It's been way too long since I last went to Rock City and since the Wildhearts were playing there on one of their all too rare tours I got myself some digs sorted nearby ready for a night with one of the best and most underrated bands on the planet.
Arriving too early to get in my room at the Igloo Backpackers Hostel, Charlie the nice lass on reception kindly let me stash my gear so could go down to the Tap & Tumbler for some lunch and liquid refreshment. You just can't go to Rock City without going for a beer in the Tap, a fine rock bar with a great atmosphere. A few hours later and much refreshed, if a little wobbly, it was back to the digs for a scrub up then down to the gig. Thinking at seven o'clock I might be a bit early I was well pleased to see Ginger's project band Hey! Hello! coming on stage as I walked in. Hey! Hello! got the evening off to a great start with plenty of us already familiar with the songs and singing along with favourites "How I Survived The Punk Wars" "Black Valentine" and "Swimwear". I could have happily watched them play twice as long, paticularly since next band the Von Hertzen Brothers weren't really my cup o' tea (sorry guys) although many folks obviously enjoyed them. Horses for courses and all that eh?
My time away from the Von Hertzen's set was put to good use however as I sought out the merch stall to get me a copy of the Rock City vs. The Wildhearts CD that they'll only be selling on this tour then off to seek further liquid refreshment. A good idea here is an additional bar selling tins. Now these are a bit overpriced but an ideal solution if you want get down the front and still keep most of your booze in its container when the crowd goes mental. So with drink in hand and tinnies in pockets I got a prime spot front centre ready for the madness to begin.
The Wiildhearts hit the stage on top form with "Nothing Ever Changes" then keeping the energy up with "TV Tan", "Nita Nitro", "Sick Of Drugs" and "Caffiene Bomb". By now I'm sweating my nuts off and loving it. After a brief respite we're all wanting to know 'Where's my Elvis?' as the band storm through "Vanilla Radio", "Someone That Won't Let Me Go" then (relatively) recent songs "This Revolution Will Be Televised" and "Mazel Tov Cocktail". The intensity increased further as the set finished with "My Baby Is A Headfuck", "Suckerpunch" and "I Wanna Go Where The People Go". Glad of a few moments rest I looked round at a sea of faces grinning as madly as I must have been and taking the time to apologise for treading on toes, crushing folk and the odd accidental headbutt. All good fun y'know.
Coming back on stage, Ginger let us get halfway through "Geordie In Wonderland" before joining in. Then in an encore nearly as long as the first set we had "The Jackson Whites", "Nexus Icon", Tim Smith" and "Junkenstein", Scott took the lead vocals for "The Only One", a good many of us wanted their excellent cover of Warren Zevon classic "Carmelita" but you can't have everything. A great job of covering Jason and the Scorchers "White Lies" however followed before leaving us wrung out with our vocal chords pushed to the limit with "29x The Pain"
A truly fantastic show with a great set list. Great to see Scott Sorry back in the line-up with Ginger, CJ and Rich. Last but not least a great crowd, an absolute pleasure to get crushed and battered with you all.
