Ash, are Irelands’s answer to pop punk. Exploding onto the UK scene with the fan’s anthem Jack Names The Planets back in 1996, these guys (and girl) have come a long way from their youthful alcoholism, almost perfecting the art of putting on a good show. All this under the age of 30.
Tonight’s venue certainly played a part in adding to the excitement of what was to come. By day, Somerset house is England’s tax office. Tonight however, the extensive courtyard was about to pay out in a big way to 3000 lucky fans who managed to grab the fast selling tickets.
What was even more exciting for the fans was that these guys have played to UK audiences of 20,000. Although little known in the states, an extensive club tour of the USA may mean some of you transatlantic readers may have heard of these guys.
Opening with their debut full-length albums first track, Lose Control, they launched head long into an explosive set, which pleased everyone in the crowd. Playing classic tracks such as Nicole, Shining Light and Angel Interceptor, they managed to keep the whole audience gripped for their entire hour and three quarter set. Incorporating many new songs into their set-list, they showed off five or six good rough draughts which are likely to feature on their next release, reportedly in early 2004.
Photo: Gary Lancaster, TeenSpot.com © 2009 TeenSpot.comAnother great thing about Ash is the extent of their fan base. Fans of all ages could be seen at the show, and parents often came willingly rather than in order to bring the kids, a family band!?
At every possible moment, the crowd sang along and during the cult ’97 classic, ‘Oh Yeah’ the crowd even managed to out-sing the mighty p.a system. Similar occurrences happened throughout the set, noticeably during their classic Girl From Mars, where not only did the crowd sing but they also kicked some backside in the ‘pit too.
Coming on and playing ‘Kung Fu’ for their encore and ending their electric set with one of their more recent singles ‘Burn Baby Burn’, the quartet were decidedly content, as were the crowd, after witnessing a thoroughly enjoyable set from one of Irelands most exciting bands.
All together, the Ash live experience is one hard to beat. Skilled musicians and all round crowd pleasers, they find it hard to go wrong, lets just hope that their next CD release reflects this, “Free All Angels” is going to be a tough one to follow…