Inspiral Carpets – Boiler Shop – 20 th November 2025

Image by Iam Burn

The first gig I ever attended was Inspiral Carpets back in 1990. I loved every minute, stood far too close to the speakers and had impaired hearing for three days as a result. Next time I saw them I stood further away. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them live. Would they still be as good as I remembered? As the snow fell outside the Boiler Shop, the heat was turned up inside as the band appeared on-stage to the muted, burbling intro of Real Thing. Keeping up the ferocity, this was followed by a rollocking performance of Generations and She Comes In The Fall. The crowd certainly appreciated this all-out attack.

I knew the evening would be tinged with sadness. It was the ninth anniversary of the passing of original Inspirals drummer, Craig Gill, at the age of 44. Not only that, but the death of the Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield had been announced just hours earlier. The band and crowd both showed their respects and appreciation of these two fine musicians.

The band weren’t afraid to let rip with some of their most loved tracks from their repertoire. Tracks like Two Worlds Collide, Beast Inside, Find Out Why and Sackville anchored their set perfectly. They also dropped in a new track, Drag The Bag, which should be released around February 2026. It sounded good, slotted perfectly into their back catalogue of hits, and bodes well for the future of the band. There’s also a new album planned for next year too. I also feel that Stephen Holt being able to sing his own songs allows him a little more room for vocal manoeuvre.

This Is How It Feels brought a huge reaction from the Newcastle crowd – the opening notes played by Clint Boon always creates a shiver down my spine. Joe was the cue for much bouncing and waving of upper limbs amongst the crowd, along with a hefty dollop of raucous singing. After leaving the stage following an excellent rendition of Dragging Me Down, the obligatory encore was awaited with bated breath. There were still several songs we all wanted to hear that hadn’t been performed. When you have far more material than can be squeezed into 90 minutes, there’s always collateral damage.

The superb and, in my opinion, underrated Martyn Walsh let his bass guitar rip into the opening of Caravan to kick off the three-song encore. Cue more dancing and spilling of beer. Another new(ish) track was slipped in, A Wolf at the Door, which is a brave move for an encore. It worked. The night was brought to a suitably rowdy conclusion as Saturn 5 blasted out around the venue. The crowd channelled their remaining energy to make sure they showed the band just how much they’d enjoyed the night. I sang as loudly as I could manage. Sorry to those in close proximity. I was in ‘the zone’.

The weather outside was frightful, but the Inspirals were just delightful. Still an irresistible force. Still cool as fuck.