Wildhearts Supporting on Motorhead UK Tour
By Kris | July 29, 2003
The Wildhearts will be supporting Motorhead on their UK tour in October. The full tour dates are listed on the tour page.
Harlow Warmup Gig Review
By Kris | July 25, 2003
A review and photos from the recent Wildhearts Harlow Square gig has now been added to the features page.
The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed – Tracklist
By Kris | July 20, 2003
The fantastic new album ‘The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed’ is scheduled for release 25th August in the UK.
The full tracklisting is as follows:
1. Nexus Icon
2. Only Love
3. Someone That Won’t Let Me Go
4. Vanilla Radio
5. One Love, One Life
6. Get Your Groove On
7. So Into You
8. There’s Only One Hell
9. It’s All Up to Me
10. Out from the Inside
11. Top of the World
Wildhearts Bulldog Bash Warmup Gig
By Kris | July 16, 2003
The Wildhearts will be playing a warm-up show for their Bulldog Bash appearance. The band play the Sugarmill – Stoke on Trent on Thursday 7th August, before their headline slot at the Bulldog Bash the next day.
“The trouble is we’ve got too many great songs”
By Kris | July 15, 2003
The Wildhearts warm up in rare fashion in Harlow ยท Words by Kris Coverdale
I’m wedged between chain smoking man to my left, whirling dervish pointy elbowed woman to the front and a camera wielding maniac to my right. All this in a venue as hot as Satan’s asshole and twice as cramped.
But it doesn’t matter.
Because this is The Wildhearts – a band whose name magazines now habitually prefix with the word legendary.
And much as they’ve been renowned as a great live band, throughout that time the setlist has generally featured fairly conservative favourites. Tonight however that all changes, and if it’s a sign of things to come, then their adventurousness could take them to newfound heights. The set tonight gives air to several early songs that newer fans missed first time around and a liberal sprinkling of b-sides and rarities along with the well played classics that we’ve come to expect.
They kick off with a stunning one-two of circa ’94 set opener Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes, closely followed by oft-overlooked Earth Vs classic ‘News of the World’, which highlights the metallic riff-work that attracted many of the band’s initial fans from the days of supporting Pantera and playing the Donington festival, but with the melodies, attitude and wordplay that characterise almost all their output.
Thirteen minute epic Sky Babies is next up as the rarities continue. They show their character midway through as there’s momentary confusion with the drums suddenly out of time, but the band shrug and laugh it off, keeping things together when once upon a time it might all have come apart. Stand-in bassist Jon Poole is providing an extra visual focus onstage; he’s all action, sticking his tongue out at the girls, high fiving the boys and running about like a lunatic all the while providing brilliant melodic basslines that enhance the songs no end. Meanwhile (back on my planet) Ginger & CJ’s grins get wider & wider at the dedicated fan atmosphere permeating the shoebox of a venue and Stidi is drumming so hard he nearly rips his finger off! (necessitating a very short delay)
Miles Away Girl, another rarely played Earth Vs track receives a rapturous reception, especially as an unexpected twist is revealed. Instead of the normal bass middle 8, Jon Poole plays the bassline from Grease’s Summer Nights. The crowd look stunned for a second before the band crash through a high octane Summer Nights chorus before returning to Miles Away Girl.
Another obscurity is unveiled with Dangerlust, culminating in an atmospheric outro with Stidi’s drumming reaching a primal perfection while Ginger shows he’s been getting some practice in, ripping out a fast & tuneful wah pedal solo.
Ginger comments ‘The trouble is we’ve got too many great songs – we want to stay here all weekend and play them all’ before asking for requests and throwing his mike into the crowd. He’s promptly taken aback as (recent vinyl bside) ‘Return to Zero’ is called out. After a quick cheer-o-meter poll several past singles are fired out in quick succession. Suckerpunch is particularly impressive and was surely written with strobe lighting in mind.
All those who see The Wildhearts as an exercise in nostalgia should be shamed as setclosers and recent singles Vanilla Radio and Stormy in the North attract the biggest cheers of the night, proving the band are certainly still able to produce instant classics in these days of nu metal and garage rock. The forthcoming album (‘The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed’) will no doubt sprinkle the live set with yet more.
But for now this was a soon to be legendary show by the already legendary Wildhearts.
Full Setlist:
Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes
News Of The World
Sky Babies
Miles Away Girl
Caprice
Weekend
Dangerlust
Splattermania
Everlone
Sick Of Drugs
Caffeine Bomb
Suckerpunch
Vanilla Radio
Stormy
Wildhearts – Sick of Drugs on TOTP2
By Kris | July 7, 2003
The Wildhearts feature on UK TV on TOTP2 on Tuesday 8th July. The show begins at 18:20 and is set to feature classic Wildhearts single Sick Of Drugs as voted for by visitors to the TOTP2 website.
Wildhearts to Headline Bulldog Bash 2003
By Kris | July 6, 2003
The Wildhearts appearance at the Bulldog Bash has now been confirmed. The band will headline the main stage on Friday 8th August. For more details see the Bulldog Bash website.
Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed – Guest Details
By Kris | June 29, 2003
Andy Cairns has been in the studio with the Wildhearts as reported by the Therapy website last week, to work on the song ‘Get Your Groove On’ from the forthcoming album ‘The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed’.
Says Ginger: “We had Andy Cairns come and do a metal styled political rant about peaceful tactics in the face of anger. Kim Nail (who sang with Marilyn Manson, and provided backing vocals on “A Better Man” from the singles club collection) provided an entire gospel choir from one mouth, and Justin Hawkins, from The Darkness came and sang like only the finest in the land could ever hope to even attempt.”
Wildhearts Harlow and Guildfest Gigs
By Kris | June 22, 2003
Two live shows have now been confirmed for early July, at Harlow Square on the 3rd and Guildfest on the 4th. For more details see the gigs page.
The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed – Studio Report
By Kris | June 22, 2003
The album ‘The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed’ is currently being recorded. We have a studio report from early in the making of the album now on the features page