REVIEW: ASH AT BATH KOMEDIA (28/07/11)
They’re coming up to their 20th anniversary and shockingly, this is the first time Ash have ever played Bath and judging by the reception they got at this gig, they’ll be back. Perhaps more shockingly, is the fact that they still rock out like a new-fangled band of 20 something indie kids but harness the awesome skill, showmanship and back catalogue tunes collected over two decades to put on a flawless show.
Bath Komedia was hot (but not as hot as frontman Tim Wheeler, aah yeah) and the band seemed delighted to be playing such an ornate wee venue. I know this cos they said so. When you’ve been performing for so long as a band (give or take a few line up changes, cue the question ‘Is that hot girl still with them?’…no) you know how to put a set list together and this was exemplified with this here gig. At the start of the set they treated the fans to one of their earlier hits Girl From Mars (which is probably one of my least favourite Ash songs) this rolled smoothly into A Life Less Ordinary (one of my favourite Ash songs, bitter sweet huh?!) before segwaying with the more recent, and equally brilliant Dead Disciples, off their most recent A-Z album and the one which this tour was promoting.
Of course, they took it back to 1977 (the album) released in 1996 (when some of the audience were a mere twinkle in their daddy’s eye) with the irritatingly catchy, yet undeniably classic Oh Yeah. Who knew there was half a dozen ways to pronounce the Oh in Oh Yeah?! Add Tim’s sporadic ad lib delivery of the iconic songo the audiance’s painful singalong attempts and we have the most interesting rendition of this song I’ve ever heard, interesting but not all that bad. Let’s face it, while the songs are all pretty awesome, Tim ain’t ever going to win a singing competition with his vocals. But that’s not what Ash are about. Their songs speak for themselves and Tim’s down to earth execution of them only adds to the appeal.
While on the one hand, Ash can be sentimentally slushy with songs such as Shining Light, they also know how to rock right out with songs like Kung Fu and Petrol. And it was here that the tour manager had to intervene when a couple of overzealous bouncers attempted to half a mosh pit that had developed down the front. Come on, Ash fans largely consist of big kids, what’s the worse that could happen? Anyone with any sense or smell was as far away from that pit as they could get without losing sight of one of the cutest frontmen in indie rock.
The end of the set saw former Stranglers singer and local resident Hugh Cornwall take to the stage to sing on his signature Strangler’s track No More Heroes and play guitar on Ash’s Burn Baby Burn. What a treat, but not as much of a treat as one of the final songs Return of White Rabbit, which grabbed the night by the balls and proved the perfect way to round off a near perfect gig.
Last time I saw Ash was at Cardiff Barfly, just before it closed down, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well they’ve aged (read my last review HERE). And this gig just ratified my point and ensured that I’ll carry on going to their gigs just as long as they carry on playing them. Methinks a lot of their Britpop counterparts should take note.
Words, photos and video: Laura Williams 
