Think back to MTV Unplugged if you will/remember it. A great idea: strip back the grunt from alternative bands and see how beautiful their songs really are. Well Therapy? are now on tour taking a huge swathe of their back catalogue and stripping them back, calling this the Wood and Wire. All three members up front of the stage, amps disguised as candlelight tables, two laid back sets, classics laid bare. Add to that the dry wit and hilarious tales of life on the road and you have a very memorable night.
The two set times are clearly shown around the venue, with the first one beginning promptly but the second one running late. Who cares, the more this shows on the more relaxed everyone becomes, the crowd even singing the riffs which Cairns says “would sound shit on acoustic!” The setting is like someone is playing in your living room (house concerts with neighbour permission of course are great fun, try it sometime if you can!). The instruments may be stripped back but the vocals are the same forceful Therapy style we know from their stand out live full throttle shows.
This is a chance/excuse for the guys to really chat to the crowd, and the show is as much telling tales as it is playing the tunes, as anyone familiar with Cairns solo acoustic tours will have experience with. There’s apologies to Sisters Of Mercy’s local lad Chris Catalyst who has toured with the band as Cairns said he licked SOM the last time they met. ‘Shadow Of A Terrible Thing’ is dedicated to “Hairy Paws Harvey Weinstein” and the latest news. The original ‘Meat Abstract’ has a sample from Blade Runner, the new one of which Cairns asks us about and says he’s not got the bladder to sit through a long film nowadays.
Michael ‘The Evil Priest’ McKeegan also has tales to tell, such as La Faro’s Herb is selling their merch and loves hugs, but actually hates human contact! The sound when he comes in with bass really makes some of the tunes and gives the acoustic sound just enough beef. The funniest tales come from natural story teller Cairns, three stories of which he titles “Behind The Curtain”, where a £4.99 image can replace a £35,000 photoshoot and releasing the shocker that no one can shit on a hired tour bus, even after renting one for £2-4000 per day and are left to defecate into a black bag.
Husker Du’s Grant Hart is kindly remembered with their cover of ‘Diane’, Tom Petty is also fondly mentioned with ‘Die Laughing’. Drummer Neil Cooper is loving his drum brushes and does indeed “drum like a motherfucker” when we all tell him to. Instead of a count of 4 the crowd sing four “Yorkshire” chants (if you have been to a gig in this county you will know what this means). ‘Knives’ begins with a jazz swing feel before the more traditional song appears, and the crowd as mentioned sing the classic riff to ‘Screamager’, all with smiles on our faces. We are asked over and over if we are ok, and told we are what makes any band, the fans. What a humble band.
It really is the most uplifting gig, full of great tunes, great laughs and good times. The tales can be both sad and hilarious, but totally honest and all the better for it. As we all sing, happy people have no stories.
Setlist:
Trigger Inside
Our Love Must Die
Disgracelands
Tides
Living in the Shadow of the Terrible Thing
Evil Elvis
Skyward
Accelerator
If It Kills Me
Lonely, Cryin', Only
Opal Mantra
Gone
Meat Abstract
Unbeliever
A Moment of Clarity
Idiot Cousin
Diane
Potato Junkie
Stories
Turn
Still Hurts
Stop It You're Killing Me
Nowhere
Knives
Screamager
Die Laughing
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.