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Ash Live at Oxford Brookes

Ash are back, and they arrived in style. Tim Wheeler appeared
on stage brandishing his flaming ‘flying V’ in front of
a sold-out Oxford Brookes. After the crowd stood through the
support bands ‘The Crimea’ and ‘Saves The
Day’, they were finally given what they were waiting for.
The frenzy that followed could hardly be compared to the
reception of the support bands. This is simply because Ash are still as exciting as they ever
were and show no signs of stopping. Ash fans were rewarded with a
highly diverse set, which not only consisted of new tracks, but
treats such as their first single ‘Jack names the
planets’ and early offerings ‘Goldfinger’ and
‘Kung-Fu’, sounding as good as ever. The focus was on
new album, Meltdown with 10 of the 11 tracks played from it.
Standout tracks included the sinister ‘Evil Eye’ and
the medieval ’Clones’. The beautiful forthcoming single
‘Star Crossed‘ sounded much better live than in the
studio. Apart from Wheeler’s flaming entrance, the set
wasn’t very visually exciting, and the band were static
throughout. The quality of the music more than made up for it,
and despite Brooke’s ‘pit-policy’ of 3 strikes and
you’re out, the crowd were soon whipped up into a frenzied
state. Ash played a lengthy set delivering quality as well as
quantity, and by the end those fans crammed into the mosh pit
were drenched in sweat, and water that Brookes staff had to throw
onto them to keep them cool. The crowd got what they paid for; a
bloody amazing Meltdown.ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004  

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