the Wildhearts
Appearing at the Engine Rooms, Southampton, the Wildhearts are back on the road to promote their first full-length album in 10 years. The headlining show being the penultimate gig from a short run of live dates during the Renaissance Men Tour Part 2.
Since emerging in the early 90’s the Wildhearts have certainly had some well-publicised issues with the rock n roll lifestyle. However, when it comes to their fanbase, the extended Wildhearts family are always fully behind them and as such the Engine Rooms played host to a busy night.
Desperate Measures and Janus Stark
Ahead of the headliners were two support acts, the first of which being 80’s punks Desperate Measures. The last time I saw these guys, it was all very messy, with guitarist Anzi suffering endless technical problems.
However, even with a last-minute addition of Paul-Ronney Angel (from Urban Voodoo Machine) having to learn his basslines, Desperate Measures were a lot tighter. Providing a welcome dose of straight-up decent rock n roll, rather than the punk chaos previously dished out.
As for Janus Stark, there’s no doubt frontman Gizz Butt is a very accomplished guitarist, just lyrically it’s all very cliché. The band opened up with their catchy little number in “Enemy Lines” and things were off to a good start. Only by the time they ended with equally memorable “Every Little Thing Counts” attentions had started to wander.
The Wildhearts – Engine Rooms, Southampton
Review: The Wildhearts
In celebration of their new album, the Wildhearts delivered 2 new songs straight from the off in “Diagnosis” and “Let ‘em Go”. As with “The Renaissance Men” in general, both were well received live and show the Wildhearts are on top of their game.
It’s a release that combines both the self-destruction tendencies of the band’s core members and that of the worlds’ current state of affairs. The opening tunes were then shortly followed by classic early single “I Wanna go Where the People Go” and the Wildhearts were sounding great.
So too was the charismatic Ginger, who seemed in a good place as he joked and interacted with the crowd. Even if his voice became a little lost in the mix mid-set, the singer/guitarist was soon provided with a whisky and things were back on track.
The new songs certainly standing up alongside those from “Earth vs the Wildhearts” and “the Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed.” All in all, making for a well-balanced setlist, including bassist Danny McCormack briefly taking lead vocals during the encore. Having recently returned to the band, it was a nice touch giving him the opportunity to take a bit of the limelight.
As for the demographics of the audience, largely they appear to be from the same generation that gave us the aforementioned “Earth vs the Wildhearts“. Now, some 25+ years later and it’s fair to say the Wildhearts have certainly won that battle once and for all.
