Ash @ The Refectory
By Holden DeForge
The final night of Ash's tour falls in Leeds due to the gig being postponed from a couple of weeks ago. Whilst people enjoy the sun and football in Millennium Square, the temperature in The Refectory reaches an uncomfortable sweaty high. Two fifths of The Crimea come from what was The Crocketts. Luckily one of those is the best quarter of that band, frontman Davey Crockett. Still possessing a sharp wit and abundant energy he fills the stage, ably assisted by a wild haired guitarist. The tunes are a mix of pop guitar licks with heavier beats and half spoken vocal melodies. There's nothing really to stick in the ear though, it's all good and it's played with a bit of life and energy, yet the set is a little too plodding to really get the crowd going. Alas it all rather makes me pine for The Crocketts. They are sadly missed.
YES!! This is rock and roll!! Tim Wheeler's Flying V is spurting fire out from it! Then guitars hit overdrive, cymbals crash and we're fired into 'Meltdown'. The pace never stops throughout the night. The band tear up the place, the temperature soars to the unbearable but people are still jumping around, bouncing along to the infectious rock tunes. Ash have a pretty impressive back catalogue and it gets a good airing this evening, along with plenty of tracks from their latest album. 'Clones' and 'Evil Eye' power things along whilst the majestic 'Goldfinger' inspires a mass sing-along. ' A Life Less Ordinary' is simply a wonder of a song and I start to realise just what a great band Ash are and wonder quite how they have always seemingly been on the periphery of things. No-one really hates them and they haven't ever quite been as huge as really they deserve to be. Charlotte Hatherly looks delectable as she rips the fuck out of her guitar. This girl can play, no way is she in on looks alone.
The band end with 'Orpheus' that sees sweat literally drip off the walls, before returning for an encore that includes a cover of 'The Boys Are Back In Town' and of course 'Burn Baby Burn'. That was rock and roll.
As a side note: if you were the guy who clearly wanted to get off with your mate's girlfriend's mate I hope you did cos you swung it round from her not being interested to her TOTALLY being interested and you were just stood there. Silly boy. Everyone was watching with anticipation, it was better than Big Brother!
