Live

Ash, The Undivided

Emma Murphy 30/06/2010

I'm in my early 20s...okay late 20s and I'm starting to feel old, I scan across the music scene of late and feel that if I don't write a raving review about some guy who plays 80s electro music, in his room, using a coat hanger and tin foil that I'm really out of touch with what is happening. My generation was the 90s, where a musical influx of bands that spoke for our generation, a unity was created through the power of 90s music and one of those 90s bands was Ash. Years on and with Cool Britannia bands such as Supergrass and Oasis calling it a day, it's Ash that still remains.

Ash take to the stage on an incredibly hot June evening, in an underground club, a sold-out crowd assemble to reclaim their youth. Formed in 1992, Ash have had the kind of success that many bands out now could only wish for. 8 million selling records worldwide, a phenomenal debut album '1977' that alone sold 2 million copies and a 18 year career that still sees them sell out gigs across the country. The band now an original three piece after the departure of Charlotte Hatherley in 2006 play a majestic set that includes the classics 'Oh Yeah', 'Girl From Mars' and 'Goldfinger', they play the hits as if the material is as fresh and energetic as they were in 1996. Ash are currently trying to stay one step ahead of the music industry and have decided to release 26 singles, an A-Z series that saw Tim Wheeler and associates crack into new tunes such 'True Love 1980' a super tune that still reaffirms the fact that Ash still have what it takes to compete with the big boys of music. By the end of the gig the audience are saturated in sweat and after Ash play 'Shining Light' we are left screaming for more, a second encore sees Tim Wheeler openly admit , 'Thanks for the support and making this by far one of the hottest gigs we have ever played'.

What makes Ash the legends is the total belief that they have in themselves, they seem much more at home with the original line-up and like many gigs that involve 90s bands, the audience are there to see a band thrash out the 90s hits but with Ash the audience embrace new material aswell and are left gagging to hear what Ash have up their sleeves next.