a small venue.

Within minutes of the applause for Set #1 dying out, the Wildhearts retune and launch into a slew of old classic Wildhearts material, every member of the audience belting out every word and clapping and stomping along to every song.

The Wildhearts were on top form all night, and my only criticism of the show can be that it just wasn’t long enough – but isn’t that true of any amazing rock show?

It’s good to see Ginger and Co are back in gear and that Britain still can produce outstanding rock music.

Simon Jessop

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