When Nothing But Thieves cancelled Friday night’s gig in Bournemouth due to Conor Mason contracting a “nasty illness,” fans may have feared their Manchester show was in doubt.
But frontman Mason recovered in time for the British rock sensations to take to the stage last night – and deliver an exhilarating performance.
The Southend-based band – fresh from the success of their first UK no.1 album ‘Dead Club City’ – thrilled the sold-out crowd at the iconic O2 Apollo.
The night got underway as the first support act King Nun set the tone with a high-octane energetic set which had the Manchester crowd bouncing.
After a brief interlude, Kid Kapichi entered the stage with an explosion of bass-heavy rock to begin the second support act of the evening.
Their unapologetically English lyrics, combined with their cool shade-wearing attitude – reminiscent of Manchester’s own Oasis – was the perfect set-up for the main event, Nothing But Thieves.
However, before that fans were treated to a unique experience as ‘Dead Club Radio’ echoed through the speakers of the O2 Apollo.
Fake news reports and interviews, broken up by iconic rock and 80s hits such as Electric Light Orchestra’s ‘Mr. Blue Sky’, helped create the atmosphere described in the band’s most recent album, ‘Dead Club City’.
A particular highlight was an interview requesting Nothing But Thieves’ ‘Neon Brother’ be played on the radio station, a popular song long requested to be re-added to the band’s setlist.
Instead, the station decided to prank the excited audience with Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ which was met with laughter and applause.
Shortly after, Nothing But Thieves entered the stage to thunderous applause and immediately got the crowd animated with the tour title track ‘Welcome to the DCC’ followed by fan favourite ‘Is Everybody Going Crazy?’.
Frontman and lead singer Mason then confessed his love for Manchester saying: “The air is fresher and the people are nicer up North.”
Mason also addressed his recent illness, saying: “I’m sure we gave you all a scare cancelling Bournemouth. I feel better now but my voice is only 60-70% back.”
Despite this, Mason proved he still has one of the most impressive voices in modern rock as he nailed vocally intense tracks such as ‘City Haunts’.
However, it would be wrong to say that the 30-year-old’s vocal trouble wasn’t noticeable at times.
During some songs such as ‘Sorry’ and ‘Phobia’, Mason was notably more muted than in previous performances, sometimes relying on the audience to sing on his behalf.
Although, this did not take away from the concert itself as it offered a totally different experience to other Nothing But Thieves concerts.
Towards the end of the gig, the audience was treated to a special stripped-back ‘Sing a Long’ set to let Mason’s voice rest, the highlight of which was a beautiful acoustic rendition of ‘Tomorrow is Closed’ which left members of the audience in tears.
Of course, no rock gig would be complete without a moshpit and the crowd were granted that when Mason announced “Who’s ready for a moshpit?” before the band performed the set closing heavy rock track ‘Pop the Balloon.’
But the Manchester crowd were not satisfied, prompting a two-part encore of ‘Amsterdam’ – the band’s most popular song – followed by ‘Overcome’ – the final single and most streamed song of their most recent album.
Overall, despite frontman Conor Mason sometimes struggling vocally due to his recent illness, Nothing But Thieves put on an unforgettable show leaving fans eagerly awaiting the remainder of their tour which runs until June 2024.
Image credits: Wilf Gill
