For those looking forward to catching two 90's 'T' band legends tonight, the fact that Tony Wright was announced as support was an awesome extra to this great gig. However I and many others were fooled by assuming this was Terrorvision's frontman, when in fact the man in question is otherwise known as VerseChorusVerse.
There is no disappointment however, as Tony (or Toeknee) immediately has the crowd in the palm of his hands. He also has a joke about it too, saying he is not the Bradford rocker or the Labour MP. The Irish gent, formally of mostly instrumental experimental band And So I Watch You From Afar, has an amazing voice. 'No More Years' and 'Yet To Break' are corkers of songs, and the acoustic cover of Fugazi's 'Margin Walker' is fantastic. He has funny tales of his time with ASIWYFA, like being cautioned by police for staying in a layby in Germany for sharing a big red van with many random men (in reality the rest of the band!) and tales of playing the recently closed Cockpit with Clutch.
The comedy banter continues when Andy Cairns takes to the stage. The Therapy? legend has embarked on this solo tour as the other two band members Michael McKeegan and Neil Cooper are at home with newborn babies. He jokes that this first song is about a sort of deranged Winnie The Pooh, and breaks into "Tigger Inside". This fun-loving jesting runs throughout the show, with threats about going to Bono's house and having a shit in his bed for the iTunes farce, as he knows where he lives, and dedicating newer Therapy track 'Living In The Shadow of A Terrible Thing' to him. In fact every track has a story to it, mostly comical. New song 'Still Hurts' reminds him of a time just before they played it in Finland, and a fan threw a T-shirt onto stage as you do, and he held it up to discover it said 'I Love Sodomy'. 'Loose', later in the set, comes with the tale of a friend who had two many drugs on a horse racing coach trip, had an accident, sent him to get some 34 inch Wranglers and as the coach set off for home he discovered he had been given a 34 inch Wrangler jacket.
The fun side is complete with Andy having a right laugh too; he is in such a happy mood. The crowd feed off this and are enjoying it too.
Most Therapy? songs translate well onto the single acoustic guitar, although a guy called Stevie comes along to help with second guitar and backing vocals on the odd song such as 'Judy The Obscene', 'Loose' and 'Diane' amongst others. For a lot of other songs, especially the more the set goes on, the crowd are encouraged (it doesn't take much) to sing along, and sing the guitar parts like for 'Screamager'. They do a great job of singing backing vocals for 'Turn' and providing "Hey Heys" in 'Stop It You're Killing Me', dedicated to the Ramones (with a rant about people wearing theirs and other band T-shirts with no idea of who they are. Agreed). 'Knives' is dedicated to Leeds musician Chris Catalyst (Eureka Machines, The Dead Pets, RoboChrist, Sisters Of Mercy, Mr ShirazÂ…) who is in the crowd.
There are the odd sobering moments, with Husker Du's 'Diane' always a sad song, acoustic or not (I must say I have liked Therapy? for years and years and did not know this was a cover). There is a very sad tale of the girl that threw herself from a nearby building during the band's soundcheck at the Cockpit years ago (I remember it as a punter) and Andy wrote the song 'Lost in Care' for her.
Its soon back to the more fun side though as Andy has to restart 'Stories' because of a spider running over his face, and jokes, "Thank God for Google, 'cos I have to look up some of the lyrics!"
This show was such a scream, a really good laugh. Even the loud talkers who must have forgot it's still only an acoustic gig shut up towards the end. The mix of Therapy? tunes and solo work was a good balance, and keeping the hits until the end was a good move. Personal highlights were 'Loose', 'Stop It You're Killing Me', 'Knives' and 'Potato Junkie' to finish it all off. Such a long and enjoyable set, highly recommended.
Trigger Inside
Our Love Must Die
Living in the Shadow of the Terrible Thing
Opal Mantra
Still Hurts
Jude the Obscene
Lonely, Cryin', Only
Six Mile Water
Meat Abstract
Lost in Care
Evil Elvis
Misery
Tides
Loose
Turn
Idiot Cousin
A Moment of Clarity
Stories
Stop It You're Killing Me
Knives
Hey Satan You Rock
Diane
If It Kills Me
Nowhere
Screamager
Potato Junkie
FUTURE GIGS
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