A double header of two of the best indie-ish bands of recent years in a charity concert for the Teenage Cancer Trust yet amazingly this gig didn't seem to be a total sell out. Both bands have a similar level of support in the mid-reaches of the indie Premiership and although this gig was billed as a co-headline event, Supergrass played second and assumed the status of headliners - probably because they are currently promoting last year's Life On Other Planets whereas Ash are currently between albums. A year ago the bill would probably have been the other way round.

For their first gig of 2003, Ash played their Buzzcocks influenced indie / punk / pop for just over an hour. They played pretty much a greatest hits set with no obvious omissions although they did include the debut performances of two very promising and slightly more dynamically complex new songs. Other highlights of their set included Goldfinger, the evergreen Shining Light and the slightly stax sounding Envy with excellent effective backing vocals by Charlotte Hatherley. Although Ash's melodies and harmonies are nearly always strong , the playing, soloing, rhythms and dynamics in their songs are often rather unimaginative and predictable although they seem to be taking steps to rectify this if the new songs are anything to go by. Overall a fine, feel-good performance by an excellent band although I had mainly come to see the headliners.

Supergrass played an excellent set which was weighted heavily towards Life On Other Planets. They played most of that album with highlights being the singles Grace and See The Light, a very impressive slowly building, semi psychedelic acoustic to electric song which I believe is called Run and the ballad Evening Of The Day where bassist Mickey Quinn took lead vocals. The last song seemed to illicit very little response from the audience which is a shame though, good as Mickey's vocals are, it's hard to compete with one of the best lead voices in rock. Gaz Commbes' vocals were superb throughout the gig - a slightly snarly, great rock'n'roll voice which sounds even better live than on record.

As well as the songs from the new album, there were selective forays into Supergrass' back catalogue including 3 fantastic songs from their underrated eponymous 1999 album. The beautifully melodic Moving was a highlight and Pumping On Your Stereo, a great live crowd pleaser. The other song from that album was the fantastic, understated, electric piano led Mary whose slightly dark lyrics were matched by the video backdrop of erotic photos of a couple making love.

The band also played a few songs from In It for The Money and I Should Coco with Strange Ones, Richard III and Sun Hits the Sky among the highlights. The latter was one of a number of songs illustrating the instrumental prowess of the 4 band members. Unlike Ash, Supergrass are very good at knowing when not to play - providing space for other members of the band to shine which increases the impact of a song overall. Mickey Quinn is also a superb backing / harmony vocalist - close to Mike Mills of REM as one of the very best.

Unlike Ash though, the Grass seem to have mixed feelings about some of their old songs. Although I appreciate that Alright has been a bit of an albatross around their necks in the UK, it was a shame that it wasn't played as to many of the audience it was the song of the Britpop summer of 1995 and is one of the key songs to that whole movement. Other unfortunate omissions were the singles Going Out and Late In The Day from In It For The Money or in fact any other songs from what is probably their best album. However, it was presumably a shorter than usual set and the band are obviously keen to promote their new album so these criticisms are a little churlish. Overall an excellent gig by one of the best and most accomplished and unassuming bands of the last few years.