Live Review : The Wildhearts + Headsticks @ Tivoli, Buckley on June 29th 2018.
Ticket of The Wildhearts at Tivoli. They don't make those anymore, except in Buckley.
I venture for Rock far out West tonight to Buckley, a small town stuck between the Town of Mold and the larger Chester. Tivoli is one of those venues you wouldn't expect to do well when it comes to rock concerts purely based on its location. As some of you, my oldest followers will know, I have been many times to Chester's Live Rooms and more often than not, it has been a struggle for them to get 50 people in there. I arrive in good time to The Tivoli, the old theatre/cinema from the 1920's which is rather empty and as I wait patiently for the support band under no less than 6 disco balls, I have grave concerns regarding the demographics and live attendance in North Wales. In a corner, Mind the mental health charity sets up a stall selling CDs to fundraise, I manage to pick up a Stone Sour and a Stereophonics. At the merch stall, the support act from Stoke, Headsticks is offering the most varied items you can put your band name on, while the Wildhearts team is trying to figure out which boxes to open.
The opening act is running late and when the background music stops, no one appears on stage for another good 15 minutes but no one seems to care, the few in attendance continue chatting away around the bar periphery.
Headsticks finally makes an appearance and starts their set with the 2 folk numbers 'Mississipi's Burning' and 'Flatline Town', occasionally lead singer Andrew Tranter brings out the harmonica melodies while guitarist Steven Dunn strums away on the old acoustic.
As the set progresses and the late comers begin to pack the room, singer Andrew gets more confident and agitated in his delivery, punching the air frequently and making constant eye contact with the fans. With a delivery similar to Paul Weller and a tone reminiscent of late french singer Jacques Brel, Andrew is throwing his weight around every single song lyric. Musically it becomes quickly apparent that Headsticks draw their influences from a different array of musical genres from punk to rock n' roll, grunge to indie, they alternate between acoustic and electric tunes.
Their music moves you in more than one way, tribal is the music with celtic origins while their lyrics often revolve around political matters. Headsticks ends their performance with 'You're Killing Me America' as the crowd dances away.
We wait patiently for The Wildhearts who are also running late. Could this be due to the local sound engineer having trouble passing drums through the PA system or just some turmoil backstage between the 4 classic members?
I will admit I never really paid much attention to The WIldhearts in the 90's when they were at the peak of their popularity. And although I have a Swedish mate who always had a huge admiration for Ginger and would constantly remind me of how good they are live, I never took any notice. That is until last year, when I had the opportunity of shooting the band at The Ritz in Manchester and truly enjoyed the gig. On that night, the special bond between fans and the band was for all to see. Will it be the same at Tivoli tonight?
The Wildhearts appear on stage and jump straight into the opening riff and chords of 'Sick of Drugs'. The crowd goes insane and I realise that last year's gig was no fluke. GInger is radiant, beaming a huge grin, hardly taking a break between the first 5 songs, classics 'TV Tan', 'My Baby is a Headfuck', Suckerpunch' daisy chain. By the time 'Caffeine Bomb' explodes, the room erupts and everybody participates on the vocals. And I mean, everyone, except possibly the bar staff.
Ginger takes a slight notch down as the fans and band are slightly out of breath with the slower 'Vanilla Radio' and the fantastic 'Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes' before 'Nita Nitro' riff is there to remind us all how The WIldhearts are truly unique.
With the weather being the hottest it has been in the U.K. in the last 40 years, the room gets hotter than ever, avoiding having sweaty armpits becomes literally impossible, this is so much more rock n' roll.
Bass player Danny McCormack takes over lead vocals duties on Anthem. We are informed that drummer Ritch Battersby, shares the same birthday with Kiss; Peter Criss, date not year though. Some fans made the effort of bringing 50th banners as the crowd sings Happy Birthday.
'Weekend' and the rather celtic 'Geordie In Wonderland' get everyone singing and clapping along.
With the delay which occured earlier on, The WIldhearts have neither the time nor the inclination in pretending to go away for the encore and jump straight into the more metal 'Greetings from Shitsville', the catchy B-side '29 X The Pain' and the now classic 'I Wanna Go Where The People Go'.
As the set draws to a conclusion, we were served the best of what The Wildhearts have to offer, excellent tunes, brilliant sound and a unique party time feel. 25 years later, they show no signs of slowing down, and neither do their Welsh fans as they feed of each other's energy. Might need to learn a few songs for the next time though. I can't do with being the only one who isn’t singing.
Click on individual photos to access respective photo galleries.
Words and photography by Johann Wierzbicki