Live Review: Terrorvision - Academy 2, Manchester
22nd September 2024
Support: The Bar Stool Preachers
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Scott Clarke
The first weekend of Autumn brought the rain to Manchester and a person could get mithered that the little Summer we got in 2024 is already over. But one cannot but be in a buoyant mood when the evening is to be spent in the company of Bradford’s finest Rock export, Terrorvision.
On top of that, some wag has only booked The Bar Stool Preachers as support so, for a few hours at least, all is well with the world.
Got to admit, when I saw BSP merchandise in the lobby of the Academy complex my first thought was that they were playing in the Academy 3; walking into the venue, seeing the band’s sizable backdrop at the rear of the stage, cracked my smile from ear to ear.
“Shall we have some fun?” asks frontman, Tom McFaull, as the Preachers take to the stage; he also asks whether anyone knows who they are, but that could be tongue in cheek as there are a fair few BSP shirts dotted around the already sizable crowd.
From the outset, the band are here to dispel the gloom of a soggy Sunday with a clutch of party anthems worthy of tonight’s headliners. I’m so used to seeing this band in a festival environment, surrounded by thousands of Punks, but tonight The Bar Stool Preachers prove, if they ever needed to, that they are at home with all other forms of music; just give them a stage and a party and they’ll bring the good time.
The usual Ska elements are kept to a minimum, except for the closing, self-titled ditty which finds BSP calling for a good old Cockney knees-up – in Manchester! Regional tribal differences aside, The Bar Stool Preachers made a room full of friends tonight with their positive approach and infectious enjoyment.
“Shit hot” was the phrase Terrorvision frontman, Tony Wright used on serval occasions throughout tonight’s show. Their first new album in thirteen years, We Are Not Robots, has barely hit the shelves and the Nineties veterans take to the Academy stage like a group half their age.
I can’t recall the venue being this packed for many a long year – which is an issue with the older crowd, as we generally take up more room, per person, than those shorter in the tooth. But, with an audience fully prepared by The Bar Stool Preachers, the bounce begins with the first notes of opener Discotheque Wreck, the band decked out as a cabaret act, all musicians boasting sunglasses for the night.
The first of the new tunes, The Night Lemmy Died, comes next and the upbeat nature of the song seems at odds with the title. Alice What’s the Matter finds Manchester in fine voice, Tony claims that My House is from the last century so, technically is a folk song; the scratchy guitar and Alternative elements of the Formaldehyde album would cast doubt on that assertion. As does the inclusion of New Policy One and Still the Rhythm; in his introduction to American TV, Tony ponders what it would be like for a little band from Bradford to get back into the charts after all this time: “Forget T Swift, what about T Vision!”
When those early Nineties numbers are put against second newbie of the night, Electrocuted, with its punk speed and Meat Loaf sounding mid-section, it’s apparent that Terrorvision are still one of the country’s most creative artists. Fellow new tune, Daydream, shows the band still have a rich seam to mine, and Tony reveals he still gets a kick out of the reaction to his songs from crowds. Baby Blue carried with it a Beatles feel, though the album version stays closer to an Alt sound, more of a gentle refrain, though that might be due to it coming immediately after both Josephine and the foot-to-the-floor stomper that is D’Ya Wanno Go Faster?
Backing singer and band saxophonist, Liz Mitchell, breaks ranks and ventures to the front of the stage during You Gotta Want to be Happy, while the opening bars of Some People Say prompt the person stood next to me to remark to his mate that this was his favourite Terrorvision song. It’s a banger, of that there’s no doubt.
Middleman and Perseverance both prove Manchester is still in good voice – last time I saw the band I came home with a small inflatable dolphin – no such aquatic mammals are being distributed tonight. The under-exposed Regular Urban Survivors album gets the back-to-back If I Was You and Celebrity Hit List, before Pretend Best Friend puts the full stop at the end of the set.
Only Oblivion could finish the night, as swaying arms and doo-wops, fill the Academy it’s clear that the music scene needs Terrorvision more now than ever before. For a couple of hours, both TV and BSP went about their positive business, lifting spirits and demonstrating the world is far from being all doom and gloom.
In fact, the NHS would do well to prescribe one Terrorvision and Bar Stool Preacher gig for all but the most chronic cases of depression; a lot more fun and a lot more effective than Sertraline.
Photo credits: Scott Clarke Photography
