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On Thursday, my cousin Jenny and I went to see Stephen Lynch at Manchester Academy 2. We had tea out and then as we walked to the venue had several near death experiences.
Cyclists rang their bells and flashed the lights as they came towards us at a frighteningly fast pace. We jumped out of the way. Then we saw this on the floor: |
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Yes, we were walking on the cycle lane. We hadn’t noticed as a few of the street lights were out.
We safely arrived at the venue, queued, bought drinks and then took our seats in the auditorium. The gig started with a burlesque dancer as the warm up act. Much to the delight of the audience who showed their appreciation through wolf whistles, whooping and thunderous applause: |
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Next a woman came onto the stage and sang about a box of wine. Then three men came onto the stage and I thought it was another support act. But dressed in thick-framed glasses and a union jack jumper was the man himself, Steven (Photo Below: Left).
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The audience went wild with applause when they realised it was him and I think I even heard a few over-excited women scream. He had some humorous banter with the audience and fellow performers, before he got on with the show.
Stephen stripped off his jumper, undid the buttons on his black shirt to the sound of the audience whooping, whistling and applauding. He revealed red nipple tassels. I only managed to get a decent photo of him buttoning his shirt back up (Photo Above: Right). Stephen can unbutton his shirt anytime, as he’s #sexy.
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One of his first songs was Queer Tattoo. Afterwards he said that he meant the old meaning of the word queer and said to his audience: “Don’t use it bad.” Which earned him a massive whoop from me.
A few songs into the show, a member of the audience was being far too rowdy and was constantly heckling Stephen. They were being blatantly disrespectful. They were annoying Stephen as well as the rest of the audience. |
Stephen responded brilliantly threatening to kick them out and added: “You’re ruining it for everyone. You’ve all paid £20 to enjoy the show.” The audience was with him and showed their support with an applause. Thankfully whoever it was shut the hell up after that.
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Stephen talked about his new album Lion. He explained that there’s lots of duets on it as he loves the sound of the mixed male and female vocals. He played some tracks off this album along with some classics including:
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| Stephen made the audience laugh frequently. In-between laughing, I smiled throughout the show. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled throughout an entire show before. He has a truly wicked sense of humour.
It was great to hear the audience sing along in the second half, not just the classics – but some of his new songs as well. Stephen departed the stage at the the end of the show and the audience repeatedly banged their feet, signalling their desire for an encore. The booming feet felt like an earth quake and the volume was deafening. Stephen came back for his encore and played a few of his classics such as Ugly Baby. |
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The show was quite tame compared with what I had expected. There was little mention of drugs and sex. I think it was a deliberate choice.
Perhaps he was worried about the uptight british audience (we were anything but!)? Or perhaps it was about him maturing now that he has a wife and child? Who knows? But it didn’t matter as it was still a show filled to the rim with awesomeness. If you’re a fan of Stephen Lynch or his songs, you must go and see him. He is superb live: funny, entertaining and has a fantastic voice. |
Thank you Stephen and come back soon.
Blog soon,
Antony
