Ash – Live At Belfast’s Ulster Hall

A bitter night has not deterred the festive revellers this Saturday night in Belfast and bare arms and sparkly dresses are in evidence as we cruise the side streets looking for that elusive on-street parking spot ahead of this show. The party vibe has permeated the cavernous Ulster Hall too which is filling up with a typically atypical post-punk audience with a bell jar curve that peaks at Ash‘s own vintage, punk rock-born early middle agers. Because 1977 is a thing in Ashworld. It’s Tim Wheeler‘s birth year. It’s the title of the debut album. It’s a year that changed a lot of outlooks. It’s also the year that Star Wars was released and that, as it turns out, is important too.

Support for this show is Derry’s The Marra (that’s colloquial for ‘tomorrow’, non norn-iron speakers). This five-piece are on the up, gathering accolades for their rock-infused guitar pop from the great and the good and deservedly so. Their songcraft is excellent, vocal harmonies melding with an occasionally hard-edged Oasis vibe. They’re well received, if looking a little overwhelmed by the big hall. Engaging, accomplished and definitely going places. A fitting amuse-bouche for the feast that follows.

When the stage fog starts and the throbbing synth intro rattles your head, it’s time for Ash to bound onto the Ulster Hall stage. First track up is also the new album Ad Astra‘s thundering opener Zarathustra, Ash‘s rocked up homage/reworking of Richard Strauss‘ work and most widely known as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s the space motif, diligent readers. There are more. Keep Dreaming, also on Ad Astra follows, classic Ash melodic pop rock that fits seamlessly with the trio of classics from early in the canon that follow it –  A Life Less Ordinary, Angel Interceptor and Jack Names the Planets. After the latter, promoted at the time of release as ‘real music by real teenagers’, Tim Wheeler takes a moment to let us know that there are some treats in store in the show ahead. He’s not wrong. Next up it’s Orpheus from the Meltdown album and then it’s a smart return to Ad Astra for Deadly Love and the gorgeous Which One Do You Want? Tim’s small acoustic makes an appearance for Crashed Out Wasted after which the band confess to having gone a little ‘off-piste’ with the setlist and return to Meltdown, a track that proves, should it be necessary, that Ash are a kick-ass rock band. Big hitters Shining Light (with its seasonally apposite Royal David’s City lyrical reference) and Oh Yeah follow and are rapturously received.

It’s back to Ad Astra for a rocking Jump In The Line, a catchy and unsettlingly barmy copy of the Harry Belafonte calypso song delivered the Ash way. ‘Hallion‘ is a specifically local term of abuse or endearment and Tim confesses that he has been waiting to introduce the song to the ‘the one audience who will understand what it means’. Hardly pausing for breath, we’re back to classics – the chop socky-celebrating Kung Fu and then this reviewer’s favourite Ash Track Girl From Mars which features, in my opinion, the finest post-punk guitar solo ever played, bar none. The confetti cannons fire for Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. When you’re used to Springsteen gurning his constipated way through his version of this seasonal offering, Ash‘s rocking version is the drain cleaner you need to clear that blockage.

Tim Wheeler emerges for the encore with his acoustic to play the knowingly haunting My Favourite Ghost, a beautiful song that finds him in characteristically wistful and sensitive form. It will not have escaped the keen-eyed Ash fan’s attention that a second guitar stack and microphone have been lurking onstage throughout the set. The biggest non-surprise of all then is that the encore set features Blur‘s Graham Coxon, a key figure on the Ad Astra album. The full band kick off with Goldfinger from the 1977 album, a crowd favourite, and then launch into Fun People from the new album which somehow combines a furiously catchy hook with monumentally heavy metal riffing. Coxon introduces his own song Freakin’ Out self-deprecatingly as a ‘medley of his greatest hit’ and then the band almost sign off with the album title track in which Coxon and Wheeler call and answer and engage in a guitar solo duel of epic proportions. The party comes to an end with the stupendous Burn Baby Burn and suddenly the onstage photos have been captured, the lights are up, and the party is, regrettably over. All that’s left is a sea of white confetti, plastic cups and cans.

A top night from a top band in top form. Party time. Excellent.