The Wonder Stuff

After the success last year of banging out the whole of 'Eight Legged Groove Machine' in one go, the Wonder Stuff are back to give 'Hup' the same treatment.

Is it really 21 years since this album came out?? Time is a cruel mistress, but looking around me at the rest of the crowd which contains largely late thirties/early forties indie kids, or should I say indie men, It's clear that yes, unfortunately youth has escaped us all! There's a few younger fans here but the majority were there the first time around and are expecting a massive nostalgia kick...

The lights go down and we get various quick snippets of songs from the same year as 'Hup' (1989) to get us in the right frame of mind. Then on come the rest of the band, followed quickly by Miles who bounds on with a grin plastered on his face, clutching a bottle of wine, it's looking good...

The set of course kicks off with album opener '30 Years in the Bathroom' (a song title which originated from a line from an episode of the Young Ones), one of the darker tunes from the album I always thought, and after not listening to it for some time I'm reminded of what a great attention grabber it is.

Track 2 - 'Radio ass Kiss' follows and it's already apparent that the Wonder Stuff are not going to let their reputation as a killer live band diminish with age. Next up is 'Them Big Oak Trees'.... hold on, this isn't the right order! After the song, Miles tells us all he was never happy with the track listing of 'Hup' and has switched it around a bit. Everyone has to kind of agree when he says "what was a song called 'Good Night Though' doing halfway through side 2 and not finishing off the record!

The whole album is of course played, no matter what order we all know we'll get the classics, and although 'Golden Green' may sound slightly dated it still goes down a storm. 'Don't let me down Gently', the big single gets the whole crowd rocking, there's even a few crowd surfers reliving their youth.

'Let's be other People' and 'Can't Shape Up' remind us there were no fillers on this album. The mood is buoyant and the crowd are lapping it up. Miles brings us all down to earth midway through by poignantly dedicating 'Piece of Sky' to "those people close to us we've lost over the years". He is of course referring to the tragic loss of band members Rob 'The Bass Thing' Jones who died in 1993 and Martin Gilks the Stuffies drummer who died in a Motorbike accident in 2006.

Although obviously due to this we're not watching the original line up tonight, the newer members along with Miles and Malcolm treat us to note perfect renditions of the whole of 'Hup' and a host of other Wonder Stuff treasures. As well as a couple of b-sides (including a Lennon song and PWEI cover 'Inside You'), we get a few tracks from 'Never Loved Elvis', including of course 'Size of a Cow' (the one and only Wonder Stuff song owned by any radio station in the UK!), and a handful of post '...Elvis' songs.

Although 'Hup' was a great album, and probably a more polished perfect pop record than it's prececessor, I'm salivating most whilst making my way to the front for the final encore.....

They never quite managed to regain the pure energy of 'Groove Machine' on subsequent releases, so when Miles walks back on and says "Give Give me More More Fookin More" it's Mosh Pit time! 'Unbearable' with it's wonderful chorus "I never liked you very much when I met you.......and now I like you even less"..... is next, followed by an extended version of possibly the Wonderstuff's heaviest song,early b-side and crowd favorite 'Ten Trenches Deep'. Three songs in the mosh pit is plenty for me these days and that was the perfect set closer.

The Wonderstuff play good time music.The crowd got what we came for and more tonight. There's smiles all round and Miles can still be spotted with a grin plastered on his face in the bar a couple of hours later.

.....Looking forward to the 'Never Loved Elvis' tour next year!!