Bristol Evening Post
October 12, 2004

Wreckless Eric - St Bonaventures

Half way through his set on this, his first visit back to the city for some years, Wreckless Eric sang that what he needs in his life is a continuity girl.
Actually that has been true throughout the stop-start, up-down career of this maverick, self-destructive British singer-songwriter.
But Wreckless Eric is very much back, with an autobiography and a stunning if weird album, and doing a string of dates so long it would exhaust even a young star.
And, if the rest of the gigs are like this one, exhausting it really should be, for I really can't remember when I last saw an artist work quite this hard on stage. For in a set that was getting close to two hours on stage, he pulled every conceivable bit of anguish, intensity, pathos, anger and drama out of his songs.
And it was exhausting for the audience too, for you really have to concentrate on his songs if you are to get close to the cascade of dark, surreal and very funny images that tumble from his songs, particularly as they are accompanied by feedback, wall-shattering bass effects and percussive crunching guitar.
He produces an intense atmosphere, but thankfully lightens it with a lot of humour and some very funny stories about himself, about his family (his Aunty Mary would not be amused by his comments) and particularly former Westlife chart topper Brian McFadden who came in for a torrent of abuse.
The self-styled Donovan of Trash, this love child of Ian Dury and Captain Beefheart, gave us a selection of songs from the new Bungalow Hi album, including the very poignant splitting-up song 33s & 45.
But of course there were lots of the old hits as well, including Reconnez Cherie, Final Taxi and Paris In June. He finished, of course, with his massive 1977 hit A Whole Wide World to a standing ovation from the packed and very enthusiastic crowd of old and new fans.
History may look back on Wreckless Eric as the strereotypical genius fighting his inner demons. We should slap a preservation order on him now - he is a national treasure.

Keith Clark * * * * (four star rating)