Lottery Winners, Manchester Academy, 12th June 2021

It’s socially distanced gig time again. Tonight it’s the beloved Lottery Winners. I’ll be honest these gigs are weird, everyone sat down in temporary chairs, it’s just not the same, but if there’s a band that can make it work it’s this lot. Thom is the epitome of an entertainer, wise cracking from the get go, he’s got us in the palm of his hand. Before that though support band EEVAH blast us with some retro synth pop and chest shaking beats. It’s the sort of stuff you want belting out of your car stereo on a summers day with the roof down on the sort of roads only ever seen on Top Gear. There’s only two of them, so it’s guitar, vocals and the rest on a backing track but it’s bloody good. That said it does start to get a bit repetitive and with the backing track there’s no room to improvise. Worth a Spotify spin though. Anyway back to the star attraction, Thom, I mean Lottery Winners. God this lot are fucking brilliant. If EEVAH are good summer driving music, LW make you want to tear into a lay by, do a ton of doughnuts and rip outta there with your tyres smoking, holding on for dear life, what’s to say is, they put a bloody huge smile on your face. Even stuff off a new as yet unheard album sounds great, but it’s the fan faves that land like atom bombs one after another. “Does anyone know this one, 2 million streams, 35 quid in revenue.” Headlock is the perfect example of the indie pop rock stompers this band specialise in and the devoted audience lap it up. It’s not all good though. I’ve done a few of these gigs and I have to say that Manchester Academy is by far the worst at sorting the beers out. Place an order on an app, get it 50 minutes later, 50 minutes!! “Sorry about the wait”. Fucking disgraceful. Still it doesn’t spoil the gig and I’ve gotta say the sound is fantastic, even in a half full room, quarter full? I don’t know, it’s sold out but last time I was here you couldn’t move and this is very different, but the sound still fills the space brilliantly and the band are so tight the whole thing feels effortless. Remarkable really considering. If you need a band to soundtrack the reopening of live music, Lottery Winners are that band.