Who
Gruff Rhys
Support
SEAZOO
Red Telephone
Eitha Da
Eckoes
Where
Wrexham Central
When
9th October 2021
Price
£20.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the right
Comments
Who would have thought that a crowded Supergrass show in March 2020 would be followed by nothing for eighteen months?! Certainly not me, although at the same time I was naturally winding down the number of concerts I was attending. It is fortunate that I had such a busy start to 2020, even taking in a second viewing of The Book Of Mormon, as it made the subsequent lockdown easier to handle. By mid 2021 normality was just beginning to resume, starting with a tented Henning Wenh show in Wolves, followed by near-normal Jason Manford and Jack Dee events in Bilston and Shrewsbury respectively. I also saw some other theatre performances, no doubt indicative of my general shift away from live standing music shows to more mature fare, as it were. Gruff Rhys was a solid choice to mark my return to gig going, and in fact this Wrexham show had been postponed twice. I'd actually got my money refunded after the second cancellation, and was surprised to see Gruff listed as a sell-out after dawdling on rebuying for the new date! Luckily I spotted that another batch of tickets came on sale, and quickly snapped this up, along with an ever-reliable Premier Inn a short drive from the town centre. I'd clocked that Wrexham had a cathedral and had set my heart on visiting by now, and was relieved to not have to stay in the Air BNB I'd originally booked which was basically a converted shed. It is always surprising that Gruff Rhys isn't more popular, as what other Welsh music personality can rival him for charisma, talent and overall brilliance? Certainly not Stereophonics! They even changed the venue, and I'd be shocked and annoyed if it was a size downgrade!

I'd accidentally got into the mood by briefly crossing the Welsh border semi-accidentally while visiting Oswestry the month before, but didn't get around to listening to much Gruff. I was barely even aware of the music on his new record Seeking New Gods, and my extended trips to East Anglia and then the North East had led to a backlog of TV to watch and photos to sort, giving me plenty of stuff to catch up on over winter! A kind soul pointed out to me that my website had randomly lost a subset of pages, and I have no idea if it was hacked or if it was an act of incompetence by the web administrators, but it meant time wasted putting the missing pages back. Given 18 months had elapsed it would be foolish for me to try and cover everything that had happened in the interim, although I'd developed a strong penchant for working from home and would be surprised to step foot in a nightclub or a moshpit again. Time for a dignified musical retirement and gradually shift to seated shows perhaps? It was only in preparing the night before that I spotted in the small print of one of the concert emails that a negative Coronavirus test was required for admission. The trail of information was vague and this caused unnecessary confusion and worry, but my main complaint was that this utterly essential prerequisite was hidden in small print and not clearly communicated! I saw on Facebook about a mobile testing centre, so had to hope for the best, or that this rule was an empty threat and wouldn't be enforced. It did remind me that Wales and England had different virus rules though, and I'd never felt so keenly that Wales was a foreign country! For the most part their stricter rules were reasonable enough, but I wasn't braced for the change in approach.

I'd booked two nights in Wrexham and drove there after work on the Friday night, finding it a quick and enjoyable ride up the A41. The speed of the journey made me realise that I should venture into Wales more, and I arrived in good time for food, although my distance from the town centre made going into Wrexham too much hassle. Luckily the ludicrous panic buying of petrol had ceased (cheers Brexiteers!), so I topped up my fuel tank then checked into an ever-excellent Premier Inn room. There was a pub next door which had a table spare, but I was cruelly teased with a tandoori take on a mixed grill on the specials menu, to be told after ordering it that they only had the regular boring mixed grill. After this debacle I decided to chill in my room and turned on the TV, rewatching the bulk of a brilliant The Mamas & The Papas documentary on Sky Arts that had made me purchase their greatest hits. It featured a lovely collection of live performances that had quickly made a fan of me, complementing my long-standing appreciation of Mama Cass Elliot. Adele fans take notice - it is possible to be overweight and to sing, you don't have to settle for hideous goat vocals! The next morning I discovered that the full English (or is that Welsh?) breakfast I'd pre-ordered was at the same pub, and although I couldn't help myself to hot food from the buffet, it was no hassle to place my order for as much grub as I fancied. It was a frustrating start to the day though, firstly venturing to the nearby village of Gresford to visit their famous church to find the doors slammed shut without explanation when it is supposed to be open all day, then driving into Wrexham. It is the fourth largest settlement in Wales - and far behind Newport and Swansea in size - but it felt deserving of city status. Definitely worth a visit!

Gresford Church was actually closed again on Sunday between advertised services to try and piss me off further, but I'd also broken my phone in Hexham by smashing the screen, and after a botched attempt to fix it I wasn't able to purchase the replacement phone I wanted at the Vodafone shop, after waiting outside forever for some timewasting customers to get on with it and for someone to help me. Wales apparently had a mask mandate in force still but so many weren't sticking to it, and my initial attempts to get a Coronavirus test failed as the first test centre required you to book and have symptoms, and I had to figure out for myself that this was the lab test and wouldn't even give me the immediate result I needed. Also the promised testing van wasn't there as advertised, so I went to the cultural centre venue Ty Pawb to try and get my wristband. They at least explained when the van would show up later in the afternoon, but it seemed clear that they were genuinely enforcing this negative test rule. I have mixed feelings about it, but for the most part think vaccination should be sufficient, and that survival of the smartest would take care of those who refuse a jab! My day picked up once I reached St Giles Church, which was surely the loveliest church/cathedral in Wales. It was beautiful and friendly, and the lady there even turned on the lights so I could take better photos! Gruff's show was part of a Focus Wales event and it clearly was a big deal in town, and in fact the church was playing host to a show itself that evening.

Wrexham was delightfully compact and it took minutes to get between places, and Wrexham Cathedral was the exact opposite of the church in welcome. It was deserted and I was totally free to take photos, which is what I want! It made me realise that I really needed to revisit all the Welsh cathedrals, as I was sure I could beat my previous photos back in the day when I took less, and on a lower quality camera. The morning also took in a free Museum, pleasant park and walk past the two train stations, and to my surprise I'd seen all I wanted to by lunchtime! I got an excessively priced kebab meal at the market and decided that the science museum was pretty much entirely for kids so not worth my effort. Instead I went to Magic Dragon Brewing taproom for a couple of beers. Annoyingly I was driving, but I planned it well and drank enough to enjoy myself, but spread out so much and complemented with food that I was totally safe to drive back to the hotel afterwards. By this time the testing tent was set up and I got the required negative test, and returned for a second wristband confirming I was certified to enter the venue. In the same square was a medium-sized performance tent and I spotted a couple of acts performing. The latter was doing some obvious covers such as Hey Jude and With A Little Help From My Friends, but you can't fault him for being crowd-pleasing. I didn't stick around but it made for an agreeable background noise. There also was a huge tent nearby with more live music, but I can't say I paid much attention to who else was performing over the weekend. I'd booked an outdoor table at The Fat Boar pub and enjoyed a delicious but huge meal. This included my second pint of Wrexham lager on tap - this time the Bootlegger version - and they were even kind enough to add cherry flavouring to my Pepsi specially for me. I could see why the pub was so wildly popular and fully booked, and was glad I'd made the effort. Also the sheer quantity of food stopped my drinking in its tracks, and I really didn't mind. I'd had enough!

I left The Fat Boar in search of decent night pics of Wrexham, and although the cathedral didn't let me down, St Giles Church remained plunged in utter darkness. This was disappointing but perhaps as there was an event inside they didn't want to light it up outside? By contrast the Central venue for the show was beautifully illuminated, and I knew where to go as I'd spotted it on my walk around Wrexham earlier. Doors had opened at 4:30pm and I'd found a running order online that morning, but it turned out to be very much incomplete, and it took some digging to find the full running order on a Focus Wales PDF when writing up this review. The bouncers let me in with no searching or hassle, just checking that I had both a Gruff and a negative test wristband. I then had to go upstairs into the venue itself, passing some graffiti on the staircase. The place looked nice but I couldn't take advantage of the bar again beyond an overpriced Coke with loads of unwanted ice, knowing I had to offset my drinking in the day so that I could drive back safely. I realised that there were two rooms and two stages, and that the bands seemed to be alternating between the rooms. It was a decent arrangement, although I only saw the end of Eckoes on the smaller stage. She was a solo artist sporting a white flowing cape and a mic stand covered with red roses, and unfortunately I didn't see enough of her to form a meaningful opinion, although it seemed she'd gone down well. After this I chose to stay put on the main stage, which was in a pleasant room with a converted warehouse vibe, and as I was focused on seeing Gruff I didn't want to end up in a poor position. The organisation was similar to my last viewing of him in Birmingham, with a ludicrously late start of 10:30pm and his forming the final act of a larger bill. This also meant that this show wasn't really advertised generally, and didn't even make the list of concerts supporting his new LP.

A few in the venue were still sporting face masks, which seemed rather silly given we'd all tested negative and were going to be in close proximity all evening. There was a little step behind the front area of the main stage so I stood behind there initially, thinking the extra height would cancel out the usual freakishly tall big heads who so love to stand in front of me. I later moved forward and to the left, leaning against a standing table, then eventually settled on an elevated seating area to the right of the stage near the front. I was regretting wearing my large winter coat and after a day of wandering I was happy to have a seat, in a spot narrow enough to prevent others from standing in front, apart from a cheeky couple who briefly stood in front of me while I was sitting down, before fortunately moving elsewhere. My research indicates that the first proper act was Eitha Da, an obviously Welsh solo artist, who had two guitarists and a drummer with him. It was 7:30pm and still relatively quiet and I had no need to have arrived earlier. He wore a red t-shirt randomly with the word COW written on it, but I can't remember much other than an announcement that between them all they'd attended/played all ten Focus Wales festivals. I didn't know it was a regular event but it's a lovely showcase for Wrexham and Welsh music. Sadly I can't remember much more, they just seemed acceptable guitar-oriented music, and melted into my landscape of forgettable but inoffensive support acts. My attention was on watching Gruff though, so with some knowledge of their music I may have enjoyed Eitha Da more.

I stuck around after Eitha Da finished as next act Red Telephone from Cardiff prepped their stage, before holding back their arrival until the second stage act finished. They weren't listed on the website as performers and I only confirmed their identity after the event. The singer was wearing a leather jacket and briefly took over on the keyboards, and they made a pleasing sound. They even got the audience to shift forwards rather than leaving an awkward gap in front of the stage, but the only specific moment I recall was a tune intended to evoke Psycho and Norman Bates. The lights were changing as the show went on, but there was no backdrop screen at all, and the two TV screens either side of the stage just retained a static minimalist logo for the festival. Next up were Seazoo at 9:30pm, another Welsh act who I didn't realise had a familiar number under their belts. They took the show to the next level with catchy tunes, and when they burst into one song I quickly realised it was recurring background tuneage used on 6Music. The tune was Roy's World and I suspect Mark Radcliffe had been using it as his link music, although I couldn't place it for sure. I shot my first video of the night here and even stood up from my comfy/lazy seated position to the right of the stage to show my appreciation. The band were visually appealing too, with two guys in glasses plus a lady on keyboards, and the drummer wearing a black and white t-shirt stating May & Taylor & Mercury & Deacon. They said that the singer was doing a marathon the very next day so they'd be shooting off quickly after the show, but by this point the crowd had filled up nicely and they clearly had enjoyed the band. In fact Seazoo are from Wrexham, and given both how good they were and that I knew a tune, they should be seen as the most famous act the town had ever produced, surely?

After Seazoo finished the stage was set for Gruff Rhys to commence at 10:30pm, with all the band except the main man himself helping to set it all up. Kliph was wearing a War Is Over t-shirt and naturally demonstrated his talents on the drums in the soundcheck. I had wondered if this was Gruff's first show back but can see he'd played a few, including a very poorly advertised show at Moseley Folk Festival, Birmingham, that I only heard about just before it happened! Sadly the never ending version of I Want You (She's So Heavy) by The Beatles wasn't played before, but we did get an amusingly out of tune rendition of the dramatic music from 2001 by way of an intro tape. It was different and amusing, then Gruff took to the stage donning a mask, approaching the mic stand and ceremoniously removing it. The classic red Power Rangers helmet could have come in handy here! Although reasonably amusing, I've found it strange how keenly Gruff has adopted the signs, with a few extra Welsh ones thrown in tonight, something about a generic festival welcome, and the old favourite of prolonged applause. Gruff sported a beanie hat throughout his show, giving the appearance of a man who was feeling the cold! The show kicked off with the delightful Frontier Man and I shot a video. Gruff was closely matching the vocals from the recorded version, and it seemed pleasantly chilled and almost acoustic. Next up (I think) was Candylion, followed by Pang! I'm writing this review up a couple of weeks later and really can't think of many details to note, as there was no TV screen and few gimmicks or conversation to document.

I only recall the deliciously spacey instrumentation on Loan Your Loneliness because I shot another video, and for that reason I know that the rotating coloured lights were blue here. Gruff repeatedly asked the soundman for more volume, but from where I was standing it was pretty darned loud already, and the sound quality seemed generally excellent. I also can't complain about the room temperature, and it was overall a very pleasing venue. Hiking In Lightning was memorable as an exciting rock out, and Shark Ridden Waters was preceded by a cheeky keyboard take on the Jaws theme tune. I have fond memories of the John Evans themed show, and so enjoyed American Interior, even if the drum intro wasn't quite as dramatic as it had been before. The band seemed generally unchanged besides a little choir at the back, and they helped enhance the lovely Negative Vibes, which I shot another video for. Meanwhile Sensations In The Dark seems to have become a firm live favourite, and the video I shot here tells me that the lights were red and that there'd been a keyboardist on stage throughout who I'd somehow barely noticed. It was a frantic tune and got faster at the end. There were no SFA songs tonight - not even Colonise The Moon - but clearly Gruff could still make a noise when he so chooses. He still rallies against phoney encores and as a result didn't leave the stage until the end. I could have missed out some tunes he played as I can't source a setlist, but he did finish up with the crowd pleasing Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru. I shot a final video just before the end where he speeds it up and gets the crowd to sing and clap, and it's always a strong way to finish up.

The show ended with a few final signs, and I do remember that one of the group complemented the signs with Apeshit and Louder on the front and back of his white t-shirt. Also a tax the rich sign made an excellent point, but I'd also like to tax the couple standing to my right who left a few songs before the end! What the hell? Still, it was a frustratingly late finish, but by now I'd long sobered up and was in a great state to walk back to the car park and commence the short drive back to the hotel. I treated myself to a one hour lie in the next morning, before enjoying a fantastic day slowly driving back home, taking in Pontcysyllte Aqeueduct and Chirk Castle in particular. This really was a lovely part of the country straddling England and Wales, and I took more time than intended making the most of it. Also the weather on my return day was excellent, and I'd had zero interest in sticking around for the DJ Nik Colk Void who supposedly was performing after Gruff. The show finished late enough already as it was thank you! I'd made some scribbled notes on Sunday morning and have quite a bit to look forward to before 2021 finishes, including the never-witnessed Boo Radleys playing live, plus as my first watching of Suede since they'd rudely reformed. But Gruff Rhys never disappoints and this was a safe and solid way to get back into live music, and my wander around Wrexham and the area on the way back made the trip even more worthwhile. I'd rather it hadn't been cancelled twice, but worth the wait in the end!
Setlist
Frontier Man
Candylion
Pang!
Mausoleum Of My Former Self
Can’t Carry On
Loan Your Loneliness
Hiking In Lightning
Shark Ridden Waters
American Interior
Negative Vibes
Sensations In The Dark
Bae Bae Bae
Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru
n.b. This setlist was from another gig, but it's either correct or similar

Mark: 8.0/10