Therapy? The Ritz. 10th April 2022

Post lockdown, gigs are well and truly back, new tours announced every week. What glorious times for fans of live music. Let’s not forgot those tours that got cancelled or rescheduled over and over and over again though. Like Therapy’s ‘So Much for the 30 Year Plan’ tour, now comically renamed 32 years, with 30 and 31 crossed out on the tour poster. These lads aren’t ones to give in and thank fuck for that. To miss out on this set would be an absolute travesty. There’s a little bit from the now pretty expansive Therapy? catalogue, but to my delight they go heavy on the early years. Tearing out the gates with the ferociously doom laden ‘Nausea’. Those drums sounding like someone belting the living daylights out of a load of metal bins down a back alley. They are here to make a noise. Not just that though, this is a celebration. A party. Everyone’s invited to join in and sing along “Happy people have no stories” and “Its okay not to be okay” from the latest album Cleave, which if you’ve not heard you really are missing out. Cairns is on fine form, whipping the packed out Ritz into a pit of pulsating positivity. He’s full of stories, dedicating ‘Die Laughing’ to Taylor Hawkins, thanking the NHS and genuinely thanking everyone for sticking with the band all these years. Oh and my personal favourite, a special word for our chancellor “Fuck Rishi Sunak”. ‘Prison Breaker’ sounds immense. Mike taking the lead vocal, these early songs proving that they were always about more than just the riffs. Fear not though, there’s plenty of those too. In fact for 90 minutes they barely let up. Predictably it’s songs off Troublegum that get the pit riled up. When they unleash ‘Trigger Inside’ the place detonates. Caines sounds fantastic screaming “I’ve got a feeling I’ve been cheated”, we’ve certainly not been. We’re being spoilt rotten. It is quite amusing watching sweaty middle age men, clinging onto their glasses, bouncing around in utter glee as another belter erupts from the stage. The set closes with the always brutal ‘Teethgrinder’. “MANCHESTER are you READY‽” Yes we fuckin are! As limbs flail and we all lose our minds. We not done though. Therapy? come from an era where encores are a thing. Again thank fuck as they rip into ‘Knives’ full of snarly punk menace, “I wanna crawl up inside you and die”. Want more? “I’m bitter, I’m twisted, James Joyce is fucking my sister” bellows Caines as ‘Potato Junkie’ is unleashed and drummer Neil Cooper gets to celebrate his birthday with a solo as we’re encouraged to chant “Neil drum like a motherfucker”. I’m not a fan of drum solos, but he’s good and it’s his birthday so I’ll allow the indulgence. They’ve a few covers they could do justice, but they opt for probably their best with ‘Isolation’, I’m guessing because of where we are. Caines isn’t Curtis but his vocal on the verses always feels to resonate. One cover not enough? Alright here’s something at the other end of the spectrum with ‘Breaking The Law’ and the strobes set to fit inducing. They can do almost anything. They’ve headed out on this tour with one goal. To bring venues to their knees. It’s Sunday night, but the entire crowd rings out “going nowhere” as some of the older fans start to wobble. I’ve seen Therapy? many times, but as they bring things to a feverish finale with ‘Screamager’ I’m certain this may well be the best. What better way to spend a Sunday evening. Well worth the wait.