Erica Nockalls and Miles Hunt. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media.February 23rd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls never seem to stand still and rest on their impressive laurels. These two imposing musical stars have been on a journey, plying their trade up and down the country and to far flung corners for longer than some can remember.

In between gigging and entertaining crowds in their ‘day job’ with The Wonder Stuff, these two likeable and dedicated musicians find the time to strip back some of the band’s older songs and give them a new lease of life with just one guitar and Erica’s magnificent violin playing and their two voices that light up a room. If you add Miles’s wonderful stories into this equation, you have a night that just swims serenely along and with passion that’s really only matched by the very few.

April 1991 saw the release of The Wonder Stuff’s excellent release Never Loved Elvis; this incredible album was to form the backbone of a gig that had the audience marvelling at the easy poise and concentration of Erica as her violin playing broke the collective hearts of the audience with her stirring string work and with consummate artistic flair, joyfully put smiles on the crowd as the music merged with Miles’s excellent vocals.

The pair performed almost every track of the Never Loved Elvis album, only dropping a couple along the way and interspersed them with tracks from every other part of their distinguished career. Amongst them was the tremendous Welcome to the Cheap Seats, Circle Square, the Dirty Ray inspired Immaculate Fools and a treat for the fans, a sneak preview of a track that will find its way onto the new Wonder Stuff album due out towards the end of the year, the amazing and lyrically excellent Right Side of the Turf.

This in truth was not just a gig, where the paying audience sat down, listened to the music and then made their way home. This was a family gathering, this was an honour to attend as it has to be said that Erica’s violin performances are nothing short of electrifying and stunning. It is easy to have a personal view on such music but when an a Liverpool audience takes someone from out of the Merseyside area to its heart as they have done with both Miles and Erica over the years then that audience is a barometer of impeccable taste.

Ian D. Hall