Live Review: CJ Wildheart - KK's Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
20th April 2024
Support: Face Up and The Scumbags
Words & Photos: Scott Clarke
It was a glorious evening as the sun shone to light up the jewel of Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill. The roads nearby were flooded with cars as this evening we were having to compete with a football match as the local Wolves had a battle on their hands. I wondered how this would impact tonight’s turnout and who’s allegiances would be conflicted, would they choose their love of football or the love for live music? Time would tell.
A modest queue formed against the white walls of the building that were bathed in golden light, as we entered we were ushered off to the side room, an immediate answer to my initial question about tonight, it was to be a smaller capacity but a more intimate one that puts the paying patrons and fans almost at eye level with those on stage. We also have the brick work, industrial aesthetic that plays nicely into the themes and styles of the music, it’s another case of elevating the performance with the chosen venue and playing to the strengths, its also another demonstration of the versatility of the great venue itself.
As the people poured in and the queues formed at the bar which had some difficulties initially from what I understand, the first of tonights three acts were getting ready to go on. Hailing all the way from down the road, this was a hometown gig of sorts for The Scumbags who were set to open things up for us tonight.
The local 3 piece set a benchmark for the evening and although raw and unrefined, it actually played into the style of the music and emphasised the punk overtones that were dominant throughout the night.
To say they were the first band on of a 3 band evening and only had around half an hour to make an impression, they had a decent amount of material including Give a Fuck, Shall We, Love to See It, Germany, Charlotte, Wage Slave, a great cover of the Ramones’ Slug, Big T and It Don’t Matter, before culminating with a greatly named, Never going back to Gornal.
It was a relentless onslaught of energy, and along with a dedication to their drug dealer, it was a humorous set, it actually looked therapeutic on stage for the singer Ross Law who’s passion never wavered throughout their set as he jumped and trashed around the stage. There were also no fancy twiddly guitar solos here, just hardcore unadulterated, high tempo punk.
For a 3 piece consisting of guitar, bass and drums, they put on a surprisingly good show and had a full rounded sound. It wasn’t fancy, there were no bells and whistles but it was honest, raw and no nonsense with a good dose of humour thrown in. I think they surprised a few people to be honest who would be off after this evening to track down some of their material online for another listen.
After a quick stage turnaround and clearance to try and make as much space as possible, second on the list for this evening were rockers Face Up.
Now if The Scumbags were the fun, no cares given, let your inhibitions loose kind of act, then Face Up were the polar opposite. Aggression, anger, intensity and raw power were what I took away from the hardcore group.
A 5 piece band from the West Midlands (Again this evening was shaping up to be a decidedly local affair), they describe themselves as loud, fast and aggressive with influences from the likes of GBH. Lead singer Roxy wastes no time and from the initial outset and the first note to the last it is a literal, in your face, blast of force.
The setlist is a blend of two releases from the band – The World is Ours and the more recent FU! which sees the group incorporate tracks such as Stand Together, United Chance, The Few, ODB, Make You Suffer, In The Dark, Savage State, Warning System, Stand Fight Live Die and closing things out with The World is Ours
It’s a cramped stage for a 5 piece, they do their best with Roxy a lot of the time making her way onto the barrier and almost into the crowd, but the restriction is a bit of a shame because I think they would probably exhibit more of the punk energy throughout the band and about the stage had they had the room to do so.
It’s a frighteningly aggressive set, the raw power emanates from the band which demonstrates it from front to back. From the lacerating vocals to the pounding beats on the skins from a drummer that I thought was doing his utmost to pail the life out of the poor drum kit. Its a performance turned all the way up to 11.
After yet another set strip down it was finally time for the main attraction. Most notable for the tenures in The Wildhearts, their on again off again existence has been plagued by turbulence throughout most of their time since formation and heyday during the 90’s however, CJ’s passion and musical ability have never faltered. As one door closes, he has always forcefully broken down others with hard rock to continue on his journey that tonight would bring his solo effort to KK’s Steel Mill.
As the band took to the stage, CJ remarks that he’s usually in the other room yet he’s instantly full of appreciation for the people here that have turned out tonight, his guitar a menagerie of intricate and interesting delights that weave a tapestry of story telling and wonders like a patch work. Immaculately dressed in shirt, tie and waistcoat, he cuts a humble figure on stage, until the amps rev up to blast our ears out.
Kick Down the Walls, Milk n Honey and State of Us are the opening 3 tracks that pound on our eardrums as we were in the cramped pit trying to snag a few choice photos of the rockstars.
Butterfingers and All the Dough were the bread of a Split sandwich with the sweet filling being Lemonade Girl representative from CJ’s time in The Jellys.
FUBAR was the sole showing from the Robot album from 2016 whilst Split had a further 3 numbers in Give the Dog a Bone, SDE and All You Rude Boys. The remainder of the set was comprised of a mix of Honeycrack tracks, Go Away and Sitting at Home and 3 offerings from The Wildhearts in Hit it on the Head and rounding out the show with Little Flower and OCD, both of which went down superbly. In fact its worth noting the audible groans and disappointment from the crowd when CJ said they only had 2 songs left of what had been an hour and a half of live music and entertainment. The time had flown by and at a relentless pace and the fact that the crowd wanted more was evident of the great time had by all, as the old saying goes time flies when you’re having fun.
The quality of material on display tonight was quite a feat as well, it was relentlessly high octane and full on, there were no stage breaks, no going off for an encore, just track after track of guys on stage having a great time and the crowd lapped it all up, enjoying every second.
It’s a 16 track adventure throughout CJ’s under-appreciated career, obviously with a little emphasis on the newer stuff, but it rarely dips into Wildhearts territory and even on the odd occasion that it does, we stick to the lesser known of the numbers shall we say and avoids trying to get a cheap grab of attention by playing the well known tracks. It’s CJ’s band and it’s CJ’s night to shine and it’s great for it that it sticks to his solo works and shines the spotlight on music that doesn’t get the playtime that it deserves and the smaller room actually benefitted the type of show, as with CJ’s playful interactions with the crowd and the telling of a few stories in-between, it created a more intimate atmosphere that I think bought the room together and made the evening what it was.
Photo credits: Scott Clarke Photography
