Ash, Wry - Koko, London - Wednesday 4th July 2007

Ash's millionth studio album was released this week, and they played a 4-night residency at Koko to celebrate. I first got into them in 1995, when they were releasing exciting punky pop singles like Kung Fu and Girl From Mars - and when the band themselves were 17 years old. So, 12 years later, it was not a surprise to see the audience made up of lots of people in their 30s, who probably first got into the band at University, and consequently remember their endless stream of fantastically catchy singles. They really are an amazing singles band, as their singles collection Intergalactic Sonic 7"s showed a few years ago.

The support bands for the 4-nighter were different every night, and were not exactly hired at huge expense, I got the feeling. Tonight's were called Wry, and I had never heard of them before (like a couple of the others in fact). They were OK on the ear, but generally were quite forgettable, and very few people were paying much attention. In fact, the floor was so empty that I wondered whether the gig was the victim of a mass boycott. Not bad, not great, just not anything at all memorable really.

By the time Ash came on, the venue was packed, and they started their set with a couple of songs from the new album. The two previous times I'd seen them this year, they were playing almost wholly Greatest Hits sets, so whilst it was good to hear some of their new stuff, it was a bit frustrating for the majority in the audience that had expected wall-to-wall hits. Slowly but surely, though, they did start to weave ever more older songs into their set, including a brilliantly upbeat version of Walking Barefoot; the obvious Angel Interceptor, and A Life Less Ordinary; and a very pleasant surprise when they played their first ever single, Jack Names The Planets. Kung Fu and Girl From Mars were of course all present and correct too, and by the end of the set, there must have been a good dozen classic hit singles played. That is why so many people love Ash.

On the way out of the venue, it became apparent how hard the band are working to promote their new music. As an old-school fan, I probably wasn't going to buy the new album, but on the way out of the venue I was handed a signed CD inlay for the album. So, £9 means that I have a signed copy, and of course I'll probably head off to play.com to buy one now. Great marketing, but that must have been hard work to sign that many CD inlays. Ash have already said that this will be their last studio album, and that they will now concentrate on making great single tracks instead. Many thought that this is what they have been doing for their whole career, and on tonight's evidence, they can carry on touring their back catalogue, to ecstatic audiences, for ever.