Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls / James Harries

Having sat about for over an hour we are anxious for the show to start. The place is rather deserted for the frontman of The Wonderstuff, though a few souls are appearing through James Harries’ set.

The British singer/songwriter starts with a slow ballad and explodes into a cover of Iggy Pop’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, making the limp looking acoustic guitar belt out some seriously bruising distortion. The real instrument on stage here though is the incredible voice that commands attention from the beginning. Obviously some people still like to hold a conversation over the top, but Harries makes it difficult to hear them as he produces vocals that could part seas.


An utter professional, he has control over the sounds whilst staggering about onstage and thrashing the poor guitar to bits. For a tune about Ghost Towns (in reference to York’s ghost tours) he asks for a business card, which is obliged by a hairdresser. He promptly tears it in half to shove between the strings and bridge to subtly mute the strings from the opposite end.

Towards the end we get a snippet of ‘Redemption Song’, and his short half hour set has hit you and disappeared. This guy is absolutely recommended.

Whilst The Wonderstuff are having a break this year for Mark Macarthy to adjust to being a first time dad, Miles Hunt has decided to take new Wonderstuff member Erica Nockalls on the road after recording album ‘Not An Exit’ together. The 23 year old graduate of The Birmingham Conservatoire of Music has been playing the violin for sixteen years and is a breath of fresh air added to the Hunt sound. The mix of young and old (Hunt is forty) would look a little odd if the cheeky chap didn’t look so youthful (for all the smoking he does he should look like a Chinese Shar-Pei; the red wine must counteract it).


Hunt, in his own words, has “verbal diarrhea” whereas Erica does not mutter one word. They seem to have a little chemistry despite this, with the odd smile and nod for timekeeping.

Hunt has his stage set out; his Axl Rose style autocue (i.e. a music stand), a table for his and Nockall’s red wine, and even a fag packet holder attached to his mic stand (the lit cigs are put through a hole in the capo on his guitar). When told that it would have to stop in July, Hunt jokingly announced his retirement from playing live during that month.


The set is a combination of songs and introductions to the songs, the latter usually lasting longer than the tunes. Especially as the wine starts to kick in (Hunt calls himself Miles Clunt at one point – “lucky I added an ‘L’!”).

‘Note To Self’ backs up the rambling as a true observation of the brain slowing down after the age of 35, as Hunt reels of the lyrics without hardly taking a breath, aiming to disprove the theory. Which he just about manages.



The setlist contains many new tracks to promote the album (‘Back On the Charm Offensive’, ‘The Cake’, ‘Corny But True’) but the oldies are the best received (‘Mission Drive’, ‘Room 512’, ‘Circlesquare’; this one really showing off Nockall’s talents), plus a few from the most recent albums (‘Escape From Rubbish Island’, explaining Hunt’s many tales of happenings in USA, where he went to get away from the British Government’s rule. America would not have been my first choice!).

The room has filled out a little more, though everyone stands back; making the show more of a civilised gathering than a riotous gig, though the bad language is still evident in the songs, new and old. Not really a show to take you back, but a good showcase for the new stuff and to display some tight team work from the unlikely duo.

Setlist:

Cartoon Boyfriend
The Last Second Of The Minute
Back On the Charm Offensive
Corny But True
Four To The Floor
Note To Self
Mission Drive
Circlesquare
The Cake
The Slow Drowning
Someone Like The Kingbird
Everything Is Not Ok
Room 512...
Escape From Rubbish Island
Here Comes Everyone
Maybe

FUTURE GIGS