Ash at Scala

Ash were at Scala on Tuesday and it felt like a reminder of something I sometimes forget until I’m standing in a room with a chorus in my throat: Tim Wheeler is the best songwriter to ever grace the shores of Northern Ireland.

The gig opened with new track Zarathustra followed by Fun People. It was a punchy one-two that told you exactly what kind of night it was going to be: no easing in, no polite warm-up, just a band walking onstage and going straight for the jugular.

Orpheus landed like a proper statement of intent – bombastic drums and a wonderful melody, the kind that filled Scala and made the room feel suddenly bigger. Shining Light followed and its engaging chorus did exactly what it was supposed to do: it pulled everyone in, no effort required. And then Oh Yeah – the first song that had the crowd moving – flipped the night from “great set” to “okay, now we’re really doing this.”

There is always a moment when a band just “clicks” and the gig really kicks in. This happened halfway through. Return of White Rabbit was when Ash kicked into gear. Tim, Mark and Rick were in perfect sync and kept it up for the remainder of the concert.

From that point on, everything landed harder. The songs didn’t just sound good – they hit. The room tightened around the band, the band tightened around the songs, and Scala became that perfect live-music pocket where the crowd stopped watching and started going with it.

A vital, fun cover of Jump in the Line – a Beetlejuice nod that hit harder than you expected in a room like this, pure joy with a slightly feral edge. The fans soaked up every last ounce of it before the band slammed the door shut on the main set with Kung Fu. Everybody – including me – was moving to its incendiary melody. Of course, nobody was ready to go home.

The encore opened with Tim at the acoustic guitar playing My Favourite Ghost – a touching and melancholy moment that hushed the room just enough to make it feel intimate, even at full capacity. And then they did what Ash always do when it’s time to send you out into the night: Girl From Mars and Burn Baby Burn, back to back, the entire crowd in absolute hysterics as they jumped and sang along.

Tim Wheeler’s voice still sounds like a teenager’s, and his legendary solos hit as hard as they ever have. Ash don’t need spectacle. They’ve got songs – real ones – and that rare ability to turn a venue into a single, loud, smiling organism. On 3^rd February, Scala was lit up, and for a couple of hours it really did feel like nothing else mattered.

Edoardo LAstorina
Photos: Nick Bennett

For further information and future events visit Ash’s website here.