 
 The
support for Therapy? on the night was Dutch Schultz,
a three piece indie band from Belfast who’s
music has obvious influences from the headliners.
They played a few songs and were actually quite
good though the crowd in general remained unimpressed.
Their music was easy on the ear and catchy and
they enjoyed their set even without the fan support.
On to the big guns. Therapy? have been together
for almost 20 years now and are renowned for putting
on a great live performance. The setlist for the
night was a mystery because they are such a diverse
band with 12 albums under their belt so they had
an endless supply of songs to choose from. They
hit the stage around 10pm and their first song
was ‘I told you I was ill’ from their
new album, Crooked Timber. I was expecting them
to open with ‘Die Laughing’, or ‘Nowhere’
from their most famous album, Troublegum to get
the crowd going from the start. I suppose it would
have been a good move if they were playing a short
set to get the fans rocking from the very start
but they ended up playing 22 songs so there  was
no need. It was a marathon, not a sprint so the
more well known songs were kept for later so the
crowd didn’t peak too early. Throughout
the set, the Crooked Timber album was played in
it’s entirety. The guys didn’t let
up for a second and played straight through 17
songs, finishing with the title track from Crooked
Timber, before leaving the stage briefly to catch
their breath before the encore. And what an encore
it was! They returned to the stage to blow the
crowd away with their astounding instrumental
track, Magic Mountain. On Crooked Timber, it lasts
for 10 minutes and while I don’t think it
lasted that long live the crowd were lapping it
up. It sounds great on the album but was totally
amazing live. It was progressive metal at it’s
very best. The band looked totally drained after
that but hit us with four more songs in quick
succession – Stories, Die Laughing, Screamager
and finishing up with everyone rocking out to
Nowhere. They left the stage to the sound of a
totally satisfied crowd who got exactly what they
came to see, one of N Ireland’s best live
bands putting on a show any band would be proud
of.
Dutch Schultz 3.5/5
Therapy? 4.5/5
Review By Craig Young |
