ASH W/ More Than Conquerers & Key Of Atlas @ The Oh Yeah Centre – 09/07/2010

July 15, 2010 No Comments

The Oh Yeah Centre is an equally strange and fitting venue to host ASH’s homecoming gig. On the one hand you’ve got a warehouse that would burst at the seams if more than 500 people tried to squeeze inside and on the other, you’ve got an intimate cultural hub for Northern Ireland’s music scene (and in the case of ASH, a neat bit of song punnage).

In this setting it certainly felt like ASH were home – performing at such an up-close proximity, like long missed family members. It must have been a slightly surreal honour for the support acts – Key Of Atlas and More than Conquerers, who are currently making their own waves in The Northern Irish music scene, both gracing Glasgowbury at the end of this month.

The audience present was tiny as Key Of Atlas entered the stage but that didn’t stop them giving a great performance – their chiming stratocasters and effortless vocal harmonies fizzled with an energy that would make The Strokes proud.

While their tightness needed tweaking a little, KOA have a great sound – an engaging, melodic brand of indie/pop with a powerful drummer, who delivers one hell of a kick during live performance. All members of the 4-piece have microphones too and the vocal control and instrumental precision for such a young band is an impressive spectacle to say the least.

More Than Conquerers immediately grabbed the now much larger crowd’s attention, arriving on stage with a confident swagger, knowing how to make a noise and an impression. In essence, they’re like Razorlight or Franz Ferdinand with a heavier edge.

Instrumentally, the bassist produces a 1980s funk twang; while the guitarists interject punchy rhythms next to a throbbing drum beat. If KOA have a sound, these guys have a trademark.

On the downside, the vocalist struggled for most of MTC’s set to compete with the instrumental power-house on display, making it difficult to pick up on any melodic hooks. This was eventually addressed for ‘Home is a Red Dress’ – a slower number with a swaying melody and swashbuckling rhythm. With this, MTC proved capable of changing pace, able to conduct a punk, funk or folk vibe. With an improved vocal effort, they should go far.

Next was a Northern Irish band that really has gone far. From the sell-out success of 2001′s Free All Angels to playing just about every country under the sun, ASH have little left to achieve; superseded only in Northern Irish terms by Snow Patrol. And yet there is a sense that they’ve been somewhat forgotten as they tour their A-Z series, which is a subscription based download service were you pay £13 to receive a new song every two weeks for a year.

Talking to some in attendance, not everyone had heard of this latest ‘release’ but the generation span present was apparent with some crowd members looking half my age and others looking double.

ASH came on stage to an uproar of cheers and proceeded to blow the doors off the Oh Yeah Centre, producing a thick, heavily distorted sound and oozing a professionalism that dwarfed the previous two acts.

They played a mixture of Free All Angels, Meltdown, 1977 and the A-Z series – satisfaction for all tastes – yet strangely it took a while for the crowd to warm up to the familiar and somehow unfamiliar presence of Tim Wheeler and co.

From the offset, a tiny island of energy burst out at the front of the crowd (including several teenage lads, a mad blonde woman and… myself), enraptured by the band’s confident guitar jutting and gutsy live sound.

Eventually though, ASH proved irresistible to all as teenagers who sported bored expressions during Shining Light (I know, absolute disgrace, that’s a cracking tune!) wore ecstatic smiles of delight during an explosive version of Girl From Mars. It seemed that was the one song everyone (from the multitude of generations present) knew and were waiting for.

From that point on the gig flowed as even the new songs were greeted with cheers and appreciative nods. Arcadia and Joy Kicks Darkness were particular highlights, soaring with their catchy ‘oohs’ and shimmering guitar parts.

Wheeler himself was a captivating presence, taking the crowd in with his eye-catching axe wielding – rotating his Gibson SG above his head, finger-tapping like an 80s guitar God and generally being awesome. All this was even better when we were treated to the trademark flying-V during Pripyat – a sparkly gold version that had me feeling a little more allured than is probably legal.

Click Here for a sound clip

Oh… Right, yes back to the review…

Burn Baby Burn followed by the chorus of ‘Oh Yeah’ (which they’d already played in full) was an immense encore finish. Everyone sang along after the band left, like U2 used to do with ’40′ back in 1983.

Which reminds me of the only disappointment – they didn’t play True Love 1980, one of the best (and cheesiest) A-Z series songs. Still – an absolutely cracking show from a troupe of Northern Irish legends.

By Matt Wheavil

Click Here for an even better sound clip

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