The Wonder Stuff
Hup, Hup, Hup and away we go!
Inspiral Carpets & The Wonder Stuff, NRLCR 24.10.26
Tonight, is not a night for the feint hearted and that is for sure with storm Boelo causing havoc across the country, but like everyone else in here tonight, nothing is going to deter us from coming out to see these two musical legends both of whom in their own right have played a significant part in creating some of the best music that this country has produced during the past forty plus years.
The Inspirals never disappoint with their iconic keyboard wizardry sound that emanates from Clint Boon’s fingertips while Stephen Holt’s vocal delivery is also still superb, aside of those two, both original members Graham Lambert and Martyn Walsh also remain in the band.
Tracks from the new up and coming album, Burn Like The Sun get a play (Drag The Bag, Touching From A Distance Too Far and There’s A Better Way), plus the album’s title track. It’s their first release in twelve years and it finds them in fine form.
They are such an iconic band and to hear them play their big numbers live once again is such an absolute joy from Two Wolds Collide, This Is How It Feels, She Comes In The Fall and Dragging Me Down.
So far from dragging us down, they have lifted us up as they close with Saturn 5 and before they leave, they have us all singing along acapella to the words of Saturn 5, with just us lot and Holt singing along.
It’s all incredibly positive and uplifting as they deliver an impressive set list that’s gone down very well with an already packed and enthusiastic crowd. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be in the same room as them and clearly the feeling is very mutual and they ensure that we know just how much they have appreciated their fans support over the years as they take a bow before departing the stage.
The mood in the building is great, and the stage is soon ready for the up-and-coming set from The Wonder Stuff.
With the atmosphere and excitement building, the lights go down as Barry Blue’s, Do You Wanna Dance blasts out loudly, and many of us are instantly having throwbacks to our teenage years.
If I could pick three tracks to start the show with, then the opening trio of Mission Drive, Play and Donation (each taken from the Never Loved Elvis album, their third album release) would all rank somewhere in at the very least my top ten tracks from a back catalogue spanning almost four decades now and that is exactly what we are here to celebrate.
As the latter closes, Miles Hunt says, “fuck that was good,” and he is not wrong, as already the Stuffies have blown the roof off, and it has nothing do to with the horrendous gale force winds outside. This is 100% pure energy, aggression, professionalism, and passion. Malc Treece’s guitar skills are up there with the absolute best, while Erica Nockalls Violin playing is quite mesmerising to watch, Hunt’s vocals are intact and his band are so meticulous in their detail throughout the show with every note played and sung to absolute perfection. There are never any short cuts, no slowed down or sped up versions of songs. Everything is hit upon just perfectly and it’s all coming out just as it should be.
We are soon informed that after that blistering start that they will now slow things down for a bit, for our benefit! Hunt jokes that this comes after seeing so many defibrillators around the campus during the day, there’s enough to at least save the band, but we are all fucked apparently! It’s time to give our knee’s a rest as they play In Clover, which was released back in 2016 and is taken from 30 Goes Around The Sun.
Mid set he once again slows things down, this time over three songs, it’s all for our benefit of course? The Guy With The Gift and Don’t Anyone Dare Give A Damn are sandwiched in between the epic Sleep Alone. The calmer slot has certainly got the heart rate down, but we are soon back on our toes as Red Berry Joy Town kicks in and from then on, its non-stop fun and frolics.
Some nine albums in now and Hunt shows little sign of slowing down. It’s the first four albums that dominate the setlist from Hup to Construction For The Modern Idiot, much to the delight of the masses that are here for an almost sell out gig.
The effervescent Hunt is as ballsy as ever, quick to remind the punters that are yelling out for an occasional song that he picks the set list, not us and when someone shouts out for Mission Drive mid set, they are given a shrift response, they are derided, “Oh we have a late comer, where the fuck have you been? We opened the set with that”!
It’s full pelt now as the bangers keep on coming, A Wish Away, Circle Square, Here Comes Everyone, A Wish Away and much more, with twenty-two tracks all tightly packed into a ninety-minute show.
There are always plenty of reflective stories from Hunt and tonight is no exception. Before they launch into Caught In My Shadow, we are informed that it was written about the band leaving their hometown of Birmingham to experience London and make progress as a band, but when they went home, their friends that they had left behind had dismissed them as big time Charlies and everything somehow just looked so very different, things had changed and many so called friends were resentful towards them.
He digresses that The Size Of A Cow is tonight getting played for the late comers to the band, and probably for the younger members of the audience it was probably their first sight of the band when they appeared on Top Of The Pops back in 1991.
For those of us old enough to have bought The Eight-Legged Groove Machine and Hup, he was right in saying that many of us didn’t like that track so much, we may have even questioned if they were selling out? But as he explained they needed some hits, because hits equal record sales and money! Indeed, we need not have worried as Never Loved Elvis spawned many a Wonder Stuff classic in addition to their two biggest hits.
Thirty years on now and had we of known what we now know about Hunt, we would never have questioned him back in the day had we of been this wise to his unmistakable talent, credibility, and commitment to the rock n roll cause.
For Golden Green, he tells us that it’s for those of us that thought we didn’t like country and western music! The floor is going crazy, but maybe not quite as moshie as a Stuffies mosh pit was a decade ago (ha-hah!), but then we were reminded earlier on to give the knees a rest!
Before thy launch into Unbearable we are informed that it was written by the original three Wonder Stuff members including guitarist Malc Treece who has recently had his mate Rob ‘The Bass Thing’s’ Jones,’ red bass guitar lovingly restored. Here on in it will always be with them to the right of the stage where he always stood before his departure from the band back in 1989.
They close the main set with Give, Give, Give, Me More, More, More and the crowd just keep on singing the chorus until they step back on stage. It’s a real throwback to those great eighties gigs that used to take place in this very room. Good times are echoing around the venue once again.
The bond that exists between Hunt and Treece is very touching to see, “a brother from another Mother is a comment that I have regularly heard Hunt proclaim over the years and he is keen for that thought to be shared once again, they rather touchingly go shoulder to shoulder, leaning on each other during the closing number, the epic Ten Trenches Deep (and to think that it was just a B side). If ever there was a song that highlights this incredible bands undisputed talent, then this is the one. It’s all going on as Nockalls rejoins the band on stage after taking a break some thirty minutes ago. It is a remarkable sight, one to truly treasure, a real spectacle.
The joy in the room is also to be cherished, and it very clearly is by both the band and us punters alike. It has been yet another classic Wonder Stuff gig and for as long as they want to play, we will keep turning up to see them, so here is to the next time that they ride into the city.
The storm is still raging in the wild Norwich skyline as we exit the LCR, but our spirits are on something of a natural high, nothing is going to dampen our mood this evening after witnessing such an epic performance from one of the greatest ever British bands of all time.
And it’s all done and dusted by 10pm. My type of gig these days(ha-ha)!
Hup, Hup, Hup and away we go!
The Inspiral Carpets, Burn Like The Sun is released on the 27th of January 2027.
The Wonder Stuff tour continues until early December, while the Inspiral’s already have dates scheduled well into 2027.
