The Wonder Stuff – Manchester Ritz 12/12/24

The Wonder Stuff are a very special band for me, seeing them play live in 1987 shifted my musical tastes that had previously been in a very classic rock vein with the likes of Quo, AC/DC or KISS to something new. Whereas I had previously seen bands in the likes of the Hammersmith Odeon with these massive stage sets, I was now frequenting pubs and clubs. Dressed in jeans and wearing t-shirts that had Ned’s Atomic Dustbin or Mega City Four logos on them where previously Iron Maiden’s Eddie or a tongue wiggling Gene Simmons would have been. The other massive change was that these new musical heroes I could chat to before or after a sweaty show whereas previously you wouldn’t be able to tell your stories to the musicians that paid your money to see. This was very important to this rotund Northern Irish rocker when he was 16 and he had finally found his tribe….his people and I started out on a path that I am still on some 35 years later.

Tonight’s Manchester show starts with a celebration of The Wonder Stuff’s ‘HUP’ album and from the very start of that intro to the album which leads to first track ,  30 Years In A Bathroom till it’s end, Good Night Though, I am in absolute ecstasy. Radio Ass Kiss, Them Big Oak Trees follow and what hits you is how wonderful the line up of The Wonder Stuff sound. Singer Miles Hunt has a smile on his face that does not diminish throughout the set and the sound is so full with three guitars courtesy of Hunt, long time compadre Malcolm Treece and Mark Gemini Thwaite all bringing a freshness to these HUP songs that sound like they have just been written, not being celebrated 35 years after. With Erica Nicholls entering the stage to play violin on  Golden Green and much of the HUP record, it makes you think how adventurous The Wonder Stuff had been when writing that ‘difficult second album’ that can be the end for many bands careers. Hunt talks of how the album was played in Sixth Form Common Rooms and I am reminded of how important new music was to me in those days and how I had met a whole new group of friends because of this record we are celebrating , including Garry who I met in the queue to see The Wonder Stuff at the  Aston Villa Leisure Centre on the last dates of the HUP tour who would become my best man when I got married twenty five years later!  Hunt talks of absent friends such as The Bass Thing, whose voice is rattling around his head during one of the most beautiful songs from the album, Piece Of Sky.

I think one of the things that I love about this concert is remembering songs from HUP that were never singles but sound so great tonight, Let’s Be Other People and Room 410 and Good Night Though being prime examples and surely my ears don’t deceive me when the band slip in a bit of PiL into proceedings, which is always going to keep me happy! What is extraordinary about these gigs is that usual Stuffies drummer Pete was unable to do this tour so Echo And The Bunnymen drummer Simon Finley has stepped in for these gigs and does a wonderful job. The band then leave the stage (for the first time, no worries rockers as they are coming straight back). At this point in the set it was originally mooted that The Wonder Stuff were going to play a set of songs that were from their post reforming catalogue which I personally thought was very brave and in a way more rewarding to the fans of the band to hear material that they may not had heard before….but unfortunately the masses didn’t agree but maybe some day eh Milo?

The second set starts with two tracks from The Wonder Stuff’s debut album , The Eight Legged Groove Machine, namely album opener Red Berry Joy Town and Ruby Horse. The crowd are then treated to newer tracks Tricks Of The Trade, The Guy With The Gift and later Don’t Anyone Dare Give A Damn showing that The Wonder Stuff are not a band who are resting on their laurels and can still certainly come up with a rocking tune. Hunt and Nicholls are setting us up for the coming Yuletide season by both looking wonderful in Gold. Christmas Crackers come from the likes of On The Ropes and Here Comes Everyone and a blistering Mission Drive (that Hunt informs us is Malcolm Treece’s favourite). While a beach ball is passed around this joyous crowd Hunt reminds us all of the 1968 cult TV Classic “The Prisoner” and even it’s elusive star, No.6 Patrick Magoohan would be bopping with these rather enthused Grebos!!!

The Size Of A Cow and in a bit of irony with Give Give Give Me More More More bring the main part of the set to a close but Hunt and co don’t leave the stage for long and an encore of Unbearable and a truly magnificent Ten Trenches Deep brings our evening to an end. Now that we are reaching the end of 2024 it is time to look forward to what a new year will bring us and with talk of Milo bringing Vent 414 back to us and who knows maybe a new album from The Wonder Stuff…..well the future is looking as exciting as this trip down memory lane!!!