Gig review: The Wonder Stuff and Inspiral Carpets at O2 Academy Leeds

The Wonder Stuff turn forty with a show that celebrates the people, songs and spirit behind four decades of music. At a packed O2 Academy Leeds, the memories carry real weight, but the band remain a ferocious live force.

Inspiral Carpets make this feel like an occasion from the start. Downstairs is nearly full when they arrive, and by the middle of their set the balcony is equally packed. Fellow survivors of the alternative scene that flourished around the turn of the nineties, they offer more than familiar favourites.

Clint Boon’s distinctive organ drives Dragging Me Down as the crowd sing in full voice. New material fits comfortably alongside the classics, but This Is How It Feels provides the standout moment. Stephen Holt leads a mass clapalong before an unaccompanied audience singalong closes the song. Saturn 5, with its instantly recognisable keys and huge chorus, finishes an inspiring set.

The Wonder Stuff begin with Mission Drive, introduced by Miles Hunt as Malc Treece’s favourite Wonder Stuff song. Hunt promises plenty of songs, including some from this century. The evening becomes a carefully judged journey rather than a simple greatest hits exercise.

Forty years inevitably bring change. People leave, return and find their place alongside others. Hunt and Treece remain at the heart of a band whose current members give these songs life rather than merely preserve them. Mark Gemini Thwaite shares a guitar moment and a high five with Hunt, while Tim Sewell and Pete Howard keep the music moving.

Erica Nockalls, in a long red dress, supplies one of the evening’s finest introductions on Here Comes Everyone. Her violin is sublime. Later, the instantly recognisable violin opening of On The Ropes needs no spoken introduction. The room is bouncing.

Hunt’s stories give the journey humour and perspective. Anyone familiar with his acoustic shows knows he tells a fine yarn, and the crowd laugh along. A tale about the late Martin Gilks acquiring a bucket hat introduces Circlesquare and its Manchester ambitions.

The most poignant moment concerns Rob ‘The Bass Thing’ Jones. Hunt points out his red bass guitar, kept safe by Treece, and reminds us that Jones remains part of the band. Red Berry Joy Town follows, making remembrance part of the music rather than a pause from it.

Across the decades, the arrangements have grown richer without losing the bite and wit of the early songs. Tonight, it all sits naturally together. Unbearable and Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More still tear through the Academy with youthful force.

As the band leave the stage, Hunt gets the crowd singing the Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More refrain. He knows exactly what he is doing, and the audience keep it going until the band return. By the time No, For The 13th Time and Ten Trenches Deep finish proceedings at breakneck speed, this anniversary has become a masterclass in live performance.

The personnel have changed. The spirit has not.