Review by Pete Finn for MPM
After an ‘evening off’ yesterday, Manny and I are back at Rock City (I wonder if we’re eligible for our own parking space, next to the tour bus)? There’s a good, primarily leather clad, queue waiting to get in, it’s the first day of the new Covid rules for event attendance, the door staff soon have it moving smoothly and efficiently carrying out the appropriate checks.
Tonight, we have a ‘Triple Header’ with The Wildhearts, Discharge and The Middlenight Men, two of which I’ve not seen before. So, I’m really looking forward to this. We make our way into the main hall, the upstairs area is closed for tonight, and head to the bar before moving to our regular places, a bit like the two old Muppets, Statler and Waldorf.
Opening tonight’s extravaganza are The Middlenight Men, one of the new bands for me. Formed in 2019 by experienced musician Nick Hughes (vocals/guitar), it consists of musicians/friends that have influenced him, or he has looked up to during his 20 years in the industry, one of which is Status Quo’s Leon Cave (drums).
The band on stage is a mighty ten in total and includes four guitars, a brass section and backing singers, so in addition to the previously mentioned two, we have Heidi Cotton (guitar), Andy Brook (guitar), Hannah Grimes (backing vocals), Cat Totman (backing vocals), Andy Watts (trumpet), Liz Mitchell (sax), Scott Baker (guitar), Bob McDougal (bass). They as a collective have one album ‘Issue #1” released earlier this year.
The band appear on stage with ‘Superhero’ face paint, Bob McDougal has half a blue head and half yellow. First track is ‘Rat Star’, a riff and harmony filled track, quick tempo and sharp drum beat a bit Weezer/Wheatus. ‘You (Getting Over)’, a total Quo-esque riff and tempo, maybe even faster, nudging the punk boundary line.
Hughes asks if we want to dance, as the tongue-in-cheek, homage to superheroes is next, in the summer beach sounding ‘Heroine Heights’, a feel-good track right from the start. I’m sure I picked up a riff of the Spiderman theme tune? There’s a chance for us to join in with a few ‘Hey, Hey, Hey’ chants.
‘We All Need Help Before Tomorrow’ a Green Day guitar intro, albeit a bit more controlled and subtle. The guitar solo is a nod to the classic rock sound. The first single ‘B.A. Baby’ is up next, a brilliant mix of Beach Boy’s melodies and harmonies, and stir in some more Green Day riffs.
A song about chasing a girl, after seeing her at a gig whilst in South America. One thing I’ve noticed, Nick Hughes writes very clever lyrics, a real storyteller. ‘Perfect’ is dedicated to Ginger, as someone who made Nick want to form a band, a slower number, rocky with a steady drum accompaniment, that builds in pace, this was definitely a fan favourite gauging by their cheers as it finishes.
The end of their set arrives too quickly, it’s ‘They’ll Be the Ones’, now, I had the pleasure of seeing The Darkness here earlier this week, the sound could be straight off one of their albums. This song showcases the band’s fabulous musical ability, there is almost a jam in the middle, it has a pounding bassline, edgy riffs, and a thumping drumbeat, two of the band are in the photo pit with their guitars. The lyrics are precise and sit perfectly within the frame of the track.
It’s impossible not to be impressed by the quality and variety of the sounds including a Ska beat and REM jangle within the tracks performed tonight. I’ll will be keeping a look out for when The Middlenight Men are on the road again. If you have half an hour free over Christmas, check out their videos on their website. They are magnificent fun. A nice touch after they’d finished, was that they came down to the Merch desk to chat with the fans.
Setlist: Rat Star; You (Getting Over); Heroine Heights; We All Need Help Before Tomorrow; B.A. Baby; Perfect; They’ll Be the Ones.
Discharge, are genuine Punk legends. Formed in Stoke-On-Trent in 1977, they were influenced by the likes of Motorhead and The Buzzcocks, as they went on to develop their own distorted and grinding sound, especially their drumbeat, which became known as D-beat, a sound preferred by many hardcore punk bands.
Discharge became influencers themselves, Heavy/Trash Metal bands such as Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer all acknowledge Discharge as being influential in defining their sound. So much so, that James Hetfield of Metallica nominated former vocalist Cal Morris for Rolling Stone‘s 100 Greatest Singers poll. They have recorded 7 studio albums so far, the first ‘Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing’ in 1982 and the most recent ‘End of Days’ in 2016.
Their line-up today consists of original band members, ‘Tezz’ Roberts (guitar), ‘Rainy’ Wainright (bass), ‘Bones’ Roberts (guitar) and more recent members in 2006 ‘Proper’ Caution (drums), finally in 2014 Jeff ‘JJ’ Janiak (vocals). This is my other ‘first’ of the night, I’m embarrassed to say, I don’t know any of their songs or what to expect, but this is all part of the excitement that a live gig can bring.
After a remarkable effort from both of the bands and their crews sees a changeover of 15 minutes. Discharge are on stage, they open with ‘The Blood Runs Red’, JJ prowls the stage, shouting the lyrics, Tezz on his left, Bones on his right are powering riffs in stereo, the front row goes crazy.
We crash through ‘Fight Back’, I’m struggling to keep up, the speed is unbelievable. ‘The Nightmare Continues’ starts with squealing feedback; the drums and bass are making the legs on my jeans oscillate. Proper’s hands and arms are a blur as he smashes the skins. ‘A Look at Tomorrow’ sees a double speed ‘Ace of Spades’ sounding track, JJ has his shirt off, displaying an impressive set of tattoo’s, he’s on the monitors pointing at the crowd, encouraging the jumping. This band know their fans, these fans love this band. ‘Hell On Earth’ has JJ cupping his mic, as he screams into it. Rainy’s bass is fast and deliberate, keeping the band tight. This was a popular track amongst the faithful.
Tezz introduces the next track, “I ain’t no feeble Bastard, I ain’t no scapegoat” massive bass wash and it’s all systems go. ‘Protest & Survive’ sees JJ flexing, spoiling for fight almost. ‘Accessories by Molotov’ has a drum intro and an amazing drum salvo to finish, tub thumper Proper Caution must have forearms made of steel. Tezz tells everyone it’s great to be back playing again, we’re into ‘Hatebomb’, Manny is out of the pit and stood next to me, he leans over smiling and shouts “I can feel it in my face”, the air currents within Rock City are nuclear.
The final track from the set is ‘De-Control’, JJ is crouching down and sneering at us, they slow-down in the middle just so we can clap. Their set closes after a blur of 30 minutes, in that time we’ve been treated to 13 songs.
The power and energy were ‘Off the Scale’, the wall of sound was immense, my body and senses felt like it has been in a washing machine with half a dozen house bricks on spin cycle. An incredible experience. Again, after their show the band came to see the fans at the Merch stall, a great gesture.
Setlist: The Blood Runs Red; Fight Back; Hear Nothing; The Nightmare Continues; A Look at Tomorrow; Hell On Earth; Cries Of Pain; Ain’t No Feeble Bastard; Protest & Survive; Accessories By Molotov; Hatebomb; Never Again; De-Control.
It is over 30 years since The Wildhearts came together in Newcastle, formed by Ginger after his departure from The Quireboys in 1989. During that time there have been several changes to the line-up, some members have been part of The Wildhearts more than once. The band has also been on hiatus more than once too.
The current line-up has been together since 2018 and are Ginger (vocals/guitar), CJ (guitar/vocals), Danny Mc Cormack (bass/vocals) and Rich Battersby (drums). They have an amazing catalogue of 10 studio albums, two of which made the Top 10 in the UK. They also have several ‘Live’ albums, including the 2014 recording ‘Rock City Vs The Wildhearts’. This is the final night of their tour promoting their new album ‘21st Century Love Songs’ released in September this year.
The lights go out, cheers go up, and out walk The Wildhearts to ‘Don’t Worry About Me’. The Quo like power riff introduces ‘Diagnosis’, Ginger is center stage, smiling and nodding, his dreadlock mane up out of his face allowing him to rip into the vocal. Danny McCormack is giving everyone a ‘thumbs up’.
Ginger leaps into the air as the riffs start. The power level rises and the crowd claps through to the end, a brutal start. This is going to be epic. The crowd recognize ‘Everlone’ from the first note, Ginger is jumping and spinning like the Tasmanian Devil. A pause brings a tidal wave of fist pumps, Battersby launches an assault on the ears, we take over singing “Ever, Ever”, McCormack’s bass drives it faster.
“How the fuck are you Rock City? This is my favourite gig.” Says a smiling Ginger, “We’ve had to get used to a lot of changes recently, but water in a can?” he continues as he takes a swig. The stage lighting glows yellow, we can guess the next track. The stuttering Battersby drums brings ‘Vanilla Radio’ from the 2003 ‘The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed’ to life, Gingers hair is like a flailing Cat-O-Nine Tails.
There’s three bands playing tonight, show some support to the others and buy some merch”, requests Ginger. ‘Sick of Drugs’ is a more controlled tracked, a cyclic guitar riff, measured drum and bass, Ginger’s vocal is defined and careful, the crowd eagerly join in with some ‘Wo-ahs’.
‘Remember These Days’ from the new album has CJ and Danny on backing vocals, they are alternating lines/verses with Ginger, this morphs into a mega heavy medley of tracks concluding with ‘Splattermania’. Without pausing we’re into ‘Caffeine Bomb’ released in 1994, it has the pace and energy ramped up, the vocals are blistering, cue the first mosh pit of the evening. Danny gets a big cheer, he takes over the lead vocal for the next song, ‘Anthem’ is taken off the 1997 album ‘Endless Nameless’, a bit more of a techno/electro sound, but again Mc Cormack’s bass and Battersby’s drum are spine shattering.
Ginger decides to tune his guitar because “it’s what real rock stars do between songs”. A commanding riff, a chanting vocal, quick/stop drums and a duel lead solo, CJ’s and Ginger’s hands working in perfect time as if tied together it soon whips the Rock City crowd into a frenzy, this is ‘My Kinda Movie’ from the 2019 release ‘Renaissance Men’, as is the next track ‘Dislocated’, Ginger is shouting the lyrics in some places then there’s harmonies in others, this is a track that has different tempos, different musical styles, joined together by a cracking McCormack bass line. This is a very clever song, I’m mesmerized. Loved it.
Massive bass wash introduces ‘Splitter’, from the new album ‘21st Century Love Songs’, riffs, solo’s, angry vocals pounding drums and bass, a circle pit, this is a great punk song, but it’s more than that, there’s slide guitar sound and a good old-fashioned rock solo.
This is almost genre genetic engineering; this takes heaps of musical ability. Ginger tells us the next song is about getting old and ‘spring cleaning’ your life, ‘Let ‘Em Go’, a quick start and riff, Battersby’s drums are sounding like anti-aircraft cannons, the vocals are melodic, then there’s a pause for an incensed chant, the guitars are heavy. The band stop playing to allow the crowd to carry on with the singing.
Ginger asks the crowd if they have any requests, ‘Geordie In Wonderland’ gets the vote, almost sounding like a folk song, calm and steady. This ability to switch sounds and styles really showcases their talents.
Normal service resumes, “If you’re stood on two-legs I want you to bounce” is the command. So, from probably their most iconic and critically praised 1995 album ‘P.H.U.Q’ is ‘Caprice’. An extremely clever blend of metal riffs, rhythms and vocals. I hear the grunge of Seattle, Faith No More and Black Sabbath, I don’t want it to stop. But it does, it’s the end of the set, the band thank us and say their goodbye’s.
We’re not fooled, and they’re back after a few minutes. ‘Weekend (5 Long Days)’ getting through the monotony, routine and boredom of the week just to enjoy the ‘pleasures’ of the weekend. CJ has the crowd swaying their arms, the heavy riff starts the circle pit off. Without allowing anyone to get their breath back, we’re back to the first album with ‘Suckerpunch’ a Motorhead tempo and feisty lyric, the band go all in, it’s full on in your face Rock ‘n’ Roll.
The first wave of crowd surfers are off. It’s a great sight after the past 2 years. The Wildhearts are gracious with their thanks once again. The set closer is ‘I Wanna Go Where the People Go’ when asked about this song, Ginger’s reply was, ” Ever wish there was a city, town, school or club where people were just a little more like you…. BIG SURPRISE…so does everyone else…keep searching we are out there”. There’s more surfers as the crowd chant “Hey, Hey, Hey”, we have a crashing finale.
Having seen The Wildhearts a few times previously at various festivals, this was the first time on their own tour. If you ever get the chance to see them, then it’s a chance you should take. I’ve really enjoyed tonight, there were bits out of my comfort zone or my ‘norm’, but unless you are willing to push those boundaries, you could be missing out on some fabulous talent, examples of which performed here tonight.
We all reluctantly leave the hall; the kids are in after us. As like many here tonight, I’ll be checking what dates the bands have planned for 2022. We all need something to look forward to, and you could do a whole lots worse than see these bands next year.
Setlist: Diagnosis; Everlone; Vanilla Radio; Sick Of Drugs; Remember These Days/Medley/Splattermania; Caffeine Bomb; Anthem; My Kinda Movie; Dislocated; Splitter; Let ‘Em Go; Geordie in Wonderland (Crowd request instead of Mazel Tov Cocktail); Caprice; Suckerpunch; Weekend (5 Long Days); I Wanna Go Where The People Go.
Photography by Manny Manson for MPM
