The Wonder Stuff - Scarborough Spa, Scarborough 22.10.2025
The Wonder Stuff
Inspiral Carpets
Double confession time to start, despite living in Yorkshire for 15 years I’d never seen a gig at Scarborough Spa before and the last time I saw either of these bands (with the exception of seeing a bit of the Inspirals set at Kendal last year as the tent was packed), was in 1992.
This despite the fact that both bands are on various playlists of mine and have written some of the best songs of the last 40 years. I’m glad I’ve rectified both issues!
The venue first, I had no idea what to expect having never been there but it’s fantastic, I definitely think more bands should play there as I’d love to go back. It’s a proper Victorian theatre with the best walk up to it I can remember in ages, the moon reflecting off the sea was so atmospheric and there is plenty of parking. If you haven’t tried it you really should!
The Inspirals were on first, one thing I would say the crowd was a little but disappointing in size. I don’t know if that’s because the tour had been in Leeds the night before so people have travelled from York to there instead or because it was a Thursday night but those of you who stayed away you made a huge mistake.
As a band then Inspirals have undergone a few changes over the years but their core is still there and they delivered a blistering set with some great stories in between (I was lucky enough to meet them at Kendal last year). There were a few issues with the prominence of the vocals for the first song but they quickly sorted that and just as well as the second song was 'She Comes In The Fall', a personal favourite of mine. They then worked through a mix of new material which stood up, well and classic songs. I personally think then 'This Is How It Feels' is one of the great songs of the start of the 90’s and to hear it sung a cappella by the crowd at the end of the song after we all thought it was over was something I won’t forget in a hurry. Throw in 'Dragging Me Down' and 'Joe' and you get a feel for how good this was and to go out on 'Saturn 5' was just tremendous.
We were all warmed up for The Wonder Stuff after the opening and they didn’t disappoint. Miles has always been a great front man and both his performance and banter lived up to that, his stories were excellent and the band are incredibly tight, I got into The Wonder Stuff with the 'Eight Legged Groove Machine' so it was brilliant to hear them play songs from that album (it was a casual purchase at the time not knowing much about the band and one I’m grateful I made).
They drew from all parts of their career and their multitude of hit records, as Miles said himself many people will have their introduction to them as a band watching them play' Size Of A Cow' on top of the pops with their nan which drew a murmur of appreciation from the crowd but the reality is this is band who have a storied past and a brilliant back catalogue. Being able to throw 'Don’t Let Me Down Gently' as the fifth song in the set should tell you just what a strong set of songs they have.
Mile's clearly has a huge affection for the rest of the band and appreciation of just how good they all are and was also clearly enjoying himself up there. The atmosphere was one of happiness and a crowd who were loving everything they heard and saw. Casual name dropping occurred from London as now know he was once christened in Birmingham. The name dropping was almost as casual as the great songs being dropped on the stage.
All in all this was a brilliant gig. More of you should have seen it as you definitely missed out. I absolutely will not leave it so long to see either act again, a brilliant night out and a brilliant venue.
Review - Iain McClay
Photos - snapagig.com
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