LIVE: ASH with REWS – Perth, 6 Oct 2024

LIVE: ASH with REWS – Perth, 6 Oct 2024
Rosemount Hotel, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
Photography by Stu McKay

The biggest surprise of the night was support band Rews, who hit the ground like a headliner and didn’t let go until the whole room was singing along and cheering wildly. Yes – a support band known to almost nobody present, who had the whole room singing along to a song they had never heard before. That’s no small feat, right there.

Rews is Shauna Tohill – fresh off the (figurative) boat from North Ireland and quickly aligned with Eloise Walsh making a Bonham-sized noise on drums. Tohill has forged an impressive career back in Ireland and England including playing Glastonbury, and now she’s here in Perth to make a ruckus. Supporting Ash in such fine form was a brilliant way to make a splash.

Tohill has confidence by the shedload, stagecraft to match, getting the crowd totally on her side early, then wowing everyone present with a great set picked from her three albums, including highlights Birdsong, Today We’re Warriors and On My Back (Giants Roar). Did we just see a new favourite band? Maybe! Track ‘em down first chance you get – you won’t be disappointed.

This being Ash’s Singles tour to celebrate thirty years since their first, it’s only fitting they kick off with one of the earliest, Goldfinger, from 1995’s 1977 album – after an intro tape featuring a doctored version of Queen’s Flash, that is. As promised LINK in our recent interview with frontman Tim Wheeler, the Downpatrick trio lean heavily on their early material but sprinkle a taste of most of their albums throughout the set.

With eight albums, a few standalone releases, and the massive year-long A-Z program of 26 singles to choose from, the setlist could have been very different – though some standards are de rigueur at any Ash show.

So, A Life Less Ordinary, debut release Jack Names The Planets, the gloriously perfect Shining Light, Walking Barefoot, Oh Yeah, Kung Fu and Girl From Mars are all lapped up by the hungry crowd. These songs are irresistible – pure bouncy, punky, pop rock; thick and meaty riffs from Wheeler’s flying V guitar intertwined with melodies more addictive than crack, more infectious than the bubonic plague – and if you’re standing still through all of this, I just feel sorry for the lack of joy in your heart.

The band sound amazing, making an impressive and crystal clear racket for a trio – sadly the same cannot be said for Wheeler’s vocals, which mired, a little lost in the mix, throughout – present enough to singalong with, but far from clear.

With the main set finishing on the sugar high of Kung Fu and Girl From Mars, the band return for a trio of tracks – Crashed Out Wasted from last year’s Race The Night, Petrol from debut EP Trailer, then another of their finest – Burn Baby Burn, ensuring throats were raw and dancing shoes given a workout as the crowd filed out, Cheshire cat grins firmly on faces.

Set List:

Goldfinger
Wildsurf
A Life Less Ordinary
Angel Interceptor
Jack Names the Planets
Orpheus
Race The Night
Confessions in the Pool
Shining Light
Walking Barefoot
Sometimes
Oh Yeah
Braindead
Kung Fu
Girl from Mars

Encore:
Crashed Out Wasted
Petrol
Burn Baby Burn

 

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries