Therapy? / King Prawn

The Rig was a strange place to see this gig, but more on that later. First up was the Prawn. Not quite frying tonight, more of a simmer. With the exception of singles, Not Your Punk and Poison in the Air, the majority, if not all of the set was taken from the forthcoming Fried in London album. So as a result, their impact was slightly limited. Though having said that, I think the First Offence album is so hard to get hold of, that if they'd played it in it's entirety it wouldn't have made any difference.

Babar is a star. If you don't know it now, well, you will do. Not only can he play the bass, but he's a pretty good frontman as well when Al takes over on bass for one new track. Mind you, he's a pretty good frontman when he's just playing bass as well. The new stuff sounds pretty good. Lots of ska influence sounding stuff in there, mixed up with some speedy punk blasts, and Al's inimatable vocals. It seemed to leave quite a few people bemused, which is too be expected. You get the feeling they're a band that will generate a love hate following. Didn't quite convert the unconverted, but a stepping stone to victory.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, than' you ver' much. It's the return of Therapy? Playing a dingy little place which leaves you in two minds. The sort of place that if any band played, you'd kill to be able to say (honestly) that you were there. It's that small. Problem is, the ceiling is low, as is the stage, and so no matter where you are, you still can't see a bloody thing. But there again, neither can the band.

But anyway, it's Therapy? Back, and it's so good to have them back. One band that always seem to guarranttee putting a smile back on my face. They opened up with Nausea off the Nurse album, straight into Knives, Disgracelands, Die Laughing (dedicated to the late Father Ted), Stories, Isolation. You just can't and don't argue with a set list like that. And filled out inbetween by actually talking with the crowd. Interaction. Remember that thing. No turning your backs on the people. They seemed genuinely grateful that people had turned out after three years. They really shouldn't have been surprised.

People that made it onstage, were then lead off via the back, often tapping Michael on the shoulder as they went past, much to the bassists amusement. I think anyway. I managed to see via the grid mesh that was in front partially blocking the view.

The new songs, Tightrope Walker, Church of Noise, Only Crying Lonely and one other, Born too Soon blended in well, although not getting quite the same reaction as the older stuff. Diane was as haunting as ever, despite the new arrangement from the band, and then you get an encore of Screamager, Skyward (yes, yes!, yes!!!) and a cover that I don't know the name of. It was over in just over an hour. Anymore would've been nice, but unnecessary. The band announced their return, and that's what this tour was really all about. When they're around, sometimes the world doesn't seem such a fucked up place.

Afterwards, I managed to do another really bad interview, this time with Michael and a few words with Graham. Expect it to appear in issue 5 of YAZ, which I'm going out on a limb to predict as being available in the first week(ish) of May. Cheers to Andy A for asking for me. Agian!