With Cardiff Castle’s packed summer of live music now more than halfway through, it takes something special to stand out from the crowd – and that’s what Richard Ashcroft did. The ex-Verve frontman delivered an effortlessly confident performance packed with anthems that stretched back more than three decades and barely allowed the energy levels to dip.
Before Ashcroft appeared, the crowd was well warmed up by Apollo Junction and former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan, whose energetic set was one of the strongest support performances of this year’s Depot Live series. With the audience singing along from the outset, his version of Fire was an obvious highlight, leaving the castle crowd primed for the evening’s main event.
Returning to Cardiff after supporting Oasis on their 2025 reunion tour, Richard Ashcroft arrived to a huge reception – and when he asked how many of us had seen him on that tour, a roar of approval gives him the answer. Thereafter, no unnecessary chat and certainly no filler: Ashcroft let the songs do the talking, opening with The Verve’s Sonnet before moving through a beautifully judged set that mixed 90s classics with solo favourites.
Weeping Willow, Space And Time, Music Is Power, A Song For The Lovers, The Drugs Don’t Work, History, Break The Night With Colour, Lucky Man: all here, all done with conviction. An emotional encore comprised C’mon People, an acoustic Velvet Morning and, as the inevitable finale and generator of a castle-wide singalong, Bitter Sweet Symphony.
Ashcroft’s voice isn’t the best, but remains remarkably distinctive, carrying the same soaring emotional weight that defined both The Verve and his solo career. Backed by an excellent band (including a guitarist who looks uncannily like Keith Richards) and enhanced by crisp sound throughout the venue, the performance balanced intimacy with arena-sized ambition.
No gimmicks, no overblown production and no need for them, thanks to timeless songs, a charismatic frontman and an audience who knew every word.
Richard Ashcroft, Tom Meighan + Apollo Junction, Cardiff Castle, Thurs 16 July
words ANTONIA LEVAY photos DEPOT LIVE
