Ash at Nether Bar, Minneapolis (30 Sept 2015)
Ash Setlist
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Maudlin Setlist
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Tour Dates
10/08/15 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop
10/09/15 Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide
10/10/15 San Diego, CA Music Box
11/16/15 Amsterdam, Netherlands Melkweg
11/17/15 Cologne, Germany Bürgerhaus Stollwerck
11/19/15 Stockholm, Sweden Debaser Strand
11/20/15 Oslo, Norway John Dee
11/21/15 Copenhagen Pumpehuset Club
11/23/15 Hamburg, Germany Grunspan
11/24/15 Berlin, Germany Columbiaclub
11/26/15 Munich, Germany Backstage
11/27/15 Bologna, Italy Covo Club
11/28/15 Vienna, Austria FLEX
11/29/15 Zurich, Switzerland Plaza
12/01/15 Paris, France Petit Bain
12/02/15 Bristol Bristol Bierkeller
12/03/15 London O2 Shepherds Bush
12/04/15 Newcastle Riverside
12/05/15 Newcastle Riverside
12/06/15 Glasgow ABC1
12/08/15 Manchester The Ritz
12/09/15 Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
12/10/15 Sheffield The Leadmill
12/12/15 Norwich Waterfront
12/13/15 Brighton Concorde 2
12/14/15 Cardiff Plas Nightclub
12/15/15 Dublin Olympia Theatre
12/17/15 Galway Roisin Dubh
12/18/15 Cork Cyprus Avenue
12/19/15 Limerick Dolans Warehouse
12/20/15 Belfast Belfast Empire Music
… and we’re all the better for it.
With their last major project, The A- Z Series, the band released 26 singles at the rate of one every two weeks, and at the same time said they would not release any more full albums. Flash forward a couple years and Kablammo! a new album has surfaced.
Not just a sound effect, that’s the title of the album that was first crowdfunded on PledgeMusic, then released physically on earMusic. Ash bassist Mark Hamilton seemed happy to be back to doing albums, saying the resurgence of vinyl and people streaming more than just a song, has helped return their faith to the long-playing format. As a result, the band has embarked on another US/UK tour, reclaiming old fans and gaining new ones along the way.
The band play a familiar yet ear-worthy blend of guitar-fronted indie rock, with vocals traded between both Priebes on songs like ‘Block by Block’, ‘Six/Eight’, and set closer, ‘Stacy Dahl’.
Ash took to the stage for their 65 min set in true kablammo style, opening big and loud with ‘Evel Knievel’ and ‘Cocoon’, both being songs from the new album with singer Tim Wheeler’s Flying V guitar turned to 11. The wayback machine then dialed back to 1994 for ‘Jack Names the Planets’ and 1997’s title track to the film ‘A Life Less Ordinary’- hard to believe it’s been over two decades since the band (Tim Wheeler – lead vocals, guitar, ; Mark Hamilton – bass; Rick McMurray- drums) first started.
“The next one is from an album in 1996… confusing called 1977” Wheeler said, intro-ing ‘Goldfinger’, one of 18 of their singles that went Top 40 in the UK charts. Their “incredible light show” was debuted during 1996’s ‘Kung Fu’, a cheeky comment on the low budget effects that the intimate venue could best provide.
In terms of a live show, the band still has the energy shown those two decades ago, and the new album helps capture that live element, on record. A guitar change later, the new ‘Machinery’ brought soaring riffs and licks then set closer, ‘Girl from Mars’ had most in the crowd pogo-ing in place.
Encore ‘Burn Baby Burn’ effectively drowned out the three-band hard rock show going on elsewhere in the club and the band was generous enough to stick around after, to meet and greet the loyal fan base. So, a toast and welcome back to Ash– to their return of making albums again, to their noisy-good live shows, and for being the good guys to get to know, that they are.
 Tim Wheeler  Ash at Nether Bar, Minneapolis (30 Sept 2015)  Maudlin |
