It’s been a few years since I have seen this great band live and really excited to catch them on this current tour at Bournemouth’s 02 Academy. I first saw the Wonderstuff way back in 1989 on the HUP tour, and many times since. It seems a lifetime since I bought the band's early iconic albums, notably The Eight Legged Groove Machine and Hup on vinyl.

The Wonderstuff have had numerous line-up changes during their successful career but, most notably, bassist Rob Jones and drummer Martin Gilks will be forever sadly missed. However, the current line up of Miles Hunt, Mark McCarthy, Erica Nockalls, Tony Arthy and Dan Donnelly put on an excellent show.

Tonight’s show was supported by Bentley Rhythm Ace and Fuzzbox, two major indie acts from the late 80s/early 90s. Both put on a great show filled with energy and still proving they have what it takes to please a Bournemouth crowd.

The Wonderstuff hit the stage around 9pm, with the highly charismatic Miles Hunt still wowing the crowd with his terrific stage presence and kicking off the show with Don’t You Ever from the new album – 30 Goes Around the Sun - followed by On the Ropes and their early single Unbearable. The band put out a great mix of 20 old and new songs that went down really well with the crowd. The amazing violin skills from Erica Nockalls was brilliant to watch as the collaboration between Miles Hunt and herself seems to flow like an oiled cog.

The band played the usual favourites such as Size of a Cow, Golden Green and Circlesquare, with Hunt hinting to the crowd that there are certain old songs that will never be played again. However, I felt that the set was solid and sounded as good as they have ever been. A real pleasure to watch.

The Wonderstuff are still as good today as they were when I saw them way back. Although the line-up is totally different, they are still a force to be reckoned with. I look forward to catching them again in the near future.

Sebastian Schofield