Live Review: The Wildhearts - Cardiff : The Razor's Edge

Live Review: The Wildhearts - Tramshed, Cardiff
3rd February 2020
Supt: Backyard Babies, CKY
Review and photography by Paul Hutchings

I have a special spot for The Wildhearts. Their set in the tent at Download in 2016 saved me from drowning in monsoon conditions. They are a band whose rabid following has always impressed, their work ethic solid and despite Ginger’s well publicised battles with his demons, they always seem to come out punching and kicking with a smile. Less than a year since the band played in Cardiff on The Renaissance tour, the band were back in the capital for their third show in three years, this time as co-headliners with Swedes Backyard Babies.

I’m less enthused about Pennsylvania’s CKY who opened the show. I’d never been into the whole Jackass/skating thing that CKY were the soundtrack to in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Maybe that’s just an age thing. I’d seen them supporting Skindred at Brixton Academy in 2018 and they bored me rigid. Now shorn to the bone, CKY these days consists drummer Jess Margera and vocalist/guitarist Chad I Ginsburg. To be fair, the band know how to play and cranked out a 40-minute set which worked to their strengths. With a small but vociferous number of the CKY Alliance roaring them on from the front, this was almost an intimate gig and for many arriving as CKY performed, it almost felt intrusive. Like watching a party through a window. Margera was welcomed with open arms by the fans on the barrier although I have to say he looked older than his 41 years. Ginsburg played like a man possessed, up and down on the monitors and stands throughout, a whirling leather clad ball of energy. The bulk of the set was unsurprisingly made up from Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild with a smattering from Volume 1 and a couple from Phoenix. It’s fair to say that I was relatively unmoved by it all but those who enjoy CKY really enjoyed them.

I’ll be honest here. Sleaze rock is not my cup of Earl Grey. Not by a long way so when the Backyard Babies swaggered on stage with typical attitude and strut, I wasn’t over enthused. An hour or so later and they may not have fully won me over, but I’d certainly fostered a grudging respect for the Swedes who poured heart and soul into their set. Culling songs from across their eight studio albums, Backyard Babies certainly know how to woo an audience. Frontman Nicke Borg and lead guitarist Dregen’s hyperactive movement provided the visual focus, whilst their raucous sleazy rock anthems soon got the crowd singing along. Early placement of Th1rte3n or Nothing worked well, one of the band’s most popular songs pumping the assembled Wildhearts devotees to at least watch and stop talking. The band has of course, been together since 1987 and despite a hiatus between 2010 -14, their cohesive display demonstrated their years of experience as a unit. Johan Blomqvist’s determination to play his bass whilst clad in a leather jacket alongside Borg’s fleece leather combo predictably came back to haunt the frontman’s earlier demand to “get it hot and sweaty in here” as the sweat poured off the pair. But that’s what this type of rock n’ roll expects and when they concluded their set with the anthem People Like People Like People Like Us the temperature inched another degree or two up the scale.

Few bands are loved like The Wildhearts. Their first album in ten years, 2019’s Renaissance Men was a stellar release, making numerous top tens for the year and being a regular on playlist for the past few months. It’s the live shows that always draw the fans though, and even on a windy Monday night in early February, Ginger and co drew a reasonable number to have a bit of a party. The lager flowed, the crowd jumped and The Wildhearts delivered a set of classics interspersed with four from their last offering (Dislocated, Let ‘em Go, Diagnosis and My Kinda Movie). If you’ve never seen The Wildhearts live, it’s best described as an almost religious experience. The audience singing with full voice to the intro music Don’t Worry ‘bout Me. Once Ginger, CJ, Danny and Ritch have arrived on stage it’s all systems go and The Wildhearts launched into Everlone. Cue much pogoing, beer thrown in the air and a generally good old rock n’ roll knees up.

For all his issues, Ginger is the consummate frontman, racing back and fore, never missing a cue and interacting with the front rows with ease. He is apparently quite shy, which makes his stage persona even more entertaining. Long standing guitarist CJ is some player, linking with Ginger as they swap lead and rhythm with ease. CJ is coolness personified, leather jacket and smart hat and not a bead of sweat despite the humid on-stage temperatures. Highlights? The explosive punkish Caffeine Bomb which always gets the crowd moving, The Revolution Will be Televised got the Welsh voices singing as Ginger goaded “I thought you fuckers could sing”. It was all good humour and there wasn’t a person in the crowd who didn’t sing along to set closer and rabble rousing I wanna Go Where The People Go.

An all too brief two song encore brought the evening to a close and as the crowd poured out into the cold evening air, the majority were already anticipating The Wildhearts return to the capital soon. After many years away, Cardiff has been spoilt by three gigs in three years. Here’s hoping that number four arrives soon.