After an acclaimed string of performances opening for his beloved Stiff Little Fingers, Norn Iron-born singer-songwriter-musician Ricky Warwick is back on headlining duties with his incredible band The Fighting Hearts. First up in a run of 12 shows in 15 days in 3 home countries, is Scotland, where Warwick spent a great deal of his formative years (if you were quick, you might have scored some gold-dust tickets for Warwick’s January 2026 sort-of-homecoming-shows, in a hotel where he “…spent many a good night having a beverage in there…”). Tonight, it’s the turn of Edinburgh to pay tribute to the Thin Lizzy/Black Star Riders/The Almighty frontman, rather than Glasgow, where The Almighty will reconvene in November this year for a gig at The Barras.

Opening on all dates on the ‘Blood Ties’ tour is Mr. CJ Wildheart, and later on, as the headliners’ set is coming to a close, Ricky thanks CJ from the stage, pointing out that they have been friends for decades now, and boy, do they have some stories they could tell. CJ looks on with a beaming smile, nodding his head knowingly.

There is a bit of confusion with the posted set times, and if ever there was a time you wanted to be at the venue for doors opening, then it is tonight. Punters are still streaming in once CJ and his bunch of leather-jacket-clad amigos take to the stage, and thankfully, the “Punk Rock Mutant CJ Wildheart” (as the cool poster on sale at the merch desk calls him) is not performing to an empty room.

With space at a premium, drummer Craig Mackay is perched at the front, stage left, while CJ, along with bassist Lee Potter and guitarist Deano McCreadie, don’t have much room to move. This is CJ Wildheart, though, so even though there might not be much space, there is still enough for him and McCreadie to catch some air at several points during the set.

Weilding his trademark guitar (Lucy, if you didn’t already know), CJ and company rip through a full-on punk n’roll set made up of solo material mostly culled from his latest solo album ‘Slots’ and the odd nod to his past (The Wildhearts ‘O.C.D.’ is still a buzz to witness live). ‘Slots’ and its companion ‘Demos’ feature some of the best work that CJ has put down in some time, with ‘Beg’, ‘The Baddest Girl In The World’, and ‘You Got The Best Part of Me’ all showcasing a performer at the top of his game several decades after becoming a household name on the scene. A new album is expected in Spring 2026, and judging by CJ’s social media posts, it could be his last one for some time, which is a shame considering how much of a roll the loveable fella is on. Get in for the doors opening, or you are running the risk of missing one of the most explosive live acts around. Don’t forget to check out that rather nifty poster at the merch desk, which CJ himself mans.

As expected, when Ricky Warwick takes to the stage, he is given a hero’s welcome. And you could power a small country for a week if you ever figure out how to harness the energy from his beaming smile. One of those performers born to be onstage, this is Warwick’s natural environment, and he sets out to make it a night to remember for all in attendance through a well-constructed 2o-plus-song set that stops at several junctions in his career.

Flanked by The Fighting Hearts – bassist Richard Vernon, former Tax The Heat drummer Jack Taylor behind the kit, and Leigh Heggarty from Ruts DC on guitar – Warwick is on fire as he peels off one banger after another. Looking ever the guitar-gunslinger, with his weapon of choice slung low, how Warwick remains cool in the cauldron-like heat is anyone’s guess. But he does. ‘You’re My Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Wishing Your Life Away’ are great examples of Warwick’s songcraft and his knack for writing simple, no-frills material that finds an audience. The current album, ‘Blood Ties’, is full of examples of this, and it’s no surprise that his solo material is so warmly received.

A canny soul, Warwick creates a setlist that flows perfectly by dropping in covers here and there. The trio of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Are You Ready’, followed by Black Star Riders’ ‘When The Night Comes In’, and The Almighty’s ‘Do You Understand’, are casually dispatched with ease in the opening 20 minutes. Leigh Heggarty is a fantastic addition to The Fighting Hearts, and like Ben Christo before him, he brings a wealth of experience to the gig. With his background in punk rock, he is perfect for Warwick, and there is great chemistry between the pair. And judging by his solo on ‘Are You Ready’, Heggarty is obviously having a blast playing material more suited to guitar solos.

Warwick is in fine form as he prowls the stage, making eye contact with everyone that he can. Real eye contact; a little nod here, a wink there. A great storyteller who demands your attention. Before ‘Angel of Desolation’, he jokes that “This is an Irish song…” before adding, “I suppose they all are as I’m singing them…but this is definitely an Irish song…it’s an Irish song about drinking”. And leading up to ‘Don’t Leave Me in the Dark’, he tells the tale of how he wrote the song as a duet with a female vocalist in mind, along the lines of Lzzy Hale or Joan Jett, but fate led to a connection with Lita Ford. She agrees to do the song, and then Warwick discovers that when she is due to go into the studio to record her vocals, he is out on the road with Stiff Little Fingers. “So, it’s one of those things…both posters adorned my teenage bedroom wall…I may have been masturbating over one side of the wall more than the other, you make your own mind up…she’s in the studio and I’m on the bus with Stiff Little Fingers, on FaceTime with Lita Ford…if only my 14-year-old self could see me now…” Both tracks, incidentally, are lifted from ‘ Blood Ties’, do check it out.

The set highlights come later in the set with a few quick bursts of Buddy Holly’s ‘That’ll Be The Day’ that leads into ‘The Crickets Stayed In Clovis’, followed by ‘Schwaben Redoubt’, Warwick’s foot-stomping tale of two Irish friends who would normally be on opposing sides coming together to face certain death in The Battle of The Somme during WWI album. Way faster and heavier than the studio version, live it has a folkie-Headcat kind of energy, and with ‘When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang The Blues)’ following on in quick succession, it makes for a thrilling lead into the encores that land without any pantomime shenanigans by leaving the stage to stand behind the amps. It says a lot for Warwick’s solo material that in a set full of nods to his other bands, it’s his own output that provides the set highlights.

Find out for yourself on one of the remaining dates:

Weds 17th – the Brickyard, Carlisle
Fri 19th – Rebellion, Manchester
Sat 20th – KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
Sun 21st – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Mon 22nd – Junction 2, Cambridge
Tue 23rd – The 1865, Southampton
Thurs 25th – The Exchange, Bristol
Fri 26th – 100 Club, London
Sat 27th – Sin City, Swansea

Tickets available here.

Review – Dave

Cover/header image – Thom Scott

All remaining images – Callum Scott Photography