Who
Gruff Rhys
Support
The Gentle Good
Where
Wolverhampton Arts Centre
When
7th September 2025
Price
£28.50
Who with
Ruth
Position
Seated, at the front
Comments
I got tickets immediately for this Sunday night show, appreciating that Gruff Rhys seems to be showing quite a taste for playing the West Midlands. Paper tickets were posted, and unusually I actually had someone enthusiastic to join me, plus it was unallocated seating as I'd previously experienced at this great venue. I'd seen Geoff Norcott and Richard Herring there recently, and the recent rebrand from Newhampton to Wolverhampton Arts Centre was a rare logical change of name. I heard Gruff's albums in reverse chronological order back to Pang!, but his latest effort Dim Probs was not out until a week after the show, so I was not familiar with that. I spent the day before in Birmingham trying to see the sculpture trail of bull statues, and had intended to complete them this morning but the weather was just too poor. I'd also intended to check out the Paint The Day exhibition also at Wolverhampton Arts Centre, but there were lots of random road closures in the area and I had bad memories of visiting last time to find it full of stalls and people, giving it the vibe of a pushy market hall rather than a relaxing art gallery. I didn't check if the doors were unlocked ahead of the show, and I eventually saw more of the bull trail on the following Sunday. It was a busy few weeks ahead of my two week holiday to Scotland, and I also had the joy of finally inheriting a working multi region blu ray player so I could finally play that Friday The 13th deluxe boxset from America I'd got for my birthday, and with the delight of not having given a penny to the fuckers who manufacture this shite with ridiculous and inappropriate region encoding.

The weather was much better by the time of the show, albeit with a little drizzle. We arrived and parked nearby, walking around the silly tent which was hogging all of the prime car parking slots. A couple we spoke to claimed that the venue couldn't have events on both in the tent and in the hall as the sound clashed, making it even more pointless to have a tent when the indoor hall is well set up and perfectly comfortable. Doors opened around 30 minutes earlier than the advertised 7pm, which would have been deeply annoying if we hadn't gone out of our way to arrive early, and it helped us to easily secure a front row seat. I was unusually relaxed though, first stopping at the merchandise store as a Gruff Logistics t-shirt from the previous tour caught my eye. It was the very last one and in an XXL size, which is a little large but wearable. It had a lovely logo on the front and back and felt like a bargain at £25. The support act had a fetching suitcase full of CDs next to Gruff's merch, and I only realised when he took to the stage that he'd been the guy who'd taken my card payment. I'd just assumed that the lady he was with was the one performing, which feels like reverse sexism on my part? It's a great venue, with a relaxed and friendly security guy letting us past with just a common sense glimpse inside any bags, and after securing our seated position slightly to the left of the front I went to the bar to enjoy a pint of beer on tap, plus some unnecessary Pipers salt and vinegar crisps and pork scratchings too. I put the blue Gruff top over my existing one, and the stage was already fully set up for Gruff. I returned to the entrance area to take a photo of the running times, and I saw from the setup that Gruff would be playing solo, which I believe I haven't seen him do since the wonderful American Interior tour of 2014.

So the support was a solo guy billing himself as The Gentle Good, playing for around 30 minutes from 8pm. He was genial and stated that it was his first time supporting Gruff, before playing a string of Welsh language songs, interspersed with English explanations and thanks in both languages after each tune. He joked that he knew Wolverhampton people well from all the caravan parks in mid Wales, and the beauty of Welsh language music is always a surefire way to win me over. Also he played on the side of the stage in front of us, so that was a bonus, although at the front I did feel a little awkward taking photos, not being able to tell if lots of people behind me were doing the same or not. He had a beard and long hair and did play some English songs after partway through, and also introduced one as being upbeat, before clarifying that it still sounded morose because that's just how he comes across on record. It was a good set, and afterwards I had a brief toilet break and continued the unnecessary food haul with a bottle of strawberry Rekorderlig and a packet of Haribo Starmix, which cost a reasonable-for-a-concert £7ish between them. Gruff was advertised to start at 9pm and he appeared promptly, wearing a cap which he wore throughout apart from a brief moment at the end. And I'm afraid that this review is a little botched, as I couldn't find a reliable setlist, didn't make many notes at the time, and due to a combination of being busy and my webhosts continuing to be shite, I didn't make many notes. I also recorded only three moments - all near the end - so this feels like a good example to prove that "being in the moment" is not as good as "videoing the shit out of it", as the video will last a lifetime, whereas the moment is immediately forgotten apart from some bits which stick in my mind.

I believe that Gruff opened with Gwn Mi Wn, using his second mic to loop his own vocals. It was a quiet but lovely version, although I missed the "air" drumsticks that he originally performed it with. Gruff seemed to have left his signs at home and instead had some smaller hand written ones to utilise, one of which I believe said scattered applause or something like that, giving him a moment to tell us off for being too enthusiastic there. Gruff kindly acknowledged that as the new album wasn't out yet that he'd only be playing a few tunes from it, and mirroring the support band he started his set entirely in Welsh, not switching to English until a good 30 minutes or so into the performance. And this is where I struggle without access to the proper setlist, as I don't believe that Gruff played six new songs, and sadly as I didn't know them and failed to make enough notes or shoot any videos, I can't really comment besides saying that the performance was good and I enjoyed the moment, for what little that is worth. Things moved up a gear once he played Pang! as at least I knew it, and Shark Ridden Waters represented the first step back into the English language. Gruff was not worrying about recreating the records faithfully, and didn't have the mini turntable for the introduction here. But it felt refreshing and exciting to have a front row seat to hear a different approach to his music, and it seemed like a logical progression after their last full band performance was so chilled that it almost negated the purpose of having a group to bulk the sound up. Gruff activated a metronome to substitute for drums and accompany If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme), and also showed us a new gadget which the "algorithm" had made him buy as it sounded cool, but he hadn't quite worked it out yet. He also used a soundbox which may or may not be called a tanpura, and it was a great way to fill out the sound but also to perform solo effectively.

Gruff at one point said that the B note on the guitar was a recent invention, and he played an adorable version of Candylion too. One highlight was playing Just War, which it felt like nobody else could possibly know except for me and a guy behind who exclaimed "wow". He said that the music had been written by the guy from Sparklehorse, possibly his name escaping him. It's Mark Linkous by the way, who I'd once seen live at a festival and I feel that if I tried, I probably could become a fan. I did know this song a bit, but always think that it sounds like Devil In Your Shoes by Shed Seven, which I'm sure isn't intentional but it does make it harder for me to admire it. But it was a great moment, and the set was pleasingly structured to focus on one album for a few songs before moving onto something else. The American Interior segment was preceded by Gruff holding up his felt puppet image of John Evans, which he helpfully said was the only known photo of the man! The title song was great but less dynamic without drums, but the deeper dives into the album were wonderful, such as Liberty (Is Where We'll Be). Gruff said that the lyrics were taken from John's diaries and he certainly wouldn't have written them, but he'd taken the liberty of adding a chorus and made a meal out of how many words were in some of the lines, but he crammed them in successfully. Gruff said that 100 Unread Messages featured the most key changes of any song of his, before realising that he'd written it on a guitar with a longer neck which he'd left at home. But he still went for it, exaggerated his struggle with trying to find new depths on his guitar towards the end. Gruff explained that Iolo was a common Welsh name and that by the end of the song we would also be very familiar with it, but for obvious practical reasons he took a breath and skipped a few Iolos so he could vocalise it properly.

Walk Into The Wilderness is a real favourite of mine, and Gruff carefully placed John's image on the stand to our left so it could be presented as an imaginary duet between them. It's just such a wonderful song, and even better was hearing Frontier Man live for the first time in a while. Gruff said that he couldn't start it without some water, and The Gentle Good who had been quietly sitting and watching from the side dashed to the back room to get some. Gruff helpfully explained that the water was from Harrogate as per the label, and after slaking his thirst he was able to perform this beautiful song as it should be done. This was definitely a better performance than last time, and in many ways it was the most interesting show I'd seen Gruff doing his solo material at since the American Interior tour or perhaps the Candylion pantomime. Hearing these extra deep dives into his back catalogue meant that it was extra special, although I must say I'm a little annoyed to see that other shows got to enjoy Super Furry Animals songs such as Cryndod Yn Dy Lais, Y Teimlad and Ymaelodi Â'r Ymylon, whereas we didn't get to hear any. I mean I love the solo material and didn't come away unhappy with that, but I feel a little aggrieved to see that other stops on the tour got these little extras. Bad Friend was played without pauses, and for the first time I clocked the lyric "you know I'm as reliable as asking a seal to deliver the post or a random Pokémon" as Gruff drew attention to its wit and brilliance. The Court Of King Arthur was the first of a double header of harmonica songs, Gruff adding that he'd had to retire these tunes due to the Timothée Chalamet effect, and that when Dylan came out that he was unable to buy a replacement instrument. Eventually he'd found a cheap one, and it seemed to fit that bill as it dropped too low to use on the second song, and he had no choice but to abandon playing it.

I shot my first video of the night for that second song - Sensations In The Dark - before the harmonica let him down, capturing a great background noise playing that seemed to drown out the guitar. It's a great song though, and a firm favourite of any Gruff Rhys concert. Gruff flashed his Resist Phoney Encores sign and said that he was staying put, and he certainly achieved that by remaining seated for almost the entire show. This could have been a problem, but it gave the show a relaxing vibe and I was just happy to enjoy a different experience, and the smaller venue lent itself well to this style. Gruff invited The Gentle Good back to the stage, and as he'd proclaimed himself a Gruff fan who'd never played with him before, this must have been a nice moment for him. The song was Ty'd Draw Heno, a Geraint Jarman cover, as Gruff said that it was a tribute to a Welsh singer who'd died. I initially expected to hear Datblygu, but then doubted myself, so I was right to stay quiet on this fact. I shot a short video to capture the moment of them both strumming on guitar, and The Gentle Good remained onstage for the obvious finale of Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru, which short of Skylon or an unexpected SFA rendition such as Calimero is the best possible way to finish. I shot a third and final video zoomed in on Gruff breathlessly repeating the chorus of "gyrru gyrru gyrru", and switching between his two mics seemingly at random. The show was supposed to finish at 10.30pm but it was around ten minutes later, and Gruff treated us to a final bout of signs, including "wild abandon" and also one saying "free Palestine", or something like that.

They departed the stage to warm applause, and I took a photo of what I thought was the setlist, but I think was lyrics to the cover version instead. I wasn't rude enough to take anything off the stage, despite my frustrations at never having managed to obtain an SFA setlist despite almost always being at the front. It was a great night and a brilliant set, and my friend also was completely won over by Gruff, despite not knowing many of the songs. He'd done great despite playing nothing from the epic Seeking New Gods album or even recent soundtrack album The Almond & The Seahorse, and perhaps it has reached the point where it is impossible for Gruff to play a definitive solo setlist. I mean there was only one song from Sadness Sets Me Free, but he was on the cusp of releasing his tenth solo album, and when you add in nine SFA albums, two Neon Neon efforts, three Ffa Coffi Pawb LPs and other projects, it all adds up to a career of quality and consistency rivalled perhaps only by Half Man Half Biscuit. Gruff had been active since 1986 or so, and if anything I don't fully appreciate the quality of his solo material, which is a mad thing to be able to honestly say about my hero. Arguably Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys have overtaken Super Furry Animals as my favourite band, but The Beach Boys had a lot more albums, and SFA definitely maintained higher quality control, and didn't suffer from a twat like Mike Love crapping over their legacy. I hope Super Furry Animals reform soon and make their belated tenth album, but I'd have no complaints at all if Gruff continues to perform regularly in the West Midlands, as I can't imagine I'd ever choose to miss out unless I was already booked up, and even then I'd be gutted to not be there.
Setlist
Gwn Mi Wn
Pan Ddaw’r Haul I Fore
Chwyn Chwyldroadol!
Gadael Fi Fynd
Saf Ar Dy Sedd
Taro #1 + #2
Dos Amdani
Pang!
Niwl O Anwiredd
Shark Ridden Waters
If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme)
Lonesome Words
Candylion
Just War
American Interior
Liberty (Is Where We'll Be)
100 Unread Messages
Iolo
Walk Into The Wilderness
Frontier Man
Bad Friend
The Court Of King Arthur
Sensations In The Dark
Ty'd Draw Heno
Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru
n.b. This setlist was from another gig, but it's either correct or similar

Mark: 8.0/10