Ash, Surviving Sharks @ The Gov, Adelaide 27/3/2023
It might of been a Monday night but that was no excuse to not catch two smoking hot bands playing at The Gov being Ash and Surviving Sharks. Ash finally after Covid delays have been able bring their Teenage Wildlife Celebrating Thirty Years of Ash to Adelaide. If you didn’t go, you well and truly missed a ripper. I’ve seen Ash every time they have played in Adelaide and I would say without a shadow of a doubt that this was their finest effort to date. Ash can simply be described as thirty years strong and getting even stronger.
It was great to see Adelaide rockers Surviving Sharks play, it had been far to long in between drinks. It was a spirited and lively set opening with King Kong. Loaded with great songs including Afterglow, Life As A Meme and Fire we look forward to seeing a lot more of this band around town.
For Adelaide fans to be able to see Ash play in a venue like The Gov is a real treat as they would be playing big venues and festivals in the UK and Ireland. The build up was low key and what Ash proved is that you don’t need a massive production to play a kick arse rock show. Tim, Mark and Rick casually took the stage with a raucous and enthusiastic round of appreciation from a die hard and loyal fan base walking on to Queen’s Flash which I reckon set the scene as they came charging out of the blacks with Goldfinger.
From here it was a treasure trove of hits with Wild Surf, A Life Less Ordinary and Oh Yeah. Fans were literally licking their lips with the set list so far. Taking a moment to acknowledge a fan in the crowd’s fiftieth birthday the hits kept coming with Walking Barefoot, Arcadia and Orpheus. The band covered every inch of their back cataloguing playing these songs that meant so much to so many with pride and vigour. Interesting front man Tim Wheeler said they were doing a big switcheroo tonight doing something that they had not done in their entire thirty year career. Tim should on the right hand side and bassist Mark Hamilton stood on the left. Mark jokingly described the switcheroo as like wanking with your left hand with Tim adding that this might be the last time in this formation.
The hits did all the talking as they powered their way through Darkest Hour Of The Night, Confessions In The Pool and Shining Light. Sometimes was awesome but the highlights for me were Jesus Says and Buzzkill and hearing the band try and out do each other screeching in to the microphone. Ash finished in a blaze of glory with Kung Fu, Mark jumped out getting in amongst in the crowd, and their big single Girl From Mars. The encore started with Numbskull which was followed by a special presentation of a portrait given to Surviving Sharks who have supported Ash three times now and acknowledgment to their relationship. The encore finished in fine style with Jack Names The Planets and Burn Baby Burn. Happy thirtieth anniversary Ash! Great show!
Live Review By Rob Lyon