Inspiral Carpets made their first ever visit to Margate in December 2025, several decades into their career. The gig took place on a cold Sunday night in the Dreamland Ballroom, a venue notorious for bad sound quality. In terms of a long overdue seaside jaunt, it wasn’t exactly the most auspicious of gigs. Tonight, they’ve returned to Dreamland, but they’re playing upstairs in the Hall By The Sea, a far superior, steampunk-ish gig space where everyone sounds (mostly) brilliant.

At the point where Clint Boon and his associates arrive on stage at an early 7:45, the venue is already packed. It’s a joy to see, especially since the Inspirals aren’t actually the night’s headliners. The house lights dim, and with that, a bass heavy drone fills the air, and a very slow groove takes a hold. The still unreleased ‘Burn Like The Sun’ – the title track from a forthcoming LP (due for release in January 2027, some thirteen years after their last studio album) – sets an ominous mood. It’s almost doomy compared to most of the band’s more typical fare, and singer Stephen Holt adopts an almost Ian Curtis-like tone to suit. The song’s repetitive lyric appears to feeds into an atmosphere that appears to get progressively darker, before everything gives way to a punchy ‘She Comes In The Fall’, sharing the first of the night’s obvious crowd pleasers. Picking up the pace, the rhythm section are amazing, and although the bass-centric approach masks most of Graham Lambert’s guitars, Clint’s farfisa organ pierces the air in a very distinctive way. Holt appears a little uneasy on this Tom Hingley era classic, but in the main, despite the odd musical wobble, there’s a sense of a band who can still really deliver in the live setting.

…And so, that feeling more is more than validated on a solid sounding ‘Move’ – by which time any small sound issues are rectified – before the first of the night’s major highlights, recent single ‘Drag The Bag’, really shows how sharp this line up can sound. It’s immediately clear that the rhythm section (Martyn Walsh – bass, and touring drummer Kev Clark) have a superb chemistry, and that Kev provides a thunderous presence behind the kit. Against a frenetic rhythm, Boon’s looped riff provides a superb hook for the track, which is one of the band’s best since the 90s, and the simple chorus finds parts of the crowd in unified voice. Somehow, the band manage to take everything up a further notch with regards to an overall intensity when they launch into an absolutely killer version of ‘I Want You’, complete with a sampled Mark E. Smith, by which point, any doubters within the audience are surely won over. Despite the volume of the band, there are voices that can be heard roaring the chorus hook within the crowd, cementing this number’s place as one of the Inspirals’ greats.

Another nod to the forthcoming album comes via a rocky ‘Touching From A Distance Too Far’, a number which makes a great feature of Boon’s swirling, psych-y organ sound and Walsh’s rock solid bass work. As expected, the arrangement suits Holt’s deeper tones, and although some of the fine harmony vocals from the recently released studio track don’t always hit with complete clarity, the musical performance is terrific, making a great feature of a piercing lead guitar sound from Lambert. The also new ‘There’s A Better Way’ feels a little less immediate on this night, but still more than suggests that ‘Burn Like The Sun’ will be a solid addition to the band’s catalogue, while classics ‘Dragging Me Down’ and ‘This Is How It Feels’ are ripe for more singing opportunities from an enthused crowd. Even at the back of the venue, it’s clear that the energy this set brings is felt far beyond the sweaty throngs at the front: there’s a keen interest from almost everyone. A thin lady, partially hidden by a hat, can be seen in the disabled person’s safe space. She’s propped up by her partner, swaying, arms outstretched, hanging off every word, clearly every bit as invested as those viewing the band from a closer proximity.

If everyone feels those classic numbers have helped the Inspirals reach gig “peak”, then vintage numbers ‘Joe’ and ‘Saturn 5’ prove everyone wrong. The final songs of an already great set take everything up to incendiary levels, with a sea of arms punching the air during the former, and the entire crowd shouting the melody from Boon’s organ riff during the latter. It’s also clear the band are enjoying – and right up until this point, have enjoyed – the experience; there’s a proper camaraderie among the musicians, and this has also been clear via the night’s unplanned banter, taking in chats about seaside fish and chips and the legendary MySpace Tom.

With four or five tracks from ‘Burn Like The Sun’ making up the core of tonight’s set, it might seem like a bold move to weight an hour so much towards a record that isn’t even out yet, but it’s a small gamble that’s paid off for the band. Naturally, Holt’s voice is far better suited to the material that he’s had a hand in creating, and when the band hit full power on these numbers – particularly the energetic ‘Grab The Bag’ – he sounds great, and the fire the rest of the band inject into the newer tracks builds excitement for the new record. On this occasion, it sounds like material that’ll be a natural fit alongside the well loved classics, and certainly doesn’t sound like the work of a band who are coasting on a wave of nostalgia, or merely just giving the fans what they want.

At the end of a packed set, the crowd appear more than thrilled. Tonight, the Inspiral Carpets have been far more than a support band – they’ve been special guests to the mighty Wonder Stuff in almost every way. Hopefully, they’ll return to Dreamland after ‘Burn Like The Sun’ has had time to make a proper impact with the fans, and we can all do this again.

October 2026