Photo Credit: Rebecca Tindle

Following an extensive UK tour at the end of 2025 in support of their album ‘Ad Astra‘, Northern Ireland trio Ash continued their record celebrations into 2026 with a run of more intimate shows in grassroots venues up and down the UK, with The Crescent in York becoming a sell out in rapid time.

As the venue filled up to the masses awaited their presence, it wasn’t long until Ash made their way on to the stage. After a roar from the capacity crowd greeted them, they kicked things off with a string of ‘Ad Astra‘ material. ‘Zarathustra‘ opened the show, followed by ‘Fun People‘, ‘Keep Dreaming‘ and the album’s title track eased folk into the set ahead of some more familiar songs. Once ‘A Life Less Ordinary‘ came around, it was lift off. The fast paced ‘Orpheus‘ and ‘Goldfinger‘ soon followed, unleashing a series of their greatest hits at this stage.

Coming around to the tenth song, the atmosphere was at an all time high. Once ‘Shining Light‘ began, the crowd made their voices heard. Following up with ‘Oh Yeah‘, ‘Return of the White Rabbit‘ and ‘Braindead’ kept the energy flowing, ‘Hallion‘ brought it back to the ‘Ad Astra‘ material once again. Ash rounded off their set with ‘Kung Fu‘ and ‘Girl from Mars‘, both arguably the loudest from the band as well as the crowd, the trio exited the stage with an encore looming.

A swift return to the stage was met with huge cheers from the York crowd, with Tim Wheeler delivering ‘My Favourite Ghost‘ acoustically before ‘Petrol‘ and fan favourite ‘Burn Baby Burn‘ concluded the bands’ first headline performance in the city in a decade.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Tindle