Deux Furieuses open up the show. They are a two piece alt rock outfit consisting of Ros Cairney on guitar/vocals and Vas Antoniadou on drums. Imagine if Royal Blood covered tracks from PJ Harvey's 'Dry' album as they mix riffs with a feminist attitude. 'Civilians' is a noisy take on the blues, like Jon Spencer Blues Explosion or Cows did back in the '90s It is probably a little less successful but it still possesses a fair bit of power. 'Bring Down The Government' is much better and is again reminiscent of PJ Harvey. There is a little bit of a Gallon Drunk vibe too. 'Can We Talk About This?' is a trashy noise rock take on Refused's 'New Noise'. The catchy 'Let Them Burn' is about as anthemic as they get but mostly this is discordant and ever so slightly obtuse.
Tonight sees Therapy? celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of their seminal 'Troublegum' album. I bought the album the day it came out and immediately loved it. That love only really extended to this album (and the previous one, 'Nurse') as I discovered hardcore shortly after which opened up a whole new world for me. I saw them three times in 1994, including at this very venue. All the shows were great but Donnington Monsters Of Rock was probably the best as they played all of their most accessible hits, and they were probably the best band that day. Reading Festival was a bit more challenging as they played the more obtuse 'Troublegum' tracks (probably because they'd played most of the major UK festivals that year and wanted to mix it up a bit). Tonight will probably be a mixture of the two as they promise to play all the tracks from the album although, wisely, they won't be played in the same order.
Therapy? open with 'Stop It You're Killing Me'. Andy Cairns' vocals seems a bit loud but it's still great to sing along to every word and the middle section is still genius. 'Isolation' sounds great, and I suppose the biggest compliment you could give it is that it sounds like their own song these days. I spot someone I know to the right of me and make my way over to say hello and inadvertantly find myself on the edge of the pit for the remainder of the show, which isn't where I'd rather be these days. The brooding 'Turn' is fantastic. 'Trigger Inside' is still an outsiders anthem with its 'I know how Jeffrey Dahmer's feeling, lonely' lyrics. 'Brainsaw's 'I'm in hell and I'm alone' chorus is turned into a huge singalong. In fact, the tracks which didn't feel that rousing at the time, such as 'Unbeliever', are now transformed into big anthems by the crowd who holler along to every single word. 'Femtex's Helmet-like groove still hits the spot. 'Opal Mantra' highlights what made Therapy? so successful - percussive drumming, hard riffs and catchy choruses. 'Die Laughing' is excellent, whilst everyone has a ball during the regular set closer 'Nowhere'. 'Nurse' material like 'Nausea' has managed to retain its underground credibility. 'Potato Junkie' is insanely good and features a nifty drum solo and dance break in the middle. The heavy, brooding and rhythmic 'Teethgrinder' is amazing as they embark on a final run of songs few can match. Andy introduces 'Knives' as a song featuring a riff that he's so proud of that he can't help wanting to play it over and over, Needless to say, it is amazing. A riotously good 'Screamager' closes the show. Every bit as triumphant as when I saw them here 30 years ago.
Therapy? ****
Deux Furieuses ***
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