Review: The Wildhearts at Nottingham Rock City

CAPABILITY isn’t really a word that The Wildhearts dwell upon. Put simply, they don’t do anything else other than put on a first class show, as this latest display proved to a near ‘sold out’ crowd at Nottingham Rock City.
The Wildhearts at Notitngham Rock CityThe Wildhearts at Notitngham Rock City
The Wildhearts at Notitngham Rock City

Opening with Shoes, T.V. Tan and Nita Nitro this tight and musically gifted gang ripped up the stage with a fine collection of tunes from across their extensive repertoire. Our last encounter, just a couple of years ago, was at a smaller venue so it was good to see them filling a room twice the size.

Caffeine Bomb, a favourite of mine that still makes me smile as to how they can vocalise at that speed, really hit the mark with the crowd hanging on to every word. It was also good to hear Head, followed in quick succession by Suckerpunch, relentlessly kept in time by the amazing sticksmanship of drummer Rich and bassist Scott Sorry. Many people tend to forget that it is these people who actually drive the band, even though Ginger and C.J. take centre stage.

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As time pressed on it was nice to see The Wildhearts dig into the vaults as the near half hour encore included Junkenstein, White Lies and Sunshine. And with the old favourite 29 X The Pain, this twenty song banquet was over, until the next time of course.

Britain has produced many great bands over the years yet for some bizarre reason real quality like The Wildhearts remain out of the mainstream, mainstream, which financially can do many a band harm. So it is to their absolute credit that for over two decades their hearts and integrity have been firmly in place so that we, the loyal fan base can reap the rewards. The Wildhearts really are amazing!

ROY GOODALL