After three triumphant nights at Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom back in spring, Inspiral Carpets returned to Scotland last week for two headline shows. Stuart Ralston went home for a few days, stocked up on vegan square sausage, and caught the band in blistering form.
2024 has been a busy and successful year for Inspiral Carpets. Following on from their big tour with Happy Mondays and Stereo MCs, they've hit the road on their own with a string of acclaimed festival peformances and headline shows. Sometimes the tour takes them off the beaten track, like tonight in Alloa. The band rocked up in the town in the early morning and were greeted by well-wishers as they explored the town and venue – made famous by a very early Beatles appearance in 1960 (when they were known as The Silver Beatles). Clint later comments that he's sat on the same spot where George Harrison played all those years ago. They even invited some local senior citizens they bumped into in town along to the soundcheck, and the ladies were so impressed that they returned for the evening show! Looking around the beautiful packed venue, there's a real mix of fans old and new, young and old such is the timeless appeal of Inspiral Carpets and their garage pop.
Alloa doesn't get many big gigs like this so there's a few in the crowd seeing the band for the first time tonight and from the off, Inspiral Carpets deliver with some of their big hitters – Generations and Weakness with a commanding vocal from Stephen Holt; pounding, precision drumming from Kev Clark whilst Graham Lambert crafts some fine yet subtle guitar hooks. The opening goes down a storm with the crowd before a fast and fresh Butterfly with fine vocal interplay between Boon and Holt. Clark is the star on She Comes In The Fall with yet another outstanding drum solo; the newish rhythm section of Clark and Oscar Boon on bass compliment the Engine Room (Martyn Walsh and Craig Gill) yet also add a new layer and vibrancy to the sound of Inspiral Carpets. The set just keeps building and building with each and every tune topping the previous one. There's something for everyone in this set – it's not just a greatest hits set as they throw in b-sides Directing Traffic, Sackville, Commercial Rain and 96 Tears – indeed, these four tunes are amongst the highlights.
Two Worlds Collide slows the pace down a little and shows the band's versatility. With the band having such a huge back catalogue, they never get a chance to play all of their singles and indeed their rarest cut – the standalone-not-on-an-album single How It Should Be – has been dusted down for these shows and sounds magnificent. A fast paced Inspirals classic, it was released as a single to accompany the 1993 tour and hasn't been played since then until it was reintroduced into the set a few weeks ago.
It goes down a storm and is followed by the modern classic Let You Down. Perhaps the tune that the more casual fan won't be so familiar with, it pounds along, driven by Clint's Farfisa and for me is the pick of tonight's set. The middle 8 features the John Cooper Clarke spoken word section and is the band at their hardest, darker edge before the post-punk-power-pop of Find Out Why; it's never sounded so good and adored by the crowd. Sackville is another highlight. A lyrically dark song about prostitution in Manchester, it still manages to sound anthemic. Oscar's bass is the star here. This Is How It Feels is dedicated to the beautiful people of Alloa gets the biggest response of the evening. It's played in a slightly more subdued way than we've heard it recently but almost better for it. It's a real band piece with all five members leading different parts of the song.
Debut single Keep The Circle Around picks up the pace and is sparkling with great vocals from Steve Holt and swirling organs from Clint. Dragging Me Down is the perfect way to end the set proper. The 1992 single is one of their best. The three song encore is a triumph – Joe, 96 Tears and traditional closer Saturn 5 which sees Stephen down in the audience. The band absolutely loved it tonight and even as the set began, Clint was talking about a return visit, such was their reception in the town and their love of the beautiful old venue. The band conclude their 2024 dates this week before taking a break and we look forward to further adventures with them next year.
Inspiral Carpets official website is here. They are also on Twitter and Facebook.
They play Swansea Patti Pavilion (August 15), Reading Sub 89 (16) and Beautiful Days Festival (17).
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