Review | Therapy? at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: 'Nihilism is rarely this much fun'
and live on Freeview channel 276
But until then, we have, as the name suggests, Therapy?’s oft-postponed So Much For The 30, 31, 32 Year Plan tour.
And my word, is it a big, beautiful cathartic release of a gig.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe Northern Irish trio come roaring out of the traps for a career-spanning set leaning heavily on their singles.
As such, tracks from their ’90s commercial peak feature prominently – no less than six tracks from the 1994 album Troublegum get an outing.
From their roots in chugging industrial rock to the punk/metal/alt-rock they soon settled into, Therapy? have never been shy of turning bleak subject matter into crowd-pleasing singalongs.
And Kakistocracy, a highpoint from most recent album Cleave, with its chorus of ‘It's okay not to be okay’ is more apt than ever – with frontman Andy Cairns devoting it to the events of the past couple of years.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdDie Laughing is prefaced with a tribute to and their memories of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins – the news of his tragic death at 50 having broken earlier in the day.
Their cover of Husker Du’s murder-ballad becomes even more turbo-charged than usual, before rolling into the brutal riffage of Teethgrinder.
The main set finishes with 1992’s Potato Junkie, which remains the best song ever with an obscene chorus about author James Joyce defiling the singer’s sister.
But it’s not all backwards-looking we get a debut outing for a new track, Woe, and it fits in nicely.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOf course they finish with their best-known hit – the indie disco staple, Screamager.
The chorus goes: ‘I’ve got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you,’ but as this sell-out crowd will happily attest, when hanging around with Therapy? nihilism is rarely this much fun.
A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron
Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.