The Wonder Stuff

It would appear that the word is indeed out, the Stuffies are still sounding quite brilliant and at the age of fifty three, I am not quite sure how Miles Hunt is still doing it live with so much energy

And so the eight legged groove machine is back in Norwich for the umpteenth time since they first set foot as support to Big Country back in the late eighties and as it turns out, I am not the only one that’s pleased to see them as an almost sell-out crowd packs the Lower Common Room this evening. The gig had been upgraded from the much smaller Waterfront such was the demand for tickets.

The evening kicks off with Miles Hunt introducing the band as one by one they enter the stage to a luscious backdrop of a ruched chiffon curtain as a five song introduction to the new album Better Being Lucky is played out. The new songs are sounding just great and possess the normal high octane energy that comes as standard with the Stuffies.

As Hunt acknowledges following a fifteen minute break, he knows that we are all only really here for the next two sets where both Hup and debut album The Eight Legged Groove Machine will be played in their entirety, and he is not wrong. But you have to admire this band so much, they still produce fresh material on a regular basis and have not just lived off of their extensive and quite brilliant back catalogue.

With Malc Treece now back in the band following an absence since 2011, they are sounding as good as ever and all the richer for having the original member back in the fold. It’s really great to see him back and he seems to be enjoying it as much as we are.

Erica Nockalls talent, charisma and visuals adds a real style to the band. Pete Howard the former Clash drummer is also in the band at this moment in time.

And so onto Hup that was first released back in 1989, yet still sounds as fresh as a daisy. Wow! What a quite brilliant opening track 30 Years In The Bathroom still is thirty years on? It sets the scene perfectly for what is about to follow. Radio Ass Kiss, Cartoon Boyfriend, Can’t Shape Up and Room 410 are the set’s highlights just as they were back in the day and are still the album’s highlights from this career defining album.
Piece Of Sky is dedicated, Hunt say’s to people that we have all lost along the way.

There are already some very sweaty bodies in the mosh pit right now and I am sure that there will be some very sore knees as a result come Sunday morning and to think that we are only some twenty one songs in of this marathon thirty one song set! Those bones sure are going to ache!

And so onto the 1986 Wonder Stuff debut album, The Eight Legged Groove Machine. And there is no let up as they burst into Red Berry Joy Town, It’s Yer Money I’m After Baby, Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More, A Wish Away, Ruby Horse and then back out the other end with Unbearable.

They close with Good Night Through and it is an amazing finale, it’s fair to say that it really has been a thrilling blast into the past.