Live Review : Terrorvision + Attic Theory @ the Grand Central Hall, Liverpool on February 27th 2020

Last time I went to watch Attic Theory I managed to miss most of them due to parking issues. This time I was there for the whole set but I might as well not have been. it was somewhat spoiled by some serious sound issues. They came on dancing, but despite there being 3 guitars on stage I couldn’t really hear them distinctly, it was just a wall of noise. I moved about the room a bit and it did improve, but not enough I felt for me to be able to get the full Attic Theory experience. They’ve recently been voted “Best New Band” in the 2020 Planet Rock awards, and I managed to get glimpses of why here and there. The sound is modern, upbeat alt. rock, kind of like a more cheerful Pearl Jam. They chuck in some singing through megaphones, the bass player is funky and I liked the drummer very much. They manage to squeeze in a couple of power ballads, and when they move into the big-riff-catchy-chorus territory I really enjoy them. There are nods to Faith No More and similar 90s bands about them, and they finish with the same song I saw them play last time which has a whoa-oh chorus and is really good. If only the sound had been less muffled! They seem like a band with a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to catching them again at some point.

Terrorvision of course need no introduction from me but I’m going to do a bit of one anyway. They are apparently the best thing to come out of Bradford since the M606, and their heyday was around the release of their second album “How To Make Friends And Influence People” in 1994. This means that I am sadly lacking in any in-depth knowledge of them as in 1994 I was single-handedly (according to the government) trying to bring the country to its knees. Being a busy working single mother at the time meant a lot of the 90s passed me by musically, and that included Terrorvision. I mean I knew who they were, I heard some of the songs on the radio, I even saw them live (at Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield as one of the supports for Def Leppard) but I can’t say I was a fan. I wasn’t really a fan of anything back then, except maybe sleep. So despite having seen a couple of brief festival appearances in recent years tonight is actually the first time I’ve actually been to a full Terrorvision gig. Will I like it? Who knows!

They start with a song that I recognise, ‘Alice (What’s The Matter)’ which features on the aforementioned second album and immediately the place erupts. The band are bouncing, the crowd are bouncing, even cynical me is rocking on my toes a little. The sound has improved since Attic Theory, and I find myself warming to the band much more than I expected to. The sheer happiness that they exude bathes me in a lovely warm feeling and make me feel like part of something special. I’m not just a punter in the crowd, for well over an hour and a half I AM Terrorvision! Not being a fan I don’t catch most of the song titles (I think there’s a setlist in the gallery though) but I like the way they leap seamlessly from genre to genre, stomping their own seal on it all as they go. They can do hard and fast as well as slow and groovy but mostly this band are about movement. They move all the time. They jump, they bounce, they even caper a bit. They make me feel like moving too.

Down at the front it looks manic, there are crowdsurfers galore and some pretty intense partying is happening. Terrorvision are all about the party, and tonight the party is definitely here. They sing a song about a house, then a song about tequila, then another song about a house. The same house? A different house? Who knows, maybe they just like houses. The songs are short, punchy, vibrant, fun. They end the main set on one of their bigger hits ‘Oblivion’ and the crowd are wild for more. The encore starts with a Christmas song, because why not? We go along with it and sing our hearts out, full of Christmas spirit despite it being February. They are joined on stage by a trumpet player for a funked-up version of ‘Pretend Best Friend’ which is ace, and then there is one final song that I don’t know but the rest of the crowd obviously love and it’s all over. They exit to the strains of ‘Simply The Best’ and tonight I can’t really argue with that.