Hup Hup Hup Hup! The Wonder Stuff @ O2 Academy Leeds, 23rd April 2010

On Friday night Doozr and I headed to Leeds O2 Academy for The Wonder Stuff's Hup! Tour.  I have been a fan of The Wonder Stuff for as long as I can remember.  When I told my mum who I was going to see her reply was "Wow, I know them.  How do I know them?".  Simple mum, I used to force you to listen to their Hup Album over and over in the car when I was about 15.

The Wonder Stuff decided to head out on a 20th Anniversary tour of their first album 'Eight Legged Grove Machine' last year.  It was an amazing gig and their new line up was impressive.  Erica Nockalls being a complete surprise, not only fantastic violinist but also adding a touch of glamour to The Wonder Stuff line-up.

When they announced that they would be touring again in 2010 to tour Hup I had to get tickets.  Hup is without a doubt their best album to date and, having seen the show they put on last year, I knew I couldn't miss it.

We dashed across to Leeds after work and found ourselves entering 'The Light', an entertainment and shopping centre around the corner from Academy.  We parked up and with a good hour to spare we popped into Subway for a bite to eat and a sit down.  We headed for the venue at doors opening and found ourselves a little corner midway back, out of the way of, what we knew from last time, would be a sea of 30 somethings moshing about like loons.

The first support act came on at about 7.30.  An interesting fellow called John McKeown.  He is sold as a solo artist but he appears to be more of 7 piece, a number of guitarists, keyboard, drums and violinist.  The songs were catchy and I even found myself bobbing my head a little.  Unfortunately, he appeared to think he was very 'rock and roll' and even strode off the stage at the end of the performance without even a simple thank you.  This left his 'band' to accept the slightly sparse clapping from the yet to fill up audience.

The second support act seemed to have a large following in the audience and I had spotted a number of gig-goers with their t-shirts on.  They were called Amsterdam and hail from Liverpool.  Immediately I noticed the common theme for the night; another beautiful girl with a violin in hand.

Amsterdam did not disappoint though.  They were excellent - I particularly liked the title track from their album, Arm in Arm.  Their entire set was really catchy.  Solid folk pop tracks with a distinct Irish feel thanks to honorary performer Elmear McGeown on the flute and penny whistle and Anna Jenkins on violin.  We enjoyed it so much that we acquired the aforementioned album.  Another new band to add to the collection.

A nice addition to the stage performance was a roadie who clearly appreciated Amsterdam's music.  He suddenly appeared from nowhere on the stage and started performing Bez-like dance moves whilst singing his lungs out.  Very amusing indeed.

Finally at about 9.15, The Wonder Stuff took to the stage.  They opened with 30 Years in the Bathroom, changing the year to 1979 instead of 1959. Time really has flown since they released this album.  It soon became clear, however, that the were not playing the tracks in the album order.  A disgruntled audience member enquired as to why this was so.  Lead singer Miles Hunt was happy to answer, admitting that he felt they'd made a mistake with the original track order and that this was the order the tracks should have been.  Since listening to the Anniversary edition of Hup I can see that they have changed the order on the re-recording too, and I concur; the album does indeed make a lot more sense this way around.

All too quickly they had finished the album tracks and had vanished off stage.  There were a few minutes when I wondered if that was it.  Slightly disappointed that it could be over so quickly.  But then they were back and on form to sing some excellent covers, B-sides and classic songs from the era.  Circlesquare, Size of a Cow and Caught in my Shadow being 3 of my favourite tracks and the amazing Ten Trenches Deep to finish the set.

They were on stage for over 2 hours.  2 amazing, non-stop hours.  I danced.  I never dance at gigs.  I was completely drawn into what was happening on the stage and could have kept going for another 2 hours.  At some point during the evening, without me even noticing, Doozr snuck off to the Merc stand to grab me a copy of the re-recorded Hup album.  A welcome addition to my Wonder Stuff CD collection. Due to the complete overhaul it has received, it's like a new album rather than a re-recording of an old classic.

Hup has and always will be my favourite offering from The Wonder Stuff.  After that performance I really hope they come back next year and tour Never Loved Elvis.  I will certainly be there, cheap seats or not!

Gigs, gigs and erm more gigs!

2009 was pretty hectic as far as gigs were concerned and I wanted 2010 to be even more impressive. A lot of dups last year: Electric Six 2 times, Reverend and the Makers 2 times, Magenta 3 times ... challenge for 2010?? At least one gig a month ... no dups!

The January gig was Lacuna Coil on their Shallow Life Tour at O2 Academy, Manchester.

This was followed by Sheffield Folk Metal band Northern Oak at Corporation.

Then came the long awaited Dead Like Harry album launch at The Plug. A Sheffield band who are really starting to make waves in the industry.

Last weekend we saw Frightened Rabbit at Leadmill. A favourite with some friends of ours and certainly worth going to see. Venue let the gig down a little bit, but the band were superb.

Next week we see The Courteeners. A band I first came across after seeing them at the Love Music, Hate Racism gig held at Magna in 2008 where they played a set before local boys Reverend and The Makers and Leeds lads the Kaiser Chiefs. This will be the first gig this year so far at O2 Academy, Sheffield.

The next gig will be The Joy Formidable at O2 Academy, Sheffield. I first came across these on Indie Music Filter Volume 5 and Doozr bought me tickets for their mid-week gig as a birthday present. That will be followed by the mighty Wonder Stuff at Leeds O2 Academy in April performing songs from their amazing album HUP! And finally Misstallica a female tribute to Metallica at O2 Academy, Sheffield in May. OMG I can't wait to see that!!!! LOL!

March has been a little manic as far as gigs are concerned and when I found out that Delain were playing Nottingham and Leeds next week, I had to hold myself back and not book them. Little disappointed but then I have had 4 gigs this month alone. I will have to wait until they tour next time. :(

So what is that then? 8 gigs by May? That is not bad going at all. I know Electric Six are playing in December again and so I think I will have to go see them again. There is also talk of a trip to Bloodstock this year, money and childminding permitting. So I will get to experience a whole weekend of mud and metal! It is looking very likely that I will successfully achieve my challenge for this year. Hmmm, I wonder what I can challenge myself to for 2011??