The Thrills - Bottled Bohemia
The last time The Thrills played Manchester on their last tour, they had sold 340 tickets at Night and Day, a new tour, a new opportunity. This time The Thrills appeared in Manchester at The Apollo - a far larger venue - and sold every ticket. The Apollo also happens to be the biggest venue on their current tour to promote their second album, Let’s Bottle Bohemia.
It is the first time that I have seen a band get a standing ovation before they have played an instrument. But there is a mutual love affair going on between the Manchester crowd and The Thrills, I am just a voyeur.
Trying to promote their second album is always going to be difficult, especially after their debut was so spectacular. But they have succeeded with the second album, and have been building friends and admirers at the same time. Even Bono has offered to carry their bags next time they tour the USA.
When they came on stage I had that horrible feeling that we would be getting a short show of only forty-five minutes or so, but they proved me wrong and were on stage for over an hour and then came on and did two encores and a spot of crowd surfing. Even pulling a girl out of the crowd to play the bass while bassist and guitar player, Padraic McMahon and Daniel Ryan, surfed the crowd rapidly, while lead singer, the massive Conor Deasy, entertained on stage.
Throughout the show, The Thrills moved seamlessly through both albums, so you would get ‘The Irish Keep Gate-crashing’ played very snugly before ‘Big Sur’. The crowd would burst into song during some of the songs such as during ‘Whatever Happened To Corey Haim?, Saturday Night and Faded Beauty Queen’. While screaming and dancing during others such as ‘The Curse Of Comfort’, ‘Old Friends, New Lovers’.
But the loudest cheer and loudest sing along as they say was saved till last, Santa Cruz, the last song of the encore. Band and fans in unison, the love in was over but certainly not forgotten.
There is a very rosy future ahead of The Thrills, I hope that they can keep up their exciting live shows, with the excellent music they write.