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Fan Review

Our lucky competition winner won the opportunity to review the gig and interview the band. See below to see what they thought:

FAN REVIEW

I have always enjoyed the sharp wit at play in a great deal of The Divine Comedy’s music and was delighted to find Neil Hannon in a fun and affable mood upon meeting him before tonight’s gig. If Neil provided great company in conversation then even better was to follow during the performance. He arrives on stage tonight to warm applause and the aforementioned wit is at play on tonight’s first song and one of new album Bang Goes the Knighthood‘s standout tracks, The Complete Banker. The track satirizes greedy bankers and laments the fact that they’ll keep getting away with reckless behaviour.

New single, I Like, confirms that he has comfortably made the transition to playing solo without much lost from the version on record. The atmosphere in the tightly packed crowd is very much that of a home game with the attendees enjoying the singer’s banter and clever line in self-deprecation throughout. At one point he remarks that he should expect to be amongst the Manchester Hard Rock Cafe’s various ‘icons’ if The Village People can make it onto the wall.

The crowd are considerably more vocal during the next trio of favourites starting with Your Daddy’s Car, moving through The Pop Star’s Fear of the Pollen Count and finishing with a rousing version of The National Express. One of Neil’s most familiar songs is beautifully reworked and the audience show their appreciation by providing stirring accompaniment to the chorus. With the fans warming to their role as backing singers, they even admirably fill in for a break in Becoming More Like Alfie when Neil realises that he’s forgotten to put on the NHS style specs that he adorns for the track’s performances.

A definite highlight is Our Mutual Friend, the delicate delivery marred slightly by the noisy upstairs patrons. Neil deals with this in the best possible way by dedicating another sing-a-long high point, ‘Songs of Love’ to the over-zealous revellers. A storming version of Tonight We Fly completes a hit packed set and the only sound that can be heard as The Divine Comedy leave the stage is the fervent calls for an encore. The encore doesn’t come, but there is no doubt that there will be plenty more from Neil Hannon, a unique talent and enduringly popular artist.