Live Review : Therapy? + Bokassa @ Academy 2, Manchester on December 8th 2023

Out on a Friday night? Near Christmas? Yep, but I’m not going any closer to central Manchester than Oxford Road. I’m not mad (and I don’t want to get sent to Whamhalla)! We arrive just after tonight’s support band Bokassa have walked on-stage. It is quiet, much quieter than expected, so I’m guessing everyone is still in the pub or making their way over for our headliners. I’ve heard of Bokassa but am not sure I have heard them. These Norwegian rockers are not what I expect as the first few songs they play are quite heavy and I’m not over enamoured with them, but then they switch to some of their newer songs from their 2021 album “Molotov Rocktail” and these are much more upbeat. Their website defines them as stonerpunk and now it all makes sense… They are happy to interact with the slowly growing crowd, getting everyone to shout “Skål” but then they say something about Manchester and “don’t stab us”, which seems in poor taste and lands badly with very few people finding it funny. We do get a song I recognise ‘Vultures’ and I quickly forget about them insulting us. Before they head off singer/guitarist Jørn Kaarstad reminds us that as Bumblefoot said recently “Musicians are travelling t-shirt salesmen”, and to make sure we pick up some up tonight (it’s good to see him at the merch stand on our way out).

By 9pm the place is busier, dominated by a not surprising middle aged male audience, but when I last saw and reviewed Therapy? in 2022 it was at the much larger 02 Ritz, so I’m surprised tonight we are in Academy 2, and truth be told it’s my least favourite of the four venues here. It always feels claustrophobic so I’m selfishly hoping it hasn’t sold out. In comparison back in 2022 their 30th anniversary tour had been postponed three times, so I guess they had plenty of time to sell tickets! I can’t be sure, but I think this is maybe my seventh time seeing them, but I have yet to see them at a festival (do they even do festivals anymore?)

Still going strong in 2023, Therapy? are a three-piece from Northern Ireland, formed in 1990. The line-up includes original members Andy Cairns (vocals and guitar) and Michael McKeegan (bass and backing vocals), plus drummer Neil Cooper who joined in 2003 (celebrating 20 years with the band tonight!) Before they make their way to the stage, it is left empty aside from the mics and white spotlights directed from the rafters to the floor, with a mix of purple and blue lighting alongside the musical accompaniment of Killing Joke’s ‘Love Like Blood’. It is a fitting and poignant tribute to the recently passed Geordie Walker. 

They launch straight into their set with ‘They Shoot The Terrible Master’ the opening track from their latest album “Hard Cold Fire”, which was released in May this year. Andy tells us with this album they got back into the charts for the first time in 22 years and is so grateful of everyone who made that happen. So with 16 albums under their belt, I anticipate the same standards of performance I have grown accustomed to with Therapy? but there is a noticeable difference since I last saw them in 2022… they are a lot more animated and while the last performance was brilliant, tonight they seem to have well and truly left the pandemic behind them and are just full of smiles, which are infectious and wonderful to see. Going back in time they also talk about their first ever gig in Manchester in 1991 (sadly I was too young to attend) at the then Swinging Sporran (now Retro Bar) and how much they love coming back to the city (take note Bokassa – Mancunians are the greatest people on earth, we’re not all stabby!) and appreciate everyone turning up on a Friday night, with a train strike, during a cost of living crisis and just before Christmas. 

They blast at a million miles an hour through a list of 18 tracks and if I had seen it in advance, I would have been worried I was not going to enjoy the night as I don’t recognise many of the song titles but turns out I know more than I thought. As always, they pay tribute to Joy Division with their cover of ‘Isolation’ and it strikes me that Andy must have sung this song more times than Ian Curtis now, a sad thought but his memory lives on. ‘Isolation’ soon turns to “Joy’ and a few songs later we get a political take on humanity, or more precisely the lack of humanity in Rishi Sunak’s government with the abhorrent action of throwing people’s tents away when they are freezing and a sentiment from Andy towards the government I can wholeheartedly get behind “fuck every one of them”. The lyrics are just as hard-hitting within ‘Two Wounded Animals’, another new song. 

If you have yet to hear some of the latest stuff the best way that I can describe it is to imagine, as I am sure is true for many bands, all the pent-up energy and anger that 2020-22 brought and what that would sound like once they got back into the studio and could vent their frustrations. A good place to start is with a song by bassist Michael ‘Poundland of Hope and Glory’. This catchy earworm is Therapy? doing what they do best, provocative lyrics, shrill drums, coupled with pounding or is that poundland(!) basslines and distinctive riffs. 

With little pause for breath and keeping everyone excited for more, they charge straight into a firm fan favourite ‘Stories’ before two more new songs. Then comes the highlight of the night for me ‘Diane’. It’s feels bad since this isn’t even a Therapy? song but a cover of Husker Du but I love it, despite its eerie lyrics. And they clearly love performing it. After the gut-wrenching guitar solo, Andy urges everyone to firstly clap and then sing-along, before this epic number reaches its crescendo. Then it’s what was once my least favourite Therapy? song ‘Teethgrinder’ from 1992’s album “Nurse”, but it is such a high octane, signature anthem of theirs that I now really enjoy it (I think it got overplayed back in the day certainly in my house anyway, now it reminds me of being a teenager and that is a great nostalgia trip). 

Just when I think that is it and they won’t do an encore they are back offering one more song but instead tell us it will be seven! Including ‘The Wait’ as another tribute to Geordie Walker, which Andy reliably informs us was the inspiration for the ‘Opal Mantra’ riff as he is a “thieving Irish cunt”. This then winds into the instantly recognisable ‘Die Laughing’ dedicated to Shane McGowan, Geordie and Terry Venables. And the tributes keep coming with a brief rendition of The Pogues’ ‘Sally MacLennane’ interspersed with ‘Iron Man’ riffs and the roaring chants of “Shane McGowan is fucking my sister” (a really unpleasant mental image), launching into ‘Potato Junkie’ from the second album “Pleasure Death”. This also includes a drum solo, which normally would make my eyes roll but since Neil is marking 20 years in the band tonight and he doesn’t labour the experience, along with great view, it provides a wonderful spectacle. 

All three of them have poured their souls into tonight’s performance but they can’t depart without giving the fans their two biggest hits, so we get a slow intro into the iconic ‘Screamager’ with the crowd lapping it up, then finally ‘Nowhere’. What always strikes me with Therapy? is these songs, despite their age, do not sound dated at all. I don’t know what they would sound like to someone discovering them for the first time, especially a young person, but to me they are timeless. Therapy? are on tour until Sunday 17 December but I have no doubt they will keep their word and be back to see us again soon. 

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Therapy?, Bokassa