aaamusic | On 26, Oct 2011

London, 25th October

As dizzyingly fun as tonight was, one would be hard-pressed to miss the elephant in the room. It has become fashionable, lately, to deride bands who play classic albums in full on nights like this, claiming that the act of doing so is the band admitting that trading on past glories is all they have left, and on tonight’s evidence, considering the album they’re playing in full is a full decade old, the material played in total doesn’t date beyond 2004, and one of the main draws of the evening is the inclusion of old guitarist Charlotte Hatherly, it would be difficult to argue with that in Ash’s case. And that’s even before you consider that this is the biggest headline show the band has played in years, in fact, the last time they played a show bigger than this was in 2008, when they played the Camden Roundhouse, doing their debut album, 1977, in it’s entirety. But fuck the right thing to do, on paper this sounds like a death knell for the band but as evidenced by what’s happening on stage (y’know, the only thing that matters when it comes to gigs), this is nothing short of a total rejuvenation, the remarkable sound of a band with something to prove, knowing exactly how to prove it and emphatically showing the nay-sayers exactly how they can go fuck themselves. Tonight was an utter triumph. And here’s why.

 

In essence, Ash are pretty much doing what they’ve always done tonight, playing the shit out of great songs as loudly as they can, the only difference tonight is that they are playing what is unequivocally there best studio album in full, so we get the lesser spotted Candy, World Domination, Cherry Bomb and There’s A Star along with the evergreen, show-stopping likes of Girl From Mars, A Life Less Ordinary, Goldfinger and a version of Orpheus with enough energy from the band and audience to conceivably power France. Along with one of the greatest opening salvos on rock n roll history, Walking Barefoot into Shining Light into Burn Baby Burn. In terms of show openings, it’s one that’s rarely been equalled. And the show goes from strength to strength from there.

 

Although truth be told, Ash have never been able to pour their copper bottomed genius into a whole album and even though Free All Angels is their best, the night does drag in some places, but despite some slightly aimless three chord thrashers (Shark, Pacific Palisades) and the slightly baffling inclusion of B-side Warmer Than Fire in the part of the evening reserved for “Hits”, but I’m nitpicking. The vast majority of the evening is a joyous reminder of why Ash should be regarded as National Treasures, for writing some of the best Pop songs ever written, and for being able to play them amazingly well. Like a favourite jumper, or the James Bond films, Ash will whether any change in style or times by doing what they do best, writing timeless guitar pop gems like no-one else on earth, long may they last, and if they keep putting on showings like they did at the HMV forum tonight, then long will they last.

 

Author: Will Howard