GIG REVIEW: The Wildhearts + Crashed Out,
The Hedworth Hall, South Shields, Thursday 11 November 2021
Thirty years after rowdy rockers The Wildhearts last played in South Shields, they at last got to make a triumphant return.
This gig at the 500-capacity Hedworth Hall – a venue more used to hosting wedding ‘dos’ – proved a wonderful homecoming for frontman Ginger and bassist Danny McCormack.
First things first though: Support was provided by another local band, Jarrow’s Crashed Out, who specialise in anthemic punk ‘n’ roll, with big riffs and even bigger choruses.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard them sounding better – or heavier – than they do right now, as they ploughed through a 45-minute set mixing old favourites with songs from their forthcoming new album.
Thus we got Fast N Loose, Here To Stay, Fat Punks Don’t Pogo, and Raise Ya Glasses interspersed with newer cuts like Against All Odds, Urban Zoo and Hypocrisy. But the standout for me was The Town That Died, which takes on extra resonance when performed on home turf.
Their set concluded with the tremendous 1-2-3 of Cushy Butterfield, One Of The Boys and The Jarrow Song, but I can’t wait to hear the new album, as the songs I’ve heard here and at North East Calling (reviewed here) have been awesome.
Time then for the main event, and after a 19-month Covid delay, this was a sold-out gig that everyone had been looking forward to for a long time.
Given Ginger’s well-documented mental health issues, you couldn’t help but wonder how he’d cope with such an expectant home crowd, but the smile on his face within seconds of taking to the stage said it all.
As the band launched into opener Diagnosis you knew this was going to be a special night, even if it wasn’t quite the classic line-up of The Wildhearts we were watching.
Besides Ginger and Danny, Ritch Battersby was the usual powerhouse on the drums, but Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines/Ginger Wildheart Band) was standing in for the Covid-ridden CJ on guitar.
Could he handle such a high-pressure gig? You bet he could. He might have had to learn the setlist by listening to the records, but absolutely smashed it, trading riffs with Ginger and adding backing vocals.
The Wildhearts recently released their 10th studio album, the critically acclaimed 21st Century Love Songs, but only a couple of songs from it made the cut tonight; the blistering Splitter and Remember These Days (the latter as part of a breakneck six-song medley).
Toes were dipped into most of their industrious back catalogue, Vanilla Radio rubbing shoulders with Sick Of Drugs, and Caffeine Bomb with the wonderful Everlone.
Geordie In Wonderland – what else? – produced the biggest audience singalong of the night, paving the way for the bulldozering finale of Mazel Tov Cocktail and Caprice.
We weren’t done yet though; a three-song encore saw Inglorious followed by Suckerpunch, with I Wanna Go Where The People Go sending energy levels in the small but lively moshpit through the crystal chandelier-clad roof.
Ginger summed up his feelings on the night when he said: “We couldn’t get anyone to come and see us here back in the day. South Shields – this was fucking excellent.”
