Exeter Phoenix buzzed with an unexpected midweek electricity on Tuesday night as a sold‑out crowd packed in for ASH’s UK tour — a run so hot, it’s sitting at 99% sold out, with only Hull’s ‘Welly’ venue still clinging to a handful of tickets. But before the Northern Irish power‑trio detonated their catalogue across the room, the evening opened with a quietly dazzling set from Later Youth, a band whose classic sensibilities and understated swagger made them the perfect foil for what was to come.
Later Youth arrived as a four‑piece: drums, bass, guitar, and the unmistakable warmth of a Wurlitzer electric piano, handled by frontman Joe Dudderidge, the creative force behind the project and formerly of The Travelling Band. There was an immediate sense of confidence, not the chest‑puffed kind but the sort that comes from musicians who know exactly what they’re doing.
Their sound felt like a postcard from a pre‑genre‑obsessed era: classic pop‑rock with a modern sheen, tight musicianship, and a nostalgic charm that never tipped into pastiche. The slide guitar work was intricate yet ego‑free, weaving in and out of the arrangements with a kind of quiet authority. And that Wurlitzer… it added a touch of class to every corner of the room.
Much of the set drew from their debut album Living History (released in the summer of 2025), a reflective, first‑person record steeped in memory, missteps, and the strange ache of growing older. Hotel Venezuela — inspired by a group of lesbians who took Dudderidge in after a breakup — was a standout, its storytelling both tender and wry. And yes, there were proper guitar solos interspersed throughout the set, the kind you don’t see enough of these days.
Later Youth left the stage to warm applause, having set the tone with a set that was polished, heartfelt, and quietly magnetic.
Then came the main event.
ASH tore into their set with ‘Zarathrusta’, a 90‑second space‑age blast that acted like a defibrillator to the room. Without missing a beat, they slammed into the Graham‑Coxon‑tinged ‘Fun People’, and suddenly Exeter Phoenix felt less like a Tuesday night and more like the centre of the universe.
Riding high on the success of their ninth studio album Ad Astra, released October 2025 and soaring to #2 on the UK Independent Album Chart, the band were in ferocious form. Tim Wheeler, clad in double denim and a sparkly guitar strap, wielded his Gibson Flying V like an extra limb. Mark Hamilton, in cargos, white vest and Nike sneakers, contorted himself into shapes that would make a yoga instructor blush, thrusting his three‑string Gibson Thunderbird with wild abandon. (Yes — three strings. At 53, I finally noticed that the man has no time for high notes.) Meanwhile Rick McMurray anchored the sonic chaos with military‑grade precision.
The crowd were rowdy from the off — louder than many Saturday nights — a testament to the enduring pull ASH have on people who grew up with them and those discovering them anew.
The early portion of the set leaned heavily into Ad Astra, but it was the classics that sent the room into orbit. ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Kung Fu’, ‘Girl From Mars’, and ‘Angel Interceptor’ all landed like meteor strikes, each one greeted with a roar that shook the rafters.
Tim reminisced about past Devon appearances — a Bear Grylls festival at Powderham Castle, a long‑ago Lemongrove show, Beautiful Days — before launching into new track ‘Deadly Love’, which already feels like a future favourite.
‘Shining Light’ triggered a mass singalong so loud it practically rewrote the building’s fire code. From there, the band swung into ‘Oh Yeah’, keeping the emotional temperature sky‑high.
Then came the curveballs: ‘Jump in the Line’ — a calypso‑metal detour that jolted the crowd into joyous confusion before erupting into full‑blown party mode. ‘Hallion’, introduced with the tale of Dominique, the fan who once sent the band dirty letters. Was she in the room tonight? Who knows — but the crowd loved the lore. And ‘Kung Fu’ returned to up the ante, the floor erupting in a call‑and‑response frenzy.
The encore opened with a moment of stillness: Tim alone with an acoustic guitar performing ‘My Favourite Ghost’. The room fell silent — pin‑drop silent — a rare and beautiful thing at a rock show.
Then the accelerator hit the floor. ‘Braindead’ revved the crowd back into motion, setting the stage for the inevitable, glorious finale: ‘Burn Baby Burn’. The eruption was total. Fists in the air, bodies bouncing across the entire ground floor, even the balcony swayed with people dancing like the world might end at midnight.
What makes ASH so compelling in 2026 is that they refuse to lean lazily on nostalgia. Yes, the classics are untouchable. Yes, they deliver them with the same fire they had in the 90s. But the new material stands tall beside them, sharp, melodic, and bursting with life. ASH are no heritage act, they’re a band that are still carving their future. Exeter Phoenix felt that truth in every riff, every chorus, every grin exchanged onstage.
A midweek gig? Technically. But ASH turned it into a celebration of longevity, of evolution, and of the simple joy of being in a room full of people who still believe in the power of rock n’ roll.
Click HERE to purchase ad Astra from ASH’s official store
Words by Steve Muscutt
Photos by © Julian Baird
