The Wildhearts - Beat Generator Live, Dundee 29.05.2026

The opportunity to see my favourite band in my wife's home city is a one that's too good to pass. Especially when you factor in the fact that the mother-in-law has your two sons for the night makes it an absolute no brainer, so the hotel gets booked and we arrange a handover on neutral ground and head off with some friends ready for the night. 

We wander up to the venue after a few drinks and some great Turkish food. My pre-gig giddiness caused by a half bottle of Peroni, a couple of Fireballs and a Cosmo (hey, beardy tattooed guys like a good fruity cocktail!) is quickly replaced with excitement, especially when we take our place in the queue.

Beat Generator Live is a small room, a real spit and sawdust grassroots venue kind of place. The walls are adorned with many music posters, album and magazine covers. It is easily the smallest venue I have ever seen The Wildhearts play but this cements the fact that bands are using this four date run of Scottish shows as a way of playing places that they don't normally get to visit, and it's something the fans are really relishing. It's also a great way for a known, established band to get some bodies into venues that may not usually see these kind of audience numbers. This is something more bands should really get behind, especially as more of these kinds of venues are struggling financially. 

I quickly check out the merch (Gill picks me up specially commissioned tshirt commemorating the run) before I head down to the front. It's a tiny stage, especially for The Wildhearts, and when I say tiny, I mean tiny. It's probably alot the size of my living room. In fact, the experience is that of seeing the band play a big pub. It has a maximum capacity of around 400 people which definitely puts it as the smallest place I've seen these guys play. With that amount of bodies on a hot day in a room like this you know the temperature is going to quickly escalate as the evening goes on. 

First up are Damsens, a young, fresh faced trio. They may be relatively new to this but they play better than more experienced bands I've seen. The spit out a raw, vicious grungy punk sound as if Nirvana wore their baggy flannel shirts covered in razor blades. Controlled feedback gives way to chords, sugar coating their abrasive sound. Singer and guitarist Taylor attacks his performance with an angsty energy, his thick, shoulder length hair thrown around as he plays. When he pulls it back from his face you notice the resemblance to his dad in his younger days, a guy who's stood watching his son's band from the side of the stage as he gets himself ready to front tonight's headliners. Drummer Sean anchors the musical chaos with a sharp sounding snare that punctuates the music, while bassist Nathan adds melody and rhythm, adding some Matt Freeman (Rancid) styled runs. Their set features mainly original material other than an abrasive take on Placebo's 'Nancy Boy' which is warmly recieved. On the evidence of this outing Damsens could be around for a good while yet, which is a great thing. There's an edge to their music that is appealing, let's hope they can manage to capture their raw sound in a studio soon. 

Talking with a friend earlier I realise that the first time I ever saw The Wildhearts was back at The Mayfair in Newcastle back in April 1992. Since then I've seen them through countless line up changes on many different stages. Some performances have been a glorious balance of chaos and melody, at others it's been a dangerous, almost self loathing feel to the band. Tonight though sees Ginger, the band's frontman, main songwriter and sole surviving member, lead his band in a rejuvenated manner. Some fans had their doubts when he came back with their last album, the fantastically named "Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts" with others loudly complaining that it wasn't the band they knew. In a way, they're right. This version of The Wildhearts is tight and capable (not that previous ones weren't) but it's a one that's filled with what can only be described as joy. Ginger has a wide smile on his face for most of the night and he actually seems to be enjoying himself, something that was visibly missing at times in the past. When I saw them with the Backyard Babies a few months before covid changed the world it felt like their camaraderie was missing and the show felt off. No such worries now though. This is a tightly drilled pack that feeds off each other. 

A bruising 'Failure Is The Mother Of Success' is the tip of tonight's musical onslaught. Ginger is front and centre as always, with the dapperly dressed (and nicest man on the planet) Jon Poole on bass to his left and Ben Marsden on guitar to his right. Ben seriously looks like he was born to be in this band and supports a five mile wide grin all night. To the rear is Carol Hodge, a formidable solo musician in her own right, adding keys and backing vocals and Charles Evans driving the band with his drums, his arms flailing away behind the kit while nailing each drum beat hard, despite his long hair trying to tangle itself in his drumsticks. They're swiftly into 'Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes', a favourite of mine and the opening track on their debut ep. This means that, within the first two songs, the band have officially played their first and last of their (currently) released songs within a few moments at the start of their set. From here on in, all bets are off.

The temperature in the room is beginning to climb as band and audience start to feel the heat together. Guitars look greasy with their players sweat and Ben is probably silently cursing his clothing choice of leather pants and jacket.

The set is comprised of deep cuts and album tracks, one glorious masterpiece after another. It shows the strength of Ginger's songwriting when they can avoid playing any of their "big singles" for the entire night and still keep everyone's attention fixed while bouncing around like lunatics as Ginger's dreadlocks fly around. 

There is, however, a huge elephant in the room and it's one that everyone is pretty much aware of. In March this year Ginger was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a particularly aggressive strain of cancer. Rather than go through treatment, he's opted to forgo it knowing that he only has two to three years to draw on. But this is no pity party; Ginger is tackling this with a positive spirit and outlook. Here's here to play and create music, something he's excelled at in his career. In fact, the band already recorded a new album last year ("Northern Spirit") which will be released later this year while there are plans to get back into the studio soon to get another one recorded. Ginger has never really been the kind of guy to sit back but he's on a mission now. 

Ginger talks quite a bit between songs and he's in fine form. He beams with happiness as he looks over the room and his chat is full of positivity and love. His focus is about moving forward rather than wallowing and you wonder to yourself what you would do if you were in his shoes. There's joy in the room and it's palpable.

'Mazel Tov Cocktail' and 'Vernix' from the underrated pair of "Chutzpah¡" and "!Chutzpah¡ Jnr" are simply stunning while 'Kunce' allows everyone to swear loudly to their hearts content. After a rapid sprint through the Theme From Cheers, they peel off new track 'Spider Beach' from the aforementioned "Northern Spirit" which goes down well. It utilises Carol's keyboards to stellar effect alongside Ginger's canny knack of songwriting. In fact, if you ever had any doubts of the sheer amount of hooks the guy has written the band pull out a medley of riffs from several Wildhearts songs. It's almost schizophrenic, an ADHD listener's wet dream (I mean, they have an EP called "Riff After Riff After Motherfucking Riff"), sandwiched between a glorious 'Everlone' and rarity 'Slaughtered Authors'. Closer '!Chutzpah¡' sees Ben indulge in some exquisite guitar solos. I know some fans have grumbled about the loss of CJ, but Ben is more than capable of taking the spot and holding his own. 

A brief break allows people to draw breath before the band level the room with the classic 'My Baby Is A Headfuck'. Ginger even manages to sing the wrong words at the song's intro, something he manages to laugh at himself for as the rest of the band chuckle along. At the end of the song he takes guitar off while raising his hand in victory, a huge knowing smile on his face. I've seen him many times in many bands but tonight it looks like he's given every single fibre of his being to the show. 

The crowd swirl around the merch table manned by the lovely Jane (seriously, the next time you see her say hi) picking up shirts, records and cds. Trade is so good on this run that they have to order more of the special tour shirts as stock is running dangerously low after two of the four dates. People slowly start drifting off, enjoying the cooler Dundee night air as the band and crew start breaking down the instruments and backline, ready to take the rock and roll sonic circus on the road to it's next destination. 

Ginger has always said that The Wildhearts were a band that were capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory but this time, with this lineup and his change in personal circumstances, it actually feels like he's achieving the well won victory that they are capable of. The energy and feel that they have at the moment is captivating. There's such a positivity radiating from them that you can't help but feel uplifted by the experience. Keep looking out for more dates, for more shows, for more opportunities to live in the moment and shine. God bless The Wildhearts. 

The Wildhearts

Damsens

Review - Scott Hamilton