GIG REVIEW: Ash vs The Subways @ NX, Newcastle, Saturday 7 October 2023
Ash and The Subways are two of my favourite indie-rock bands of recent years, so imagine my delight when I found they were touring together.
This show was two-thirds through the nine-date jaunt, and there was a decent crowd inside NX, which I was visiting for the first time since it reopened in the former O2 Academy.
The early start to accommodate a club night afterwards meant I missed the openers, Jealous Nostril, who are Johnny Borrell from Razorlight’s other band, but I wasn’t alone in missing out, as the venue was quite empty.
It had filled up quite a bit by the time The Subways came on, and I was looking forward to them, as the three-piece from Welwyn Garden City share Ash’s knack of writing catchy indie rock ‘n’ roll songs which pack a bit of a punch.
They released their fifth album, Uncertain Joys (reviewed here) in January, so you could perhaps have forgiven them if it had dominated their set, but only two of its songs, Black Wax and Influencer Killed The Rock Star, made the setlist.
Instead, maybe conscious of their support status, they wheeled out a fan-friendly hour-long greatest hits set, with almost half the songs coming from debut album Young For Eternity, kicking off with a real crowd pleaser in first single Oh Yeah.
It’s hard to believe The Subways have been a touring band for 20 years now, but they have their act off to a tee – though maybe it’s a little too polished for some, as a few of those down the front seemed a bit lukewarm to all but the most familiar material.
You couldn’t fault their performance, however. Billy Lunn on guitar and vocals was in good voice, and his long-time partner in rock Charlotte Cooper prowled the stage, tossing her flowing mane as she laid down some meaty basslines.
The Subways have acquired a new drummer since I last saw them, with Camille Phillips replacing original member Josh Morgan in 2021, and she fitted in seamlessly. She didn’t miss a beat, and looked like she was having a whale of a time.
They dipped into each of their five albums, with highlights including We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and the closing Rock & Roll Queen, which saw Lunn lay down his guitar and leap into the crowd.
As warm-up acts go The Subways were perfect for what was to follow, but the excitement levels definitely took an upturn when Ash took the stage. Although they’re nearer their 50s than their 20s, they clearly retain their youthful exuberance for making music.
Frontman Tim Wheeler looked every inch the rock star in his white suit and shoes, and sporting a cool pair of shades, while Mark Hamilton was more casually attired, in jeans and T-shirt, lurching around the stage twisting into remarkable shapes as he pounded out floor-shaking basslines.
At the back, drummer Rick McMurray, baseball capped and heavily bewhiskered, looked like an outcast from Ice Road Truckers, but laid down rock-solid beats and providing backing vocals, even deftly handling the female part of a duet.
The Irish rockers have spent over 30 years building and maintaining a dedicated following. They also released a new album recently, Race The Night (reviewed here), and used their longer headline set to plug it heavily, playing no fewer than eight of its 11 tracks.
Fan favourites
They opened with two of them, Like A God and Race The Night – a sure sign that a band is confident of its new material, and Ash have every right to be, as the new album is easily their best in 20 years.
Fans didn’t have long to wait for some of the favourites which have kept them coming back time after time, with a bludgeoning Goldfinger and exultant A Life Less Ordinary next on the list.
Orpheus, a standout of their last great album Meltdown, has never sounded better, shaking the venue to its foundations, and sending the moshpit crazy.
Usual Places and Braindead from the new album were other highlights, but it’s Ash’s knack of pulling out stone-cold classics from their back catalogue which keeps people coming back to see them.
Tonight they were rewarded with Shining Light, Kung Fu and Girl From Mars, all sounding as good as they did when they were written back in the 90s.
There was a worrying pause when the band had to leave the stage after Girl From Mars after a fan went down hurt in the moshpit, but after a few minutes he – and they – were able to continue, and they resumed with another new song, the strangely surreal Crashed Out Wasted.
Encore time brought a wonderful surprise when both bands took the stage together to perform two songs – the two quite different tunes called Oh Yeah which have been released on a split 7in to coincide with the tour.
Wheeler thanked The Subways for being such great tourmates, adding “It’s always good to have a Charlotte in Ash” (referring to their former guitarist Charlotte Hatherley) before ending the night on a high with a blistering version of Burn Baby Burn.
As Saturday nights out go it doesn’t get much better than this, with two fine bands on top of their game. Oh Yeah, you better believe it!
