WiNTER TOUR 2008 REViEWS

[Sarc]

(Sarc were you in na white top, taking photos of A, during their set?)

Yes I believe I was, either that or my purple hoody, cant remember when i took it off during the show.

*edit* I apologise I've just read that back realised how rude it sounds.

[Ean]

interesting about nita as a first song...

They opened with it when they played Phoenix in '96 and it was great, I'm glad they did it again.

That was one of the best entrances ever, and one of my all time favourite gig moments. I'm very glad I was there for that.

jebus Ean you either kept the setlist or you've got one hell of a memory. i woz there too an i can't remember that

No setlist**, and I can't remember much of anything else they played - oddly much the same applies for last Wednesday... , but how could that entrance not stick in your heid?

**Had a google and found this:-

1. Nita Nitro
2. I Wanna Go Where The People Go
3. My Baby Is A Headfuck
4. TV Tan
5. Pump It Up
6. Caffeine Bomb
7. Loveshit
8. S.I.N. (In Sin)
9. Everlone
10. Love U Til I Don't

[Radish]

Hmm, all seems a bit mixed up around here, albeit with a general dose of 'still the greatest' which is good. For my part, for what it's worth which isn't much but what the hell, I went to Oxford and took a newbie along for the ride, and had a great night. Like others have picked up, I didn't think Ginger was in the best of moods and chucked a few songs out like it was his job to do so, which, hey, it is I guess.
Anyway, I'd had a shitty week and a couple or 6 beers which I don't get to do much nowadays, so I was feeling a bit under the influence and found myself writing a letter to Ginger in my head. Something along the lines of (and remember I was drunk at the time so this is a hazy memory and quite unlike me anyway), "Ginger & co, first off, thanks. I'll admit Oxford wasn't the best show I've ever seen the Wildhearts do, but then it's a bit like comparing the Eiger to Everest - they're both pretty bloody special bits of rock. I've had a shitty week or so and went to the gig in a bit of a down mood, but just seeing the band and hearing songs that have meant so much to me for quite some time now picked me right up again (Red Light Green Light, awesome, reminded me of pure punk). It seemed like you weren't having the best of nights, so I just wanted to say if you are on a bit of a downer at the moment, rest assured that what you're all doing is very much needed and appreciated by at least one of me, and plenty more besides. I don't get to live the vicarious rock lifestyle I dreamed of when I still had hair (not to say I don't like my life, just some choices lead you down different paths to those you thought you'd follow y'know), but every now and again I get to pop back in thanks to music and gigs like this, and to be gushingly ott, thanks to people like you. So, cheers dude, it's a bit selfish of me to ask you to keep doing this just to allow me a bit of escapism, but I'm going to anyway."
Shit me, I sound like a fucking teenager (apologies to the erudite teenagers around here). Anyway, that's my thoughts. Oh, and add in that A were great, didn't play 5 in The Morning (or Number 1?) despite me shouting for it but then you can't have everything. And I did think CJ looked like he's finally getting older, nothing drastic just not still looking like he's twentybastardfive any more. And the newbie? Loved it. Another one signed up to the club.
Time to slink back off to the quiet room...

[markE]

(Sarc were you in na white top, taking photos of A, during their set?)

Yes I believe I was, either that or my purple hoody, cant remember when i took it off during the show.

*edit* I apologise I've just read that back realised how rude it sounds.

i believe i saw you then sir. i was tempted to come up and say hello but was scared of sound like a numpty. added to which my wife is very sceptical of the whole talking to people on the internet thing..

[Sarc]

(Sarc were you in na white top, taking photos of A, during their set?)

Yes I believe I was, either that or my purple hoody, cant remember when i took it off during the show.

*edit* I apologise I've just read that back realised how rude it sounds.

i believe i saw you then sir. i was tempted to come up and say hello but was scared of sound like a numpty. added to which my wife is very sceptical of the whole talking to people on the internet thing..

Aye thats a fair point and if theres anyone off the net people should be wary of its me, before any of you bastards say it first.

[justin lust]

Alright, so I'll be a voice of dissent, apparently. I'm very quiet on these boards - I used to be a listee, back in the day, under a different name etc - and have seen the band 9 times now. That was the second worst performance by them I have seen. I cannot be an apologist about it: it was just poor. I understand that Ginger had a bad night, but I'd argue that mine was worse. I travelled halfway across the country - for the second time in four months, by the way - to see them, at great expense, and it was obvious from the get-go that there was something slightly amiss. Coming after Tragedy - who were great, if you bothered to get there to see them - and A - who were fine, if a little rusty (and who I want to shake and warn against releasing a new album in the current musical climate, as I just can't see that ending well at all) - I wanted fun, excitement, party spirit. I wanted that Christmas gig from years back with the covers of Christmas songs and special guests - as ramshackle as that was, that was the ideal, right?

And what I got was a band playing very well, with pretty good sound (from the varied places I stood), far better than the Empire gig, and Ginger in a foul mood. I was pissed off when he complained about the sound after having chosen to not turn up to soundcheck, and even more pissed off when he said he was having a shit time. We knew that: it showed. And it rang through the crowd, just watching them compared to many Wildhearts gigs. They were tepid. The setlist was what I expected, sadly, with no surprises - I prayed that the start of Just In Lust was Schitzophonic, but, alas - and a band who all seemed to be having fun apart from Ginger.

And then the "Do the Wildhearts have a place in the world" thing: Clearly they do. It may not be the world-conquering place you wish they had, but it's a place. It's a place that sells out medium sized venues in London and over the country, and a place that still sells copies of new albums that the fanbase eat up. It's hard to make new fans at this stage of their career (and we had one there with us last night, who, after the performance decided to not buy a CD...) and maybe he should just accept that, and play to the fanbase? I saw all the Earth VS songs a few months back - as I'm better most of the audience did - so why not give us something different?

I don't know. I'm feeling quite let down. I've seen them at their good and their bad, but I've never felt quite as let down by them as I feel today.

oh i waited a week, but sorry you have still grated on me...

first things first....

- I wanted fun, excitement, party spirit. I wanted that Christmas gig from years back with the covers of Christmas songs and special guests - as ramshackle as that was, that was the ideal, right?

errr just a tour dude.... only becuase it was in december dont mean it is a special xmas gig...

secondly...

The setlist was what I expected, sadly, with no surprises - I prayed that the start of Just In Lust was Schitzophonic, but, alas - and a band who all seemed to be having fun apart from Ginger.

carmelita?understading jane?just in lust?getting it? jesus i have been seeing the wildhearts for the last 14 years, and have pretty much in the last 4 seen them, 3 or 4 times a year... and those songs have not been played with any regularity...

sorry to be an arse, but thinking that the intro to just in lust was schitzo is something i am having a hard time with...

now lastly but no means leastly...

And then the "Do the Wildhearts have a place in the world" thing: Clearly they do. It may not be the world-conquering place you wish they had, but it's a place. It's a place that sells out medium sized venues in London and over the country, and a place that still sells copies of new albums that the fanbase eat up. It's hard to make new fans at this stage of their career (and we had one there with us last night, who, after the performance decided to not buy a CD...) and maybe he should just accept that, and play to the fanbase? I saw all the Earth VS songs a few months back - as I'm better most of the audience did - so why not give us something different?

this opinion has to be the worst retarded view of the wildhearts...
its hard to make a new fan at this stage of their career???????? what a load of bollocks.... what the fact that they have had more acliam and reconigtion with this incarnation then they have had in years. as i said before i have seen this band for years and with this line up and material i have seen crowds at gigs get bigger and more diverse in age.....

did you actually see the crowd at download????

and to play JUST to the fan base ??? jees thats just the most selfishly motivated comment ever

and to say not play songs off the wildhearts most infomaous album and time of their career, is , in my opinion, stupid......


if you found this harsh or petty, then i suggest you can bite me.....

good day

[whatevermort]

oh i waited a week, but sorry you have still grated on me...

first things first....

- I wanted fun, excitement, party spirit. I wanted that Christmas gig from years back with the covers of Christmas songs and special guests - as ramshackle as that was, that was the ideal, right?

errr just a tour dude.... only becuase it was in december dont mean it is a special xmas gig...

Yeah, I know. And that's a fair point. I just - alright, try this. I wanted something a bit more special than a throwaway knockabout tour given that I last paid to see them do a 'special' concert a few months back. How's that? And I DEFINITELY wanted something more special than a quite shit performance from Ginger and some moaning about it being shit and having shit sound after admitting that the shit sound was their own fault. Better?

secondly...

The setlist was what I expected, sadly, with no surprises - I prayed that the start of Just In Lust was Schitzophonic, but, alas - and a band who all seemed to be having fun apart from Ginger.

carmelita?understading jane?just in lust?getting it? jesus i have been seeing the wildhearts for the last 14 years, and have pretty much in the last 4 seen them, 3 or 4 times a year... and those songs have not been played with any regularity...

sorry to be an arse, but thinking that the intro to just in lust was schitzo is something i am having a hard time with...

The intro to Just In Lust was stretched out - as you'd know, if you were there - played in a lower key and repeated as a simple strummed riff fifteen or twenty times, one note, over and over. To my ears it sounded like Schitzophonic for a second or two. That is, as you say, you being an arse.

I'm not arguing that they rarely play Just or Getting it (though I've seen Getting It live four or five times now, so it isn't that much of a rarity). And I'm not arguing that they played two covers (which I liked less than if I'd seen them play some of their own material.) I'm saying that the stuff they did play - the staunch favourites, the Caffeine Bomb/Everlone/Suckerpunch/I Wanna Go/29X lot, that's getting tired, in my opinion. If you're going to play stuff from The Wildhearts - as I want them to - don't just play the songs you played on the tour itself. Play Slaughtered Authors! And think about the setlist, because - from where I was standing, and the four people I was with - playing Rooting in the encore section did nothing for the mood of the audience. My argument comes down to me wanting to see something different now. There's a back catalogue of hundreds of songs, and when you see them as often as I do - as you do, by the sounds of it - I would, once in a while, like to hear the stuff I rarely do. The best moment, for me, of the Earth VS gig was Show a Little Emotion and 2 Way Idiot Mirror, songs that I have never before heard live, and I WISH I had that moment at the Kentish Town gig. Is that too much to ask? I'm not saying to jettison the Big Singles - but save them for an encore or something. I've heard a lot of the setlist played live 14 times in my life, and I'm getting to the point where I'm going to stop paying to see it because I'm getting bored of hearing them, a bit (though that is compounded by that performance last week, I must admit). Because that ties neatly into your other issue with me:

now lastly but no means leastly...

And then the "Do the Wildhearts have a place in the world" thing: Clearly they do. It may not be the world-conquering place you wish they had, but it's a place. It's a place that sells out medium sized venues in London and over the country, and a place that still sells copies of new albums that the fanbase eat up. It's hard to make new fans at this stage of their career (and we had one there with us last night, who, after the performance decided to not buy a CD...) and maybe he should just accept that, and play to the fanbase? I saw all the Earth VS songs a few months back - as I'm better most of the audience did - so why not give us something different?

this opinion has to be the worst retarded view of the wildhearts...
its hard to make a new fan at this stage of their career???????? what a load of bollocks.... what the fact that they have had more acliam and reconigtion with this incarnation then they have had in years. as i said before i have seen this band for years and with this line up and material i have seen crowds at gigs get bigger and more diverse in age.....
did you actually see the crowd at download????
and to play JUST to the fan base ??? jees thats just the most selfishly motivated comment ever
and to say not play songs off the wildhearts most infomaous album and time of their career, is , in my opinion, stupid......
if you found this harsh or petty, then i suggest you can bite me.....
good day

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the acclaim and recognition that they've had in this incarnation is from us, the fans. It's not from the music press, or from bloggers who've never heard of them before - they aren't not giving them acclaim, they're just (aside from Kerrang) saying very much at all. It's from us. We think it's a great line-up. It is. But the albums sell to us. The tour tickets sell to us. They sell to people who turn up in Wildhearts' t-shirts, not because they thought they should buy some to fit in, but because they already had them. The whole audience knows the songs because they have followed the band for, in some cases, the last 18 years. Some of them, fair enough, might be new fans. But most aren't. This isn't a Greatest Hits tour. It isn't promoting a new album, even. It's a Christmas Tour, designed to make some money, and they make that money from the fans. I'm not damning them for that: it's what you do. And I'm not even crying about the fact that the band have a niche now, and work it: that's what happens. But they aren't going to make as many new fans as they did in the 90s. It just won't happen.

I'm not denying that the Download audience was won over by them, but, realistically, how many bought albums? How many actually then went and bought tickets to this tour? Not many, I'll bet, because venues were downsized the country over. I just can't be overly defensive of the band any more. I love them, but I have friends who sniggered when I said who I was going to London to see the other day, and they are friends who are huge fans of rock/metal. What do you do with that? Nothing, because we're the fanbase. Every year on two or three occasions we will go to gigs and buy t-shirts and buy a new album and keep the band in fresh pairs of socks and Christmas presents. And we'll love them, and love all their albums.

I think that most people at the gigs nowadays are the fanbase. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But almost everyone at that gig the other day knew every word to every song, and probably would have loved to have heard, oh, I don't know, Schitzophonic instead of Someone That Won't Let Me Go. It IS hard to make new fans at their stage in the career. They don't get column inches, they don't get written about on the internet, and people remember them fondly rather than caring what they are up to now. Notice, I said "hard", not "impossible", and there will be people who prove that theory wrong. But, by and large I stand by what I said. At a festival gig, a big support gig, fine, they should play all the singles, any song that'll drive people to buy their material etc. But at a gig that costs the fanbase £20 (plus booking and travel costs) per ticket - a gig where, lets face it, no random passer by will pay money to go to, so everybody there will be a fan, right? - the band can afford to splash out a little with the setlist.

They are still one of my favourite bands, and Ginger will always be one of my favourite songwriters, but they rely - to a great extent - on the fans, and - as far as this fan is concerned - they are in danger of losing my stream of revenue from live concerts. Give me a PHUQ anniversary show, great, I'll be there. But the next general Wildhearts tour, I think I'm passing, sadly.

We'll agree to disagree, yeah?

[gar971y]

i agree with" whatevermort" is saying ,,i am from N.Ireland and went over to the 15 year gig in london in sept,and i was thinking about spending another small fortune on going to one of these gigs,but on reading the reviews i would have been well let down,,so if i had gone i would be putting up something like what "whatevermort" has said,,i have been left thinking i am glad i didnt make the effort in going,,,,

[PeeCee]

I wish I could have bene so lucky to have seen The Wildhearts so many times like you did and moan about the 79 songs they keep playing over and over again through all these years with the money you guys spend travelling to se T WH so many times you should instead grab all that money and hire the band to play the setlist you would love on your backyard garden

The day The Wildhearts do not play Caffeine bomb or Suckerpunch live is the day I kill someone...

So when is Zeen Requien released as a b-side hein?

[justin lust]

firstly i must apologise... i went to the wolverhamtopn gig.... and it was awesome, ginger was in a great mood, despite having a sore throat. i must admit i was a bit rude to mention the similarities between just in lust and schitzo...

and gar971y just actually read what whatevermort posted, in your instance, if you had gone to the wolvehampton gig you would have not been dissapointed.....

right....

Yeah, I know. And that's a fair point. I just - alright, try this. I wanted something a bit more special than a throwaway knockabout tour given that I last paid to see them do a 'special' concert a few months back. How's that? And I DEFINITELY wanted something more special than a quite shit performance from Ginger and some moaning about it being shit and having shit sound after admitting that the shit sound was their own fault. Better?

jeees dont want much do you, so doing the anniversary gig was not enought for you then??? dear lord i knew we are a demanding bunch but you take the piss

and so what if ginger was in a shit mood, like most have said on here if you have been through the band and seen them on a routine basis (just to let you know i am probably on my 50th gig or so) gingers volatile personality is part of the routine.... in fact he is a lot better now than what he was like in the 90's

'm not arguing that they rarely play Just or Getting it (though I've seen Getting It live four or five times now, so it isn't that much of a rarity). And I'm not arguing that they played two covers (which I liked less than if I'd seen them play some of their own material.) I'm saying that the stuff they did play - the staunch favourites, the Caffeine Bomb/Everlone/Suckerpunch/I Wanna Go/29X lot, that's getting tired, in my opinion. My argument comes down to me wanting to see something different now. There's a back catalogue of hundreds of songs, and when you see them as often as I do - as you do, by the sounds of it - I would, once in a while, like to hear the stuff I rarely do. The best moment, for me, of the Earth VS gig was Show a Little Emotion and 2 Way Idiot Mirror, songs that I have never before heard live, and I WISH I had that moment at the Kentish Town gig. Is that too much to ask? I'm not saying to jettison the Big Singles - but save them for an encore or something. I've heard a lot of the setlist played live 14 times in my life, and I'm getting to the point where I'm going to stop paying to see it because I'm getting bored of hearing them, a bit (though that is compounded by that performance last week, I must admit). Because that ties neatly into your other issue with me:

i have in the last 3 years at least seen the wildhearts 3 time each year, and never heard getting it, i have not heard it since the tour for the phuq album, sorry wrong on that one,

i think your problem is that you are wanting to much and to be honest mate, you will alway be dissapointed, the wildhearts have a huge collection as we know, so put your self in their shoes trying to pick a setlist that pleases the masses, with that many songs under your belt.... just plain impossible.

i have to say if you are bored at hearing the wildhearts live mate then you go and do one mate, as i think that has to be the most moronic thing to say on a artists fan forum....

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the acclaim and recognition that they've had in this incarnation is from us, the fans. It's not from the music press, or from bloggers who've never heard of them before - they aren't not giving them acclaim, they're just (aside from Kerrang) saying very much at all. It's from us. We think it's a great line-up. It is. But the albums sell to us. The tour tickets sell to us. They sell to people who turn up in Wildhearts' t-shirts, not because they thought they should buy some to fit in, but because they already had them. The whole audience knows the songs because they have followed the band for, in some cases, the last 18 years. Some of them, fair enough, might be new fans. But most aren't. This isn't a Greatest Hits tour. It isn't promoting a new album, even. It's a Christmas Tour, designed to make some money, and they make that money from the fans. I'm not damning them for that: it's what you do. And I'm not even crying about the fact that the band have a niche now, and work it: that's what happens. But they aren't going to make as many new fans as they did in the 90s. It just won't happen.

I'm not denying that the Download audience was won over by them, but, realistically, how many bought albums? How many actually then went and bought tickets to this tour? Not many, I'll bet, because venues were downsized the country over. I just can't be overly defensive of the band any more. I love them, but I have friends who sniggered when I said who I was going to London to see the other day, and they are friends who are huge fans of rock/metal. What do you do with that? Nothing, because we're the fanbase. Every year on two or three occasions we will go to gigs and buy t-shirts and buy a new album and keep the band in fresh pairs of socks and Christmas presents. And we'll love them, and love all their albums.

I think that most people at the gigs nowadays are the fanbase. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But almost everyone at that gig the other day knew every word to every song, and probably would have loved to have heard, oh, I don't know, Schitzophonic instead of Someone That Won't Let Me Go. It IS hard to make new fans at their stage in the career. They don't get column inches, they don't get written about on the internet, and people remember them fondly rather than caring what they are up to now. Notice, I said "hard", not "impossible", and there will be people who prove that theory wrong. But, by and large I stand by what I said. At a festival gig, a big support gig, fine, they should play all the singles, any song that'll drive people to buy their material etc. But at a gig that costs the fanbase £20 (plus booking and travel costs) per ticket - a gig where, lets face it, no random passer by will pay money to go to, so everybody there will be a fan, right? - the band can afford to splash out a little with the setlist.

They are still one of my favourite bands, and Ginger will always be one of my favourite songwriters, but they rely - to a great extent - on the fans, and - as far as this fan is concerned - they are in danger of losing my stream of revenue from live concerts. Give me a PHUQ anniversary show, great, I'll be there. But the next general Wildhearts tour, I think I'm passing, sadly.

We'll agree to disagree, yeah?

they have had more recognition and better reviews since the new album FACT....

but i am not going to nitpick at answer becuase i dont need to what nagers me is that just one crappy gig you saying you wont go to another gig.......F CK OFF then you dont deserve to be in the presence of a great band if thats your attitude, i have seen some shit gigs by the boys, mk, cambridge and nothampton but i still go, why becuase i know it goes with the territory of being a wildhearts fan.....

or just take note to what peecee said...

[whatevermort]

I'm sorry, but stop being a dick about this. I don't share your opinion - or, apparently, limitless wallet to spend on gigs - and I have to pick and choose what I go and see. I have seen that gig, or variations therein, many times. I first saw the band in 1994. It's now 14 years later, and I've seen them 14 times - which is a fair old chunk. The best Wildhearts concerts I have seen were the Earth VS tribute, the London Christmas show I mentioned before, the Mushroom Records signing shindig where they dressed as 19th Century women. Why? Because they were all special. SPECIAL. That gig last week was anything but. It was dull and lifeless and dim. it wasn't annoying because of the band's volatility. It wasn't annoying because of the sound. It was annoying because it felt like going through the motions. It was, to my ears, tired. MY OPINION.

And fine, I don't share your opinions. I'm sorry. I cannot afford to travel the country to see a concert that I might have seen before. That doesn't make me a proper fan?! Jesus fucking wept, climb down from your fucking tree and step back a second. I didn't say I hated the band. I didn't say they were shit. I said that I was disappointed - a personal opinion! - and that I, personally, wouldn't pay for to see them on their next tour if it's a generic load of songs in the setlist. MY OPINION.

And, fine, maybe I haven't seen Getting It recently. Last time was - if memory serves - at a gig on the Must Be Destroyed tour. Saying, "Sorry, wrong on that one" is just a stupid thing to say. I felt like I'd seen it recently. Again, MY OPINION.

My "problem" - as you put it - isn't wanting too much. It's wanting what I know the band can provide. I've seen them do it on multiple occasions. And what recognition are you speaking of? The 2 star review in Q? The No Review in the NME? It's a great album, their best since PHUQ, in my opinion, but it hasn't done any more for them! I'm sorry, it just hasn't! I'd love to see sales figures, see if it sold more than Must Be Destroyed - I'll bet it hasn't.

Let's play nice: Let me have my opinion and you can have yours. You don't have be so over the top when I try to voice mine, and you don't have to be so aggressive about it. The Wildhearts have been my favourite band in the world for fifteen years of my life, and I'd find it sad if I blindly acccepted everything they do without finding fault. I've found fault here, but, again, that's just MY OPINION.

[PeeCee]

whatevermort, you have the right to have YOUR OPINION but it looks like you're speaking your opinion out like you were the only one at that WH gig... What I mean is, there's this particular song from the last album that everybody seems to love but I don't really like it at all musicaly/lyrics speaking, but if the wh play it live I won't moan about it beacause the gig would be excellent anyways, even if Ginger is in a bad mood I know they will do an awesome gig because they are an EXCELLENT band, EXCELLENT musicians, rock really HARD live and they are not on drugs anymore if you think the band has nothing more to give you than move on to another thing. Fuck it man it's rock'n'roll, it's fun, it's having a good time and The Wildhearts now have a guy in the band that can provide us with all that sheere amusement. They have the BEST LINE UP ever and the gigs since that particular guy joined the band have more new and different songs in the setlist than ever C'MON!!!! this is the best time to LOVE the wildhearts so when is that Zeen Requiem coming out?

[Sarc]

................and as for the price of drinks, fucking hell you think you've got something to moan about I bought two drinks and it cost me four quid, thats FOUR FUCKING ENGLISH POUNDS STERLING, the bloke at the kebab shop tried to charge me twice and got pissed off when I told him I was sober so he couldnt get away with it so instead he stole a chip from me, outside was cold, i had to sit on an empty seat on the tube and not have my face stuffed into someones armpit and to top it all off that bloody band I travelled to see had the audacity to play a song that they played ONCE back in 1995, the cheapskate bastards



I'll get me coat, Ean, locky locky time.

[PeeCee]

Do you still use Pounds in England ???

[Sarc]

:shock: Do you still use Pounds in England ???

Nah we take care of our own dogs these days, if not the neighbours do.