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Therapy?, The Village, Dublin, 5th June 2003.

Typical isn't it, Sepultura announce a show in the Temple Bar Music Centre and Therapy? get scheduled to play the exact same night in The Village. It's rare enough that we get really good gigs here in Dublin without booking two great bands to play on the same night. That's just stupid. Anyway, despite this, Therapy? managed to pull a big crowd into The Village. You'd have to wonder why they were booked into this venue though, since the last time they played Dublin it was in the much bigger Ambassador. Still though, you can't complain when you've got a band as good as this belting out high quality songs at you.

Before Therapy? rocked and rolled their way through The Village however, Thrashing Geisha attempted to win the crowd with their wares. Unfamiliar to most of the audience their grungey type rock was comfortable enough to warm the crowds' ears up. A mix of Weezer and Silverchair, with a healthy dose of Nirvana thrown in and splashed about, they may not have made a huge impact, but at least they didn't suck. A band that should be worth checking out some other time.

As chants of "Therapy?, Therapy?" filled the air it was easy to guess what time it was. Time to get down to the front of the stage and let Uncle Andy and the boys lead you through a night of joy. Blaring open with a sneer and a blast of feedback the sounds of album opener 'Hey Satan - you rock' kicked the show off in high gear. Like a car careening through the hills with the brake-wires cut, Therapy? played with reckless abandon. Every time I've seen them live it's as if it could be their last show and tonight was no exception as they wrenched the tunes from their instruments, Andy Cairns at the fore growling, snarling and laughing his way the set.

Hitting the audience with everything they could from their ten-year plus career, this was the ultimate lesson on how to play a rock show. Razor-sharp riffs and pounding beats resounded through the venue as the bouncing crowd chanted along to 'Die Laughing', 'Stand in line', 'Who knows', 'Ten-year plan' (introduced as a song about telling your boss to fuck off and keep his job), the highly infectious 'Church of noise' and of course 'Stories'. 'Potato Junkie' sparked off a huge sing-a-long with the whole audience chanting "James Joyce is fucking my sister" in unison. A spectacle to behold.

We didn't get 'Teethgrinder' or 'Meat Abstract', but they did play 'Trigger Inside', which was probably enough to make up for it, but they were no complaints from where I was standing. After a stunning encore that included a stripped down version of 'Diane', alongside 'Rust', 'Knives' and 'Screamager', the stage descended into chaos. Microphones and mike stands were thrown into the crowd, who made off with them, while Michael pulled his bass apart, leaving it humming away with feedback. A surprising finish, but one that will be remembered for a long time to come.

Ken McGrath.

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