THE WONDER STUFF + INSPIRAL CARPETS – BRIGHTON DOME 8.10.26
The Wonder Stuff are back and are celebrating 30 years in the bathroom baby…, hold up! that’s not right, that’s one of their songs, they are actually celebrating their 40th anniversary with a mega tour, and what a tour this is; 18 dates, which started on the 1st October and ends in December with a gig at Brixton Academy and then a gig on home turf in Birmingham.
When the tour was announced a large number of venues almost sold out straight away, this is the biggest Stuffies tour in years and all at fair size venues too which goes to show the pulling power they still have 40 years on.
I’ll confess up front, I am a big big fan, as a 90s indie kid, my parents will attest to hearing those first four albums constantly being played upstairs in my bedroom, probably a contributing factor as to why all the lyrics have been burnt into my mind for eternity. Sadly what with my young age, I was only able to catch them live for the first time at Brixton in April 1994, which ended up being the final tour before disbanding, but we still had that last big hurrah at Phoenix Festival that following July, and then came Miles new band Vent 414, incidentally who did return this year with the long awaited second album.
However I digress, that was of course not the end of The Wonder Stuff as the band did return and over the years we’ve seen some personnel changes as more legs have been added and swapped in the groove machine. Today’s mighty fine lineup consists of founding members Miles Hunt: (vocals & guitar) and Malc Treece (guitar & backing vocals), with Erica Nockalls (violin & backing vocals). Erica joined in 2005 and has also had various outings with Miles as a duo. The lineup is completed by Marc Gemini Thwaite (guitar) who has played with way too many bands to list here, Tim Sewell (bass guitar) and Pete Howard (drums) both formerly of EAT, Pete also is in Vent 414 with Miles.
So tonight marks the 15th time, I’ve seen either The Wonder Stuff or Miles playing solo, I’d had a bit of a break recently, but the stars have aligned quite flukely that I saw them at ‘Beautiful Days’ festival just over a month back, and will be seeing them again at ‘Shiiine On’ festival in November, both of which were announced after I’d got my ticket for today. Better Being Lucky hey!
So tonight, the Brighton Dome is looking rather packed out, plenty of Stuffies T-shirts are being modeled, old and new, you can really feel this tour has brought people out of gig retirement keen to relive their youth once more. At 9pm the lights go down and the band take to stage, Miles in a loose flowing shirt, Erica in a beautiful red dress and Malc in his trademark cap with a mountain of amps behind him emblazoned with his name.
The familiar welcome call came from Miles “Oi oi, how the f*ck are ya, this is Malc Treece’s favourite song”, it was ‘Mission Drive’ which kicked off a trio of songs from their 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album, a full on lively start to proceedings, straight into ‘Play’ and ‘Donation’ the later having Miles take to his megaphone.
Miles prepared the masses for some newer material “God bless you, a trio of songs from the last century, but we of course are celebrating our 40th anniversary, so will do some from this century” which took us into ‘In Clover’ from 2016’s ‘30 Goes Around The Sun’ album. The crowd was predictably a little less lively, which was a shame, it’s a great song. You feel Erica’s presence in the band’s post 2005 output, her violin and backing vocals really shining through, my feet and legs were properly bouncing away during it.
Erica left the stage at this point as we headed back to late 80s territory with ‘Don’t Let Me Down, Gently’, still as fast and energetic as ever. Miles stated “Just like being back at the 6th form disco and this one’s going to keep you right there”, it was ‘A Wish Away’. The crowd were loving it, everyone singing along and clapping in unison, Pete’s drumming, brings a whole new dimension to the band’s songs, the power behind those beats giving the songs a harder edge, the heartbeat is strong!
Erica returned to the stage as we venture back into the 90s ‘Never Loved Elvis’ era once more with the immense sing-along ‘Here Comes Everyone’; however Miles proclaimed after he normally congratulates the crowd at this point, but we “needed to do better”. The band geared up for the next song with some crowd shout outs causing Miles to say “What did I miss” someone then shouted out ‘Circlesquare’. “Well done, you were right and now you’ve put us right off, so shut the f*ck up for the rest of the set” joke Miles, causing a huge laugh around the Dome. The song was of course ‘Circlesquare’ the 1990 standalone single, one of my favourites, Malc’s guitar sounds just totally awesome.
Next up was another of my favourites ‘Caught in My Shadow’, Miles introduced this with the story of how he wrote it about himself and others, who leave their hometown when they start to earn some money, he also joked about Marc “We make MGT wear a Wonder Stuff T-shirt on stage with us, as he is so many other bands, it helps him remember what songs to play”.
The next song is often anticipated by half of the crowd and was introduced by Miles’ love hate story about it being the song that made them pop as such. You guessed it, it was ‘The Size Of A Cow’, now considering it might have split the crowd, this one had everyone dancing, singing, and arms in the air, Miles cupped his ear to the crowd.
After the high, comes the come down, so what better time for what we shall call the calmer part of the set. We were taken back into this century and a song to Miles musical heroes. The song was ‘The Guy With The Gift’ and was the most recent song in the set from the 2019 ‘Better Being Lucky’ album. Erica once again really shining on violin and backing vocals, it was softer, gentle, romantic, a powerful song. Miles told us he’d “checked the building beforehand for defibrillators and there were not even enough to save the band, so we should take this time to chill out, think about those great romances of your life…or don’t”.
So the calmer vibes flowed with the classic ‘Sleep Alone’ and the newer ‘Don’t Anyone Dare Give A Damn’, this one again featuring more Erica and showcasing how the band have evolved over the years, their sound here in this one built around the whole band, taking in everyone’s strengths, Miles songwriting as ever totally on point.
“So are you rested as it gets pretty rough from here on in” warned Miles as we went back to those early years with a Wonder Stuff set staple ‘Red Berry Joy Town’, maybe someone hadn’t rested enough during this one, as security were called over by a portion of the crowd to help a chap that had collapsed, he walked away towards the back so hopefully was okay.
The set pushed straight on into the only song from their 1993 ‘Construction Of The Modern Idiot’ album, it was my all-time fav song ‘On The Ropes’, this one takes me right back to my GCSE years, the crowd even had a moshpit going by now, all actively bouncing.
Miles introduced ‘Golden Green’ with a tale of how we all happily went to the shops to buy our favourite bands 2nd album, got home, put it on and found out you loved country and western. Everyone was singing and dancing along, it’s such a fun, happy song, Erica had her solo moment, Miles chanting “hup, hup, hup”, we even saw some guitar dueling on stage between Miles and Marc, and Malc & Erica.
Erica left the stage as Miles told us we were on the home straight. As we got two stone cold Stuffie classics ‘Unbearable’ & ‘Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More’, the crowd going for it, loads of bouncing, singing, clapping, so much energy. After the instruments went quiet, Miles got the band singing “Give, Give, Give, Me More More More” over and over acapella as they all left the stage. Very clever, none of that stomping or clamping shouting more, but a simple musical command.
The band returned for an encore “That was beautiful Brighton, Thank you” said Miles as we were treated to a frenzy of guitar joy with ‘It’s Yer Money I’m After, Baby’, ‘Who Wants to Be the Disco King?’ and ‘No, For The 13th Time’. And as for time, that time had come with Miles signing off with his famous closing line “Brighton you have been legendary tonight, I have an idea, that we should definitely do this again sometime, God Bless ya” and the guitar feedback squealed into the truly stomping ‘Ten Trenches Deep’. This one really took me back to Phoenix Festival 1994 with the big spotlights flashing all over the crowd, Erica returned to the stage towards the end of the song, that violin on fire. What an end!
So it’s been 40 years and honest to god, The Wonder Stuff are still as good as ever, Miles voice has not aged whatsoever, Malc’s guitar work totally prime, Erica’s violin playing a treat to the ears, Pete’s drums as mentioned before full of power, and Tim’s bass perfectly on point and throbbing from start to finish. There is nothing limp or needing fixing in this line, it’s a happy band, Miles over the past few years seems to really have fallen in love with it all again and it shows. I’ve been lucky enough to have brief chats and a birthday photo with him at ‘Shiine’ over the past few years, much that I love the newer songs, he knows the audience want to hear the hits, he was recently quoted somewhere “You’ve got to keep the audience happy first and foremost, they’re the reason you’re there performing in the first place!” and I think that carries through on this tour. I truly felt like I was 15 again during this gig, an hour and half of solid joy, you’ll find me down in the moshpit come November.
If you can’t get to a date on the tour, then you can’t go wrong by picking up their latest CD/LP ‘Groovers On Manoeuvres’ a live album taking in 23 utter classics and favourites.
The Wonder Stuff:
Miles Hunt – vocals & guitar
Malc Treece – guitar & backing vocals
Erica Nockalls – violin & backing vocals
Marc Gemini Thwaite – guitar
Tim Sewell – bass guitar
Pete Howard – drums
The Wonder Stuff setist:
‘Mission Drive’ (from 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album)
‘Play’ (from 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album)
‘Donation’ (from 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album)
‘In Clover’ (from 2016, ‘30 Goes Around The Sun’ album)
‘Don’t Let Me Down, Gently’ (from 1989 ‘Hup’ album)
‘A Wish Away’ (from 1988 ‘Eight Legged Groove Machine’ album)
‘Here Comes Everyone’ (from 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album)
‘Circlesquare’ (a 1990 single)
‘Caught In My Shadow’ (from 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album)
‘The Size Of A Cow’ (from 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album)
‘The Guy With The Gift’ (from 2019, ‘Better Being Lucky’ album)
‘Sleep Alone’ (from 1991 ‘Never Loved Elvis’ album)
‘Don’t Anyone Dare Give A Damn’ (from 2019, ‘Better Being Lucky’ album)
‘Red Berry Joy Town’ (from 1988 ‘Eight Legged Groove Machine’ album)
‘On the Ropes’ (from 1993 ‘Construction of The Modern Idiot’ album)
‘Golden Green’ (from 1989 ‘Hup’ album)
‘Unbearable’ (from 1988 ‘Eight Legged Groove Machine’ album)
‘Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More’ (from 1988 ‘Eight Legged Groove Machine’ album)
‘It’s Yer Money I’m After, Baby’ (from 1988 ‘Eight Legged Groove Machine’ album)
‘Who Wants To Be The Disco King?’ (a 1989 single)
‘No, For The 13th Time’ (from 1988 ‘Eight Legged Groove Machine’ album)
‘Ten Trenches Deep’ (from 1988 ‘Eight Legged Groove Machine’ album)
Inspiral Carpets (20:00 to 21:00)
Inspiral Carpets are an indie alternative rock band who formed up in Oldham back in 1983, they were very much associated with the Madchester era of the late 80s into the 90s. Sadly they broke up in 1995, but have reunited and returned a couple of times since. This latest chapter in their history started in 2023 and see us with a lineup of Stephen Holt (lead vocals), Clint Boon (keyboards and backing vocals), Martyn Walsh (bass), Oscar Boon (guitar), who stepped in earlier this year when long term guitarist Graham Lambert stepped back from live duties, and finally we have Kev Clark (drums). They are no strangers to Brighton, having played here many times, but more recently they have played at the Dome in 2024 and Concorde 2 in 2023.
Oddly, I have never actually seen or listened much to the band. I’m familiar with certain songs that were on indie compilations, in particular ‘This is How It Feels’, but that was mostly down to Carter USM covering it, who were one of my other favourite bands of the era. According to my charts I did actually see the Inspiral’s one year recently at ‘Shiiine’, but for the life of me can’t remember it, I suspect drink was involved! Now this is not to say I’m not a fan now, by god I have hammered their back catalogue hard over the past few weeks and genuinely am very excited about catching a full set.
What with the band expected to play a full hour set, this was no ordinary support slot, we are talking full crowd capacity here, everyone primed and ready and at 8pm on the nose, the lights dimmed and the Inspirals took to the stage to a chorus of “moo’s” from the crowd. Yes, that’s right moo’s not boo’s!
The set kicked off with the keys of Clint Boon’s very distinctive Farfisa organ for their opening track ‘Burn Like The Sun’, this one is taken from their upcoming 2027 album of the same name. The track is mostly instrumental aside Stephen’s repeated vocals “burn, burn, burn like the sun”, it’s simple, but building, particularly as the bass, guitar and drums all kick in, it’s pretty psychedelic and different from their older work.
The band were all situated in a line along the very front of the stage, what with the Wonder Stuff’s set up all behind them. Stephen was front and centre, Clint to his side at the very front, the rest of the band were towards the left side of the stage, with the drums being the furthest.
Talking of older work, the next two songs were from 1990’s ‘Life’ album ‘She Comes In The Fall’ and ‘Move’, the first of which had a spotlight on Kev towards the end for a drum solo. Both songs are stone cold classics and ones I was familiar with. I was transported back to my school days, listening to the ‘Happy Daze’ compilation on my Walkman, and here I am now, 36 years on and hearing it live, it still sounds just as fresh. Clint’s organ really makes their sound their own.
Clint did a lot of the song introductions throughout the set, he informed us they have a new album coming out and they would be playing some from it tonight, he burped half way through, prompting Stephen to tell him to apologise. As promised the new song ‘Drag The Bag’ came next. I’ve listened to this one a lot over the past couple of weeks and it’s 100% my favourite of the new stuff that I’ve heard. I really like this new sound and direction, a quality bass line from Martyn, psych organ from Clint and more up-tempo vocals from Stephen.
“We’ve still got it, haven’t we, for a bunch of old blokes and two younger lads” kidded Clint as he introduced the band. When he mentioned Stephen starting the band around 1983, “it’s all a bit vague”, Stephen interjected, “you are making me sound old”, Clint replied, “No, it doesn’t make you old, it makes you f*cking cool man”, which got a big cheer.
We had a treat of hearing Mark E.Smith’s voice and vocals played out during the very lively and fast moving ‘I Want You’ from 1994 ‘Devil Hopping’ album. The crowd loved it. ‘Two Worlds Collide’ followed, such a beautiful song, honestly one I could hear over and over.
Next was another new one ‘Touching From A Distance Too Far’ actually the band’s current single, Stephen said, “I bet you’ve all downloaded it”, Clint joked back “Do you know what downloading is?, I’ll tell you what’s great, that MySpace thing” prompting a big laugh from the audience. The song itself is a cracker, really lively, full of energy. John Cooper Clarke featured on the next song ‘Let You Down’ from 2014’s ‘Inspiral Carpets’ album, before another classic ‘Dragging Me Down’ which had the crowd down the front properly dancing about.
For the set closers we had two more from the upcoming album. The belter ‘There’s A Better Way’ and the organ heavy ‘By Your Side’, both grade A listening to my ears, I’m really loving this new stuff. In between those two, Clint cheekily told us “This is another new one, we’d thought we’d try something different, spoken word to a reggae backbeat, it works, add some drum and bass, it’s called fusion”. Clint’s organ fired up into the unmistakable intro of ‘This Is How It Feels’ and before you knew it everyone in the place was singing along and clapping. The final song of the set was probably my favourite of their older work, it was ‘Saturn 5’, great solid beefy drums, Clint’s organ keys, Stephens excellent vocals, it was all over too fast as the band left the stage to a chorus of moo’s.
I’ve got to say I really really enjoyed The Inspiral’s set, their stage style and vibe is very cool, “Cool as F*ck” as their band’s t-shirt and slogan often reads. Stephen’s vocals are really smooth and warm, I swayed and bopped a plenty during the set, they seem really down to earth, good fun blokes. Again for a band that have pushed past their own 40th anniversary, their songs sound just as good as the original releases. I was impressed at how much guitar comes through in the mix, it feels and sounds like there are more guitars, but there is in reality just the one and the bass. As for the new songs taken from the upcoming album, I loved these, I think as I’ve drowned myself in their sounds for the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard all the old and new together for the first time, so I have no attachment to older stuff, the new stuff is really exciting and I’ll 100% be getting it pre-ordered at Resident, hopefully we’ll see a full tour to support it and hopefully right here in Brighton.
Inspiral Carpets:
Stephen Holt – lead vocals
Oscar Boon – guitar
Clint Boon – keyboards and backing vocals
Martyn Walsh – bass
Kev Clark – drums
Inspiral Carpets setlist:
‘Burn Like The Sun’ (from forthcoming 2027 ‘Burn Like The Sun’ album)
‘She Comes In The Fall’ (from 1990 ‘Life’ album)
‘Move’ (from 1990 ‘Life’ album)
‘Drag The Bag’ (from forthcoming 2027 ‘Burn Like The Sun’ album)
‘I Want You’ (from 1994 ‘Devil Hopping’ album)
‘Two Worlds Collide’ (from 1992 ‘Revenge Of The Goldfish’ album)
‘Touching From A Distance Too Far’ (from forthcoming 2027 ‘Burn Like The Sun’ album)
‘Let You Down’ (from 2014 ‘Inspiral Carpets’ album)
‘Dragging Me Down’ (from 1992 ‘Revenge Of The Goldfish’ album)
‘There’s A Better Way’ (from forthcoming 2027 ‘Burn Like The Sun’ album)
‘This Is How It Feels’ (from 1990 ‘Life’ album)
‘By Your Side’ (from forthcoming 2027 ‘Burn Like The Sun’ album)
‘Saturn 5’ (from 1994 ‘Devil Hopping’ album)
