Review: Ash at Rosemount Hotel

Ash at Rosemount Hotel
w/ Rinehearts
Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Returning to Perth for their first visit since 2018, the members of evergreen Irish punk-pop trio Ash, looking fit and barely aged since the mid-nineties halcyon days of Britpop, took to the stage at a rammed Rosemount to the sort of raucous welcome specially reserved for much-adored returning heroes. 

In town for the local stop on their nationwide Teenage Wildlife tour celebrating 30 years of the band, Ash delivered a high-energy performance that drew from the best moments of their hit-laden seven album career. Australia has always been a happy touring ground for the band and for the duration of their 19 song set, Ash had their fans – overwhelmingly middle-aged and looking to relive their youth with a healthy dose of rock nostalgia –  dancing and cheering all the way to the back of the room by the merch stall with good vibes aplenty in the air. 

Kicking off with Goldfinger, a firm favourite from their classic full-length album 1977, this was Ash going straight for the populist vote and keeping their foot down on the feelgood pedal. From that point onwards, the familiar singalong hits with giant choruses just kept on coming in a blizzard of sweet melody, buzzsaw guitars, snarling bass and pummelling drums. 

Wild Surf, the standout track from the band’s “difficult” second album Nu-Clear Sounds was followed by the UK Top 10 smash hit A Life Less Ordinary which was followed by the much-loved Oh Yeah!. And so on and so forth. Pacing themselves with obscure album tracks in between the fan favourites? Forget about it. Ash’s set was a crowd-pleasing joyride to the finish line, totally apt for an act who decided to release a single every fortnight for an entire year back in September 2009 instead of a conventional long player like the way normal bands tend to do.

From the off, it was clear that Ash had come to play and play with intent, and they certainly did with the combination of the band’s tight musicianship and fast catchy songs proving totally effective in transporting the audience back to the nineties on a wave of pure rock and roll energy.  

Armed with his trusty Gibson Flying V, singer/guitarist Tim Wheeler seemed totally in his element, strumming and singing with a cool mix of abandon and precision while making it all seem like the most natural thing in the world. A neat trick if you can pull it off. As for the rest of the band, bassist Mark Hamilton swung his Gibson Thunderbird bass and threw rock shapes like it was still Seattle circa 1991 while drummer Rick McMurray, looking like an extra from Smokey and The Bandit these days with his long hair, beard and trucker cap ensemble, had enough chops in his arsenal to pull out a cool tribal drum solo during a blistering version of Angel Interceptor. 

Throughout the set, the band moved effortlessly between anthems like the Ivor Novello winning Shining Light and lesser known, harder-sounding likes of Buzzkill, from their most recent album Islands, like seasoned pros with each song delivered with lashings of passion and power. Ash’s performance on the night was all about offering up a flawless trip through their musical high points for their fans and that’s exactly what they did.

By the time, the set came to a close with a potent double knockout punch featuring Kung Fu and an epic rendition of Girl From Mars – the tune pretty much the majority of fans in the room had come to hear the band perform – the crowd was fully engaged and baying for even more. Ash, ever the crowd-pleasers, duly complied with a frenetic three song rush of an encore that comprised blistering renditions of Numbskull, Jesus Saves and this writer’s favourite tune from the band, Burn Baby Burn, that reminded everyone present than on their day, Ash were still very much a potent live force to be reckoned with.

Kicking off proceedings on the night were local power pop heroes Rinehearts who, despite being beset by technical problems emanating from a troublesome pedal board, managed to charm Ash’s audience with their harmony-heavy blend of guitar gorgeousness. The opening slot of a gig is often unkind with an disinterested, distracted crowd having to be won over but Rinehearts – expanded to a five piece on the night with the addition of Nici and Olga from Lonesome Dove helping out on guitars, keyboards and vocals –  gave it their all and had the audience moved right up to the front of the stage with plenty of heads bopping by the end of their set.

But the night belonged to Ash and overall, the trio managed to put on a really solid performance that highlighted their impressive musicianship and tuneful back catalogue in entertaining fashion. For those in attendance, this was an enjoyable trip down memory lane and a timely reminder of why Ash’s music continues to resonate with so many fans.

ZACK YUSOF