Words and pictures by Adam Moffat.
Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms saw the final date of Ireland’s alternative rock pioneers Therapy? playing their Infernal Love album tour.
“Infernal Love” is the band’s third album following on from “Nurse” and the massive “Troublegum”. It received mixed reviews on its release in 1995 as it showed a change in direction from the bouncier, punkier “Troublegum” to a more groove laden sound.
There was a big turn-out of Therapy?’s loyal following and the Rescue Rooms was packed out.
The band walked on to a rapturous reception and opened with “Infernal Love”’s title track “Epilepsy”. The heavy opening riffs and “I’ve Got a Problem” creating an instant sea of bouncing bodies and singing voices. The intro rolled straight into one of the album’s finest features, “Stories”.
Andy Cairnes was his usual witty self, engaging the crowd between songs. From here the set blasted through for 35 minutes of dark twisting melancholy until the end of “Loose”, when Andy called an abrupt stop to proceedings as some unlucky punter in the pit was taken ill. Much puzzlement in the crowd as the band called for paramedics and the unfortunate fella was stretchered out.
45 minutes later the band came back to the stage and launched into their cover of Hüsker Dü’s “Diane”, leading the crowd in a massive sing song, it was as though the band had never left the stage. With “30 Seconds” closing the Infernal Love set we rolled straight into a best of the rest set.
New songs “Still Hurts”, “Tides” and “Deathstimate” were plugged into the set next to classics like “Nausea” and “Teethgrinder” from the album “Nurse”. What came next was “Potato Junkie” with the crowd screaming the “James Joyce is fucking my sister” refrain so loud it threatened to drown the band themselves out. When the crowd’s singing died down we were reminded of a legend lost late last year Mr Lemmy Kilminster with a pit filling “Ace of Spades”, which they segued perfectly back into the end of “Potato Junkie”, the audience an ecstatic mass of sweaty flailing limbs.
You couldn’t wipe the shit eating grin off of Michael McKeegan’s face with a Brillo pad as he played his winding bass lines. Therapy? had some extra help tonight as guitar tech Stevie Firth filled in on second guitar and keyboard duties giving the music an extra dimension.
The closing finale of “Troublegum” trio “Screamager”, “Knives” and “Nowhere” showed Neil Cooper’s amazing drumming; he was hitting his drums so hard that it threatened to break the skins with every beat. The crowd was sent off into the cold night with croaky throats and massive smiles.
All in, an excellent end to the Infernal Love tour and a fantastic performance despite the earlier incident. The band took it in their stride and showed why they are one of the best live bands in the world and I for one can’t wait for the next chapter in the dark twisted world that is THERAPY?
