The Lottery Winners warm up for their Leigh Stadium show in London with some serious style.
As The Lottery winners prepare to enter their stadium era, – admittedly a small stadium, but isn’t it so them to put on a massive party in their hometown to celebrate everything they have achieved so far – this is one of their biggest headline shows to date. On the basis of tonight the Leigh show is going to be quite something, they have seriously levelled up their game.
The Tullamarines
The first support act tonight are The Tullamarines, a young band all the way from Australia. These support slots represented the first few dates they have played outside their home country. You can pretty much divide all Australian bands into two camps at the moment. There is the garage punk rock clan lead by Amyl And The Sniffers, and the sunshine-indie clan lead by Royel Otis. These guys are firmly in the second camp. ‘Running On Empty’ is one of a number of fun, decent tunes they have in the locker. ‘Idiot’ is perhaps the pick of the bunch, a mid noughties style banger worthy of Two Door Cinema Club. They are very earnest, and slightly overwhelmed to be playing to such a large venue. They don’t let it affect their playing though and acquit themselves well.
Tom A. Smith
We last saw Tom A. Smith, also supporting The Lottery Winners, at the Oxford Academy back in November. We nearly went to his Bullingdon gig last month but passed as he was going to be at this one, and also at Truck Festival. He is getting better all the time, even if he hasn’t quite cut through to the larger audience he deserves just yet. It is only a matter of time. The recent Put On A Record Tommy EP was superb, and is heavily leaned on for tonight’s set.
He is rapidly developing into a scintillating front man with a proper presence. The current vibe is very indie-disco with both ‘Our Song’ and ‘Put on A Record Tommy’ absolutely zinging. Seek him out in the tiny venues whilst you still can, The George Tavern in June looks like a quality booking. He caused quite a fuss at Brighton’s Great Escape, of which he was still wearing the wristband – an excited music lover not quite wanting to give up the festival end – like so many of us do post festival, hoping it will ward of the mundanity of normal life for a little while longer.
The Lottery Winners
Whilst this isn’t a million miles away from the show we saw last November, starting with ‘Worry’ and ending with ‘Turn Around’ and ‘Burning House.’ It is a levelled up live outing. They are testing out a whole range of new features ahead of the Leigh Stadium gig with its 12,000 capacity, five times what is present at the O2 Kentish Town Forum tonight, still one of their largest headline appearances even if they have supported in much larger venues. CO2 cannons, several drops of confetti and three backing singers (introduced by front man Thom Rylance as ‘The Favourite Flavours’) are all present. Thom keeps muttering about the costs involved and it is hard to tell how much he is joking and how much he is genuinely concerned about overstretching themselves. Whilst on the rise, they continue to struggle to cut through to a younger audience and the higher streaming numbers that would tip them up to the next level. The middle-aged following they possess are unusually dedicated though. A Lottery Winners gig is always a beautiful gathering of friendly inclusivity, no talking over the band to found here.
What we do get on the set list tonight are outings for ‘Dirt and Gold’ and ‘Ragdoll’ which they have mostly eschewed live, despite their popularity. Neither Thom or Rob have felt capable of attempting the Chad Kroeger part of ‘Ragdoll.’ It has been more surprising that ‘Dirt and Gold’ hasn’t been played as Frank Turner’s vocals are much more in line with what Thom and guitarist Rob Lally can do. All three Frank Turner tracks are in the setlist, it will be a huge amount amount of fun to have him doing his bits in person at Leigh. Sadly, he is in Australia tonight so is most definitely not present. The Reverend himself, Jon McClure, will also be present for ‘You Again.’ At Leigh, Chad Kroeger will be pre-recorded on two big screens, his vocal is piped in tonight. Thom checks in with Katie Lloyd after ‘Ragdoll’ as she had been very nervous about performing it. The strong bonds and friendship between the four of them are always a big part of the joy of a Lottery Winners gig.
‘Let Me Down’ is on the setlist. Does that mean a Boy George appearance on the 30th of May? You suspect there will be a few extra surprises given their long roll-call of collaborators. Here Rob takes the vocal. You often wonder why he isn’t more involved in the band’s singing duties as he has a fantastic voice. His outstanding cover of ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ from November is still stuck in our brains. ’21’ gets a slightly unsubtle reworking to reference being number one in the album chart which Thom encourages us to sing at him.
The sound has some real oomph to it tonight, particularly Joe Singleton’s drums which have never sounded better. It is very easy to underrate the band as musicians. When Thom unleashes his several well timed guitar solos, it really reminds just how much technical skill he and the rest of the band actually have.
‘Start Again’ brings the main set to a close in serious style. In that truly Thom Rylance way he edges towards insecurities when gentle mock boos greet the “This is the last song” shtick. This strongly contrasts to earlier, listening to him discuss the significant progress they have made towards writing their next album. Thom describes himself as being “very clever” about it and gently inflates his ego in a variety of ways. This mix of vulnerability and brashness remains one of the bands most endearing qualities. ‘Start Again’ is one of many tracks benefiting from the additional guitar provided by their tour tech Charlie Cole. Earlier, Thom cheekily introduced him as “Charlie from The Kooks,” referencing the hair style and clothing he was wearing tonight. The backing singers have also lifted many of the tracks, and will help to fill Leigh Stadium on the 30th. Quickly coming back out ‘Turn Around’ remains a massive cheese-fest, but an enjoyable one. ‘Burning House’ closes things out as usual, however one more strong album and you suspect its place in the pecking order might come under fire. Some tracks will have to give way the next time they start a major tour. The night finishes with huge hugs between the band as an enraptured audience showers them with love. The 30th of May in Leigh is going to be a very, very special day for all present.
Leave a Reply