[ originally published 15/02/2016 ]
BOB MOULD
The Globe, Cardiff - 10th February 2016
Support: Estrons
Bob Mould? At The Globe? What a prospect. If someone had come up to me and offered me a large bag of cash in exchange for my ticket, I'd have probably turned them down. Bob Mould, for chrissakes - unmissable. My excitement reached new heights a few days before the show when I saw that Estrons were supporting. Sadly, we arrived a little late and only caught their last two songs, but I can honestly say this band have it in them to be the next Wolf Alice. Taliesyn is a brilliant and striking frontwoman and the band as a whole sound amazing. Look out for them.
It's not often you get a bonafide LEGEND on your doorstep. When you do, you really hope they don't disappoint. Bob Mould nowadays looks like a kindly granddad, but he still rocks harder than most bands whose members are less than half his age. From the opening blast of the Sugar classics A Good Idea and Changes, this was fast, furious, ferocious stuff. Staying true to the power-trio line-up that has served him well throughout his career, Bob and his band seemed to be on a mission to cram as much into 75 minutes as they possibly could. Rarely pausing between songs, it was relentless. You can imagine the conversation during rehearsals:
Bob: "I wanna play all these songs."
Band: "But Bob, if we're going to play all those, we are going to have to play like bastards."
Bob: "Then play like bastards we shall!"
The set was rooted firmly in crowd-pleasing territory. With six Sugar songs (four of them from 'Copper Blue') and another five Hüsker Dü numbers, the long-terms fans were kept well happy. Perhaps strangely though, the solo stuff all came from his most recent three albums, including a selection from his as-yet unreleased new one. Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'm of the opinion that his recent solo career is as good as anything he's done.
Main highlights for me were Hey Mr Grey, Hoover Dam, If I Can't Change Your Mind (with a new vocal melody) and Hate Baby Doll. He even squeezed in a cover of Generation X's Your Generation which was every bit as brilliant as you think it was. Damn, I could write 10,000 words about this show with consummate ease, but I'd better reign myself in. I think you've got the message: this legend did not disappoint, even if he didn't play New Day Rising. I can forgive that. The rest of 2016 has a lot to live up to.
MrsRobster's verdict: The poor girl's been suffering with a bad back for more than a week. When I asked what she thought after the show, her reply made me think she was high on some extra-strong pain killers or something. "Like a curry that's really hot," she offered, cryptically. "Eh?" I understandably answered. "Well, a curry that's too hot, you can't really taste it. A gig that's too loud, you can't hear it. I couldn't enjoy it." A nice analogy, but sadly, this was one of those very rare occasions when MrsRobster was wrong. Bob and loud go together like poppadoms and mango chutney. You can't have one without the other. It sounded great to me!
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