Viagra Boys are a band I have wanted to see for a long time, with my dad introducing them to me a few years back after he went to one of their gigs, to then watching their set at Glastonbury on Iplayer. After hearing ‘Troglodyte’ I knew I had to see them. So when I saw that the Viagra Boys were playing in Manchester I knew I had to go. When we walked in we were greeted to an absolutely packed out venue.
We got in just about in time to get in the huge queue for a beer. Then as we walked into the main venue the lights went down on the stage and then we were hit by strobe lights whilst a tune started and the band walked out to be greeted by a huge cheer from the crowd. when they came on and even for the first time everyone was singing along. ‘Man of Meat’ started and the whole crowd started to sing along whilst pints were being thrown and there were loads of hands in the air- this tune really got the crowd warmed up.
The next song got a warm welcome from the crowd with the iconic vocals from Sebastian Murphy paired with flashing bright house lights. The saxophonist had a solo which paired so well with the heavy backing from the song. ‘How you all doing tonight Manchester, it’s great to be here’ Murphy mentioned how in their last gig in Manchester their sound desk got covered in beer and nothing could be heard from then on so then Murphy had to do a dance to make up for the lack
of sound.
The next tune was great fun, it was a bit more chill and gave people a chance to chill after the intense start from their set. The next tune had a great guitar solo that built the song up so well to be met by the heavy chorus, ‘Punk Rock Loser’ played whilst everyone in the crowd was dancing along. ‘Dirty Boyz’ played next with Murphy’s iconic deep and eclectic vocals really made the song just so quintessentiallyViagra Boys. The next song started with a distinct guitar
riff with the vocals joining in to a pretty chill and relaxed song, the drums kicked in picking up the intensity with a rather heavy chorus following.
‘Troglodyte’ played, which is a favourite of mine and the crowd absolutely loved it! People were moving all over the place , there was not a still person in the whole place, the people in front of me were throwing shapes that I had never seen before. ‘Aint Nice’ played next which followed perfectly from ‘Troglodyte’ and had the whole crowd continuing dancing, people were bopping up and down and bouncing right into each other. The next tune had a spoken word piece to start, with Murphy speaking over the track and slowly progressing into a pretty fun and heavy song.
The next tune has a much more relaxed vibe with a warm reaction from the crowd. Then Murphy introduced all the band members one by one and then they played ‘Sports’ which was clearly loved by the audience garnering an impressive reaction and got the whole crowd moving in unison. Some eerie music then played whilst Murphy spoke over it and the lights strobed over the crowd which gave a dystopian feel to the night.
The next song had the most insane line up of red, blue and green lights – almost giving the illusion of wearing 3D glasses. This song had such an insane guitar solo that felt outer-worldly to then stop and just had the audience clapping along whilst Murphy sang with a lot of reverb on giving a pretty spooky feel. After they left the stage and came straight back on after some chants from the crowd.
The next time just got the crowd even more excited with mosh pits opening everywhere and people jumping around. There was such a sense of fun and excitement in the air going into their last tune ‘worms’ with cheers erupting from the crowd. This gig was great fun and I really enjoyed myself. Viagra Boys outdid themselves considering how their last show in Manchester went. This gig was full of energy and excitement, it had people jumping around to the point where they had no tops on and were drenched in sweat. Viagra Boys put on a great show to a great crowd and really outdid themselves.
WORDS BY CATH EVERITT
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