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Ash at UEA in Norwich

First album: terrific. Second album: terrible. Third album: terrific. Fourth album: terrible.Ìý

You may disagree, but the career path of Ash is one of starkly contrasting tones. Rather like their beloved Star Wars, it has been a battle between light and dark, good and bad throughout.Ìý

At their best, Ash are captivating, skilful tunesmiths, able to produce hard-edged, catchy pop-rock and at their worst, an overly self-indulgent, tuneless bore.Ìý

To be fair, they’ve been around for 15 years now, despite only being on the cusp of their 30s, and as countless others have shown, it's hard to keep coming up with the goods.Ìý

Back to being a three-piece following the departure of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley, hearing them play live again, their sound is by no means diminished.Ìý

They saunter onto the stage, up tools and break into tried-and-tested numbers like Orpheus and Starcross'd, setting the tone of the evening at loud and leisurely.Ìý

The new material from fifth studio album Twilight Of The Innocents impresses and frustrates in equal measure.Ìý

I Started A Fire - the first track on the new album - sounds promising, but then You Can't Have It All is just re-treading well-trodden ground.

Given, there's a return to the more melodic fare of Free All Angels, but lyrically, Wheeler has never been able to throw away his sixth form notebook.Ìý

The wonderful thing about the great Ash records is their immediacy: they grab you from the off, and the new songs here never quite make the reach.

It’s a shame, in a way, that the standouts tonight are the "golden oldies" as Wheeler calls them.Ìý

Girl From Mars, Oh Yeah, Kung Fu and Goldfinger are received like free money, giving everyone new legs as soon as the familiar guitar intros ring out.Ìý

Walking Barefoot sounds as fresh as a dew-laden daisy and Shining Light – surely the high-water mark of their creative output – er, shines.Ìý

The set list is lengthy, and lingers at times, and when the end comes much of the energy the band worked to generate earlier in the night has dissipated.Ìý

Drummer Rick McMurray and bassist Mark Hamilton – showing the first signs of male patternÌý paunch - make a dependable rhythm section but the cherubic Wheeler – on song this evening – is the star attraction and gives the impression that his heart is still very much in it, even if not everyone is as pleased as he is.

Ash played at the UEA, Norwich, on Thursday, 1 November, 2007.