INSPIRAL CARPETS
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff - 11th September 2026
Support: Trampolene
I was chatting with my friend Ben, one of the wonderful team at Diverse Records in Newport, about what a great band Inspiral Carpets were. I told him that I've long believed they were one of the very best singles bands of the early 90s. The last two albums they made before they broke up showed they are also becoming a really good albums band too. I speculated that had they stuck around for around for one more record, they would have been at the forefront of Britpop and become household names. Instead, their ex-roadie enjoyed the fame and fortune they could have had.
Talking of Britpop, Swansea's Trampolene might have slotted in quite nicely during the mid-90s - their parents' record collection were certainly influential. Sadly, though, we missed their support slot. Some signage stated the doors of Clwb opened at 7pm, but our tickets stated 7:30pm. Knowing that Clwb are not always on time, and not wanting to hang around waiting for the show to start, we arrived at 7:45. Half hour later, the Insprials took to the stage, leading us to wonder what happened to the support band. Turns out the venue changed the timings at very short notice, meaning Trampolene went on at 7:15 while the place was practically empty. They'd finished before we got there. Can't help but thing they were somewhat shafted.
The place was filling up by the time we arrived, and one thing we noticed right away was how warm it was in there. And to think we considered wearing sweaters...
To this day, the reformed Inspirals (featuring original, pre-hits vocalist Stephen Holt) are making really good music and a new album (the second since they reformed, but their first in 12 years and the first without late drummer Craig Gill) is due out in January. This show gave them the opportunity to give some of the new songs an early airing. Title track Burn Like The Sun opened the set, but what followed was nearly 2 hours of bonafide hits, the likes of which most Britpop bands would have killed to have written. All the band's albums were represented, as well as really early tracks like Butterfly, Joe and Find Out Why.
The new songs sounded great as well, especially recent singles Drag The Bag and There's A Better Way.Long-term Inspirals fans won't be disappointed. In fact, they weren't - more than 90% of the audience were certainly buying their records back in the day, which was confirmed by the HUGE singalongs throughout the night. This Is How It Feels concluded with an acapella version sung by the crowd, with backing vox from Clint Boon. I Want You, which was complimented by a tape of the much-loved and much-missed Mark E.Smith, took the roof off as the audience bellowed that chorus. And of course, the regular set-closer Saturn 5 left no doubt that my love for Inspiral Carpets nearly 40 years on from the first time I heard them is shared by many.
This was the 4th time I've caught the Inspirals and it might well have been the best, in spite of the gallons of sweat running off me by the end of the show.
No comments:
Post a Comment