Does anyone remember rock ‘n’ roll? You know, the real stuff: that feral, wayward, priapic noise that once sent shudders through so-called civilised society, giving generations of thrill-hungry people a new reason to get out of bed in the morning. Loud guitars. Thunderous drums. Enormous tunes that stick in your skull for days. Songs about life, love, sex, drugs and, yes please, more rock ‘n’ roll.
Does anyone remember that? The Wildhearts certainly fucking do.
Formed in 1989 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, The Wildhearts have now been the best rock ‘n’ roll band in the UK for 30 years. There have been countless ups and downs, splits and reunions and punch-ups and parties along the way, because this band’s story is a real rock ’n’ roll story. But it’s also the story of a band that are absolutely incapable of producing anything other than fantastic rock ‘n’ roll songs, all graced with melodies the size of skyscrapers and delivered with fiery passion and spiky attitude that puts every other rock band on the planet to shame.
Catch the Renaissance Men Tour Part II at
Brighton Concorde 2 – Sat 5th
Reading Sub89 – Sun 6th
Chester Live Rooms – Mon 7th
Hull Welly – Tue 8th
Holmfirth Picturedrome – Thu 10th
Cambridge Junction – Tue 15th
Bath Komedia – Wed 16th
Southampton Engine Rooms – Thu 17th
Wolverhampton KK’s Steel Mill – Mon 21st
Dover Booking Hall - Tues 22nd
From the remorseless anthem-fest of debut album Earth Vs. The Wildhearts through to the balls-out perfection of this year’s chart-conquering Renaissance Men, The Wildhearts’ catalogue is almost comically overstuffed with unforgettable songs. But as every devoted fan knows, those songs truly come alive when the band hit the stage and deliver them for real. You simply can’t fake chemistry in rock ‘n’ roll. Whatever it is that happens when Ginger, CJ, Danny and Ritch plug in and let rip, it’s as potent and undeniable as gravity itself. Meanwhile, the band have accrued a phenomenally dedicated and passionate audience over the years, which means that every single gig the band play turns into a giant community sing-along, powered by friendship, adrenalin and, rumour has it, significant quantities of booze.
Three decades into their campaign of righteous rock rebellion, The Wildhearts could easily have slipped into a routine of cosy nostalgia tours and mildly lucrative laps of honour. Instead, they came back blazing in 2019. With the band’s classic line-up firmly reunited and buzzing with fresh energy, they unveiled what is arguably their finest album to date, Renaissance Men. Not only a top 20 album in the UK but one of the most critically acclaimed rock records of the last decade, it was an album that perfect encapsulated everything that The Wildhearts do best. Raw, aggressive and laudably loud as all hell, the album’s ten songs are all certified bangers, with choruses so huge you could stick a flag in them and claim them for Elvis.
And then there are riffs… oh, the riffs! From the nose-flattening ferocity of opener Dislocated and the insanely catchy Let ‘Em Go through to the epic AC/DC-tinged euphoria of Diagnosis and the brutish, punky beat-‘em-up of closer Pilo Erection, Renaissance Men is the kind of rock ‘n’ roll record that bands don’t seem to make these days. Play it at an appropriately health-threatening volume and you will feel glad to be alive. That’s how this rock ‘n’ roll business is supposed to work, and no one does it better than The Wildhearts. The album’s subsequent success could hardly be more well deserved.
Buoyed by a fresh triumph, The Wildhearts will hit the road again this autumn, armed with those monumental new songs and a generous helping of established classics. While most of their early 90s peers have either disappeared without trace or gone soft in their old age, Ginger Wildheart and his comrades seem to have become tougher and snottier in recent times, perhaps reflecting the unhinged world we’re all forced to live in at the moment, but also because, even after all these years, rock ‘n’ roll still needs a massive kick up the arse every now and then. And yes, The Wildhearts are just the men to do it.
Don't miss The Wildhearts on the Renaissance Men Tour Part II at
Brighton Concorde 2 – Sat 5th
Reading Sub89 – Sun 6th
Chester Live Rooms – Mon 7th
Hull Welly – Tue 8th
Holmfirth Picturedrome – Thu 10th
Cambridge Junction – Tue 15th
Bath Komedia – Wed 16th
Southampton Engine Rooms – Thu 17th
Wolverhampton KK’s Steel Mill – Mon 21st
Dover Booking Hall – Tues 22nd
