There was a feeling of nostalgia in the air at Exeter’s Lemongrove tonight as two of the mightiest alternative/indie bands who gained magnificent success in the early 90’s prepared to take the audience on a musical roller coaster ride from the late 1980’s to present day.
I was amazed that so many people were wearing T-Shirts from ‘back in the day’, there were people repping Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Mega City Four, Midway Still, Senseless Things and of course Carter USM and The Wonder Stuff! I had even managed to dig an old ‘Stuffies’ long sleeved shirt out of a bin liner in my attic, it smelt bad, it was oversized but who cares, this was a shirt I bought after falling in love with the band the first time around and I was proud as fuck to be celebrating the fact that, even after 30 years, Miles Hunt was still at the helm, driving the band forwards to pastures new….
The Wonder Stuff, fronted by the curly haired gobshite that is Miles Hunt were on the road promoting their ninth (proper) studio album Better Being Lucky (I say ‘proper’ as they have knocked out a couple of re-issues of both ‘The Eight Legged Groove Machine’ and ‘HUP’ over the past few years).
Do you remember Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine? You know them, they accosted Philip Scofield at the Smash Hits Poll Winners in 1993 and went on to headline Glastonbury Festival on Friday 26th June 1992. They split up a long time ago but tonight saw Jim-Bob from the band performing a solo acoustic set chock full of Carter classics and a few of his own songs thrown in for good measure.
As Jim-Bob took to the stage dressed in his trademark black shirt, red braces, and red patent leather Doc Marten boots, the crowd welcomed him with a mighty cheer. It’s been a few years since I last saw him play live so I was as excited as anyone for the entertainment to begin.
From the get go when he launched into ‘Is Wrestling Fixed’, he had the room eating out of his hand. His self-deprecating banter was lapped up by the eager audience who laughed along as he said that he had recently been described as a Ken Dodd lookalike! He dedicated ‘Shoppers Paradise’ to anyone who has had the misfortune of visiting Trago Mills shopping centre just outside of Bovey Tracey (it’s the kind of place where you NEED to do drugs just to get through the experience). His set was peppered with classics such as ‘A Prince in a Paupers Grave’, ‘Lean on Me’, ‘The Only Living Boy in New Cross’ and Carter’s incredible cover version of ‘This is How It Feels’ made famous by the mighty Inspiral Carpets in the early 90’s (I prefer Carter’s version TBH!)
Jim played for the sum total of 45 minutes and ended with ‘Sheriff Fatman’, much to the joy of the crowd who were singing along to every word. It was great to see him in good voice and I look forward to seeing him at festivals throughout 2020 given the chance.As Jim-Bob exited the stage, the roadies shuffled round some gear to make it presentable for The Stuffies to jump on board and do what they do.
After a short break, Miles Hunt took to the stage looking very dapper in a shirt, checked trousers and smart brogues to let everyone know how the evening would unfold. They were going to open with a selection of tracks from the new record, then take a ‘comfort break’ prior to launching into ‘T8LGM’ and ‘HUP’ in full. Miles explained that the idea of doing the shows came about after a night in a pub (as all good ideas often do!), he was reminded by a good friend that 2019 marked 30 years since the release of their incredible sophomore album ‘HUP’, this same good friend also mentioned that they had totally overlooked the 30th anniversary of the debut album ‘T8LGM’ and suggested it would be a good idea to get out on the road and play BOTH albums in full for the fans. This came about around the same time that they were about to release their new long played ‘Better Being Lucky’ so I guess you could say it was the ‘perfect storm’ in a musical sense.
Miles introduced the entire band, Mark Gemini Thwaite (aka Mark GT) on guitar and bass, Erica Nockalls on violin and backing vocals, Pete Howard on drums and the welcome return of the one and only Malc Treece on guitar and backing vocals. I noted that there was another guy playing bass on the newer tracks, I didn’t catch his name but I will say that he held things together perfectly throughout.
Standout tracks from the new material included ‘Feet to the Flames’ and ‘Lay Down Your Cards’ which saw a harder approach to the traditional music served up by The Wonder Stuff.
After a short break, the band formed on stage once more and launched straight into their 1989 album ‘HUP’. I had hoped that they would play the songs in the order that they were put out on the album but looking at the setlist, there were a few changes made to the running order, I guess to make it flow a little easier given the fact that there were 6 members on stage and not every track would require them all to be present for every song.
Highlights from round 2 for me included ’30 Years in the Bathroom’, ‘Them Big Oak Trees’, ‘Piece of Sky’ and of course, ‘Don’t Let me Down, Gently’ which all sounded as fresh and bouncy as they did the first time I heard them on my Hitachi stack system HIFI back in the day. The rest of the band left the stage leaving just Erica and Miles to perform a superb version of ‘Unfaithful’, this really was a standout moment of the set and proved that they can do ‘stripped back’ as well as the full on approach that we’re used to.
With ‘HUP’ done and dusted, the band had a quick shuffle around to prepare for the onslaught of ‘T8LGM’. Mark GT took on bass duties with the other guy (whose name escapes me) went for a well-earned rest, leaving Miles, Pete and Malc to fill the rest of the stage. I thought that as there was no violin used in the recording of their debut release that there would be no need for Erica to be present but she did assist with a number of tracks including ‘Red Berry Joy Town’ with her perfectly timed ‘stabs’ which really added to the feel of the song.
I was sat in the photo pit for most of the show and looking up at Mark GT, I couldn’t help think that he had a certain look about him that reminded me of Rob Jones from the early days. Standout tracks from the 3rd leg of the set included ‘It’s Yer Money’, ‘Give Give Give Me More More More’, ‘Like a Merry Go Round’ and of course ‘Unbearable’ which came WAY too late in the set to allow people to leap about as they would have done 30 years before!
‘Ruby Horse’ sounded immense with its off kilter ‘horsey’ drumbeat from Pete Howard and full credit to him, he had a mountain to climb but managed it with relative ease, never dropping a beat throughout the set. As the final chord of ‘Poison’ rang out around the room, the band left the stage…..would there be an encore? Surely not, they had been on stage for the best part of 2 hours already, they must have been running on fumes! After a couple of minutes, they did return and Miles took time to thank the audience for their ongoing support over the past 30 odd years and said that he was looking forward to “doing it again sometime”, maybe for the 60th anniversary?
Prior to launching into the final track, ‘Good Night Though’, he explained that this should have been the closing track on ‘HUP’’ and to this day, doesn’t remember why it wasn’t!
As the track died down, Miles thanked the room, blew kisses and took a bow and exited the stage, followed by Erica, Mark GT and Malc had a ‘guitar off’ for a bit prior to Malc following the other two. Mark GT threw his pick into the crowd and left the stage, leaving the other bass player and the drummer to bring things to a close.
It’s been 4 years since I last saw The Stuffies play as a full band and say what you will about them, they have ALWAYS delivered the goods, the music may have changed paths a couple of times along the way but there is one thing for certain, as soon as the music starts, you instantly know that it’s The Wonder Stuff and long may this continue!
Their new album Better Being Lucky is available to buy, stream or download from online stores and dare I say, your local friendly record shop (if you are lucky enough to have one!)
Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt
You can see all of the photos from the gig HERE
