Aural Aggravation

Christopher Nosnibor

It’s been nine months since Therapy’s set at the Brudenell was halted abruptly by an altercation at the back of the venue. They promised they’d come back and finish the set, and before tonight’s show proper, they made good on that promise with a matinee that picked up where they’d left off.

So, before playing a regular evening show, they opened the doors early for those who’d had tickets for the abridged show to play the remaining twelve songs on the set for free. And there was a more than respectable turnout, and it seems a fair few had purchased tickets for the gig proper, too: almost 30 years into their career, Therapy? still inspire real devotion and enthusiasm. Sometimes I forget just how big a deal they were to me back in the early 90s, but live they remind us just how many songs – bloody brilliant songs – hey have in their catalogue, and they don’t by any means all belong to their 90s heyday.

My mate joked that with just over nine months between the set’s start and finish – during which time children alive now have gone from conception to birth – it’s the longest set he’s ever seen (although neither of us have seen Bob Dylan, and I haven’t seen any recent Cure gigs). In exchange, I tell him about the new desk I’ve bought for my office at home, at which point I start to feel like the kind of old bastard who first saw Therapy? back in March ’94 while still in 6th form. But there’s a reason fans have stuck with Therapy? even after Semi-Detached. Not only did they rediscover their form and have spent almost two decades dispatching solid albums brimming with energy, sincerity and decent tunes, but they’re as passionate, enthusiastic and enjoyable live act as you’re likely to see.

Therapy?

It did feel a little strange arriving at the Brudenell for 6pm doors and a 6:30 prompt start, with time for only one pint and no support, and it also felt a little odd to see a band launch straight into a set that had been building in the first half to a climactic second half. But the fact they came on positively bursting with energy and enthusiasm and blasted through ‘Screamager’ as if they hadn’t started cold was enough to completely blow away any awkwardness. They followed with a swift one-two of a positively throbbing ‘Teethgrinder’ and a rip-snorting ‘Potato Junky’, and this opening trio alone justifies turning out for.

Despite having dispatched ‘Turn’, ‘Opal Mantra’, and ‘Trigger Inside’ in November, they’ve an embarrassment of riches in the major tunes stakes. ‘Stories’ and ‘Nowhere’, the former of which sees Andy spontaneously try out a new pedal combo to replicate the horn section on his guitar with a pleasing degree of success, are single cut highlights, but on a par are killer back-catalogue album selections ‘Stop it You’re Killing Me’, ‘Unbeliever’, and a furious rendition of ‘Knives’.

‘Crutch’ and set closer ‘Success? Success is Survival’ stand up well against the older material and show they’ve lost none of their knack for combining hefty riffs with magnificent melodies.

But Therapy? are so much more than the music in a live setting: they could have so easily played this as an obligation fulfilment, but no: bassist Michael Keegan grins from ear to ear and pogos for the duration and they make no concession to conserving energy for the full set to follow. Cairns is so affable he’s almost cuddly with between-song chat that rangers from bantz to rants, and as it’s drummer Neil’s birthday, leads the audience through some chants of ‘drum like a motherfucker’. He signs off with a sincere call for everyone to look after one another, and it’s a heart-warming, life-affirming experience. In dark days like these, we need good people, and Therapy’s unique brand of poppunknoise. And this time, no-one got hurt.