Altsounds - Therapy? - London Relentless Garage, October 19th 2009 [LIVE]

I was interviewing Ricky Warwick backstage earlier on and I was just looking for someone to take a picture of the two of us, when this lovely guy came in: his name was Jam, from tonight’s opening band Nixa. When he realised he interrupted an interview was all apologetic, so I would like to take this opportunity to reassure him: Jam, you were in the right place at the right time! Even more because our meeting kind of raised my curiosity about this unsigned act I had never heard of before, and I was all but disappointed by their performance.

Nixa put up a tight rock’n’roll show with an amount of energy and talent that surely won’t let them remain in the unsigned limbo for long. They may have just an EP out (“Guerrilla,” soon to be in our review section), but it’s obvious they’ve been playing live for a while from the confidence they all show on stage. All of this is magnified by a passion you can only find in enthusiastic young newcomers like them. Their metal tinged tunes are uplifting, with plenty of melody and catchy incendiary riffs, and they easily grab the attention of those at the Garage tonight, delivering them all fired up to next act Ricky Warwick.

The ex Almighty takes the stage with his guitar, starting his set with ‘Church of Paranoia’ followed by ‘Weird and wonderful.’ His solo material keeps growing on me, his storytelling and down to Earth attitude are so heart warming, and his sense of humour makes you smile in between his romantic Irish tales. Ricky’s performances, just as his latest record “Belfast Confetti” have this soothing effect, it’s like that angst he expresses is filtered and transformed through the notes into a marvellous feeling of peace. Country folk covers of Motorhead's anthem ‘Ace of Spades’ and Iron Maiden's ‘Running Free’ (in a Johnny Cash key) accompany Warwick’s own ‘Free and Easy,’ ‘Can’t wait for tomorrow’ and Irish gems ‘Belfast Confetti’ and ‘In the arms of Belfast Town’ to take us to the end of another brilliant performance, cheered by an enthusiastic and participating audience.

And now it’s time for that angst and rage to explode in all its glory. It’s time for Therapy?.

It’s clear from the opening ‘Opel Mantra’ that Andy, Michael and Neil are going to rock the Relentless Garage tonight. Be it the new found stability, the harmony reigning between the three of them or the secret of eternal youth, you would never say what you’re watching tonight is a band that has been together for over twenty years. They move around frantically, interact with the crowd, and take one of the sweatiest audiences I can ever remember through ‘Turn,’ ‘Isolation,’ ‘I told you I was ill’ and ‘Blacken the Page’ to explode with ‘Teethgrinder.’ Tracks from new album “Crooked Timber” are encrusted like shining diamonds in this classic Therapy? set, unleashing all their power in the live version. It’s a generous set of eighteen pieces of quality rock, with special mention for ‘Exiles’, ‘Die Like a Muthafucker’ dedicated equally to Cameron and Brown, controversial ‘Diane’ and title track ‘Crooked Timber,’ which ends the party. Or does it?

Obviously there’s an encore, preceded by the announcement that this show is being recorded for their first live album. So, people at the Garage, please let it out for ‘Stories,’ ‘Die Laughing’ [in memory of Michael Jackson and Stephen Gately], and now as loud as you can for the unforgettable hit ‘Going nowhere’... Not over yet! ‘Potato Junkie’ (that one where James Joyce is fucking his sister) and ‘Screamager’ send the band (and hopefully part of the audience) under the shower.

Bless the young, the old and everything in between, this was a great night of rock’n’roll. Buy or download “Guerrilla” (Nixa), “Belfast Confetti” (Ricky Warwick) and “Crooked Timber” (Therapy?), but most of all remember Nixa are playing more dates in the UK (http://www.nixa.co.uk), while Therapy? and Ricky are still touring Europe (Therapy?—The Official Site (Therapyquestionmark.co.uk) and Ricky Warwick Official Website - Tough Folk For The Masses for dates). Get yourself a ticket, good deodorant and get ready to have the shit rocked out of you!