6/5/2018 Britrock Must Be Destroyed!

What a great bill!

I'm not sure Dodgy could be described as 'Britrock' - they were always far more of an 'Indie' band as far as I was concerned, although I do have one of the singles in my CD collection. Unfortunately, the service on the Piccadilly line is particularly shit today with signalling problems and cancellations galore - resulting in my not only missing Dodgy, but Terrorvision as well!

I eventually arrive at the rather full looking venue in time to see The Wildhearts. Terrorvision were on great form by all accounts and have ensured things are 'Fired up & lairy' in preparation for the next act.

The WiLDHEARTS are hardly a band that even need anybody to warm up for them - when they hit the stage they are on fire straight away! Long time fans of the band are pleased that Danny McCormack is now back in the band - something that many people thought would never happen for a variety of reasons. Danny has had a few health problems over the last several years, which have unfortunately led to him having part of a leg amputated and spending time in a wheelchair. He is now managing to get back on his feet for at least some of the time, and makes a special effort to be standing up for the first song of the set - the anthemic crowd-pleaser 'I Wanna Go Where The People Go'. What a fantastic way to start the show!

I thought the Wildhearts were on excellent form, although some people did moan afterwards about the setlist not having the usual selection of rarely heard and obscure songs, B-sides, and the odd cover version. However, this show is part of a 'joint headline' tour with the three main bands receiving equal billing and a revolving 'headliner' for each gig - so the band's setlist had to be a 'Greatest hits' affair - and I have no doubt it contained the strongest selection of songs of the night - not that Terrorvision are lacking in hits and have had greater commercial success.

It goes without saying that the Wildhearts set is an absolute stormer! The songs include 'TV Tan', 'My Baby Is A Headfuck', 'Suckerpunch', 'Greetings From Shitsville', 'Caffeine Bomb', 'Vanilla Radio', 'Everlone', 'Sick Of Drugs', 'Weekend', 'Nita Nitro', 'Love U 'til I Don't' and the inevitable '29 x The Pain'. Sing-a-long classics every one of them! No other band on this bill has a list of songs as great as this, although Terrorvision come close.

Reef were certainly a very big band for a while back in the day and it's their turn to 'headline' on this night of the tour', but if you asked me to name their 'greatest hits' I could only think of two of them - I honestly can't remember more than a couple of their songs. However, they reformed not long ago and now have a brand new album out.

The band  has a new guitarist, in the form of Jesse Wood - son of Ronnie. The band also have a new look and sound - when I first heard the title track to their new album 'Revelation' I couldn't believe it was Reef - they sounded like AC/DC! I really liked this new song though. Apart from the new guitarist this is actually the original 'classic' Reef lineup, although you might struggle to believe that with Gandalf now apparently on bass!

New song 'Revelation' still means there are only three songs I actually recognise in the whole of Reef's set - the other two being 'Naked' and of course their huge hit 'Place Your Hands'. They are a good live band, but their lack of more than a few recognisable songs leaves them wanting as 'headliners' tonight - either the Wildhearts or Terrorvision both had far stronger setlists of great and instantly recognisable songs. The crowd thins out noticeably during Reef's set, and I'm sure this is only in small part due to people needing to catch last trains home - they just don't have the songs to keep people's attention compared to the previous two bands.

Reef do get some criticism later for playing a set of almost entirely new and unfamiliar material, although to be honest I couldn't tell if most of the band's set was actually from the new album or just older material that I wasn't familiar with. They struggled to keep my attention apart from those three songs I have already mentioned, and even 'Revelation' I thought sounded weak and disappointing compared to how it sounded on the radio recently.

Things did brighten up as bit when a couple of female backing singers appeared on stage - one of whom was the wonderful Lynne Jackaman of Saint Jude fame. However, even this got some fans moaning later as they accused the band of performing a 'Gospel' set of new material - which is absolute bollocks as it most definitely wasn't a Gospel set. I stayed to the end of Reef's set regardless, but if I'd have known how uninspiring I'd find the rest of their set apart from three songs I think I'd have headed to the pub earlier. Still, the Wildhearts made everything worthwhile - and things seem to be looking up for the band as they are on fine form at the moment and have quite a few festival appearances coming up this year plus a brand new album in the pipeline...