Club Volta, Cologne, Germany8th March 2025
The Lottery Winners - “Tour Of Europe” - Support: The Deadnotes
THE LOTTERY WINNERS had already performed in Cologne in autumn 2024 as support for the mighty LEVELLERS (we covered it back then, of course) and the English band blew us away so much that we couldn't resist the opportunity to see them again as headliners on a short tour through Europe and took advantage of the opportunity at the sold-out Club Volta. In Cologne again.
The Deadnotes
However, THE DEADNOTES kicked things off right on time at just after 8 pm. Behind that name are the two childhood friends Darius Lohmüller and Jakob Wahlheim, who released their third album ‘Rock'n'Roll Saviour’ as a duo a few weeks ago and were able to take advantage of the opportunity to support THE LOTTERY WINNERS in Cologne at very short notice. In the half hour that THE DEADNOTES ( with the addition of a drummer) performed, they presented several songs from their new album, impressing with cleverly arranged songs that I would categorise as pretty melodic, poppy Indie Rock.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Light: 7
Sound: 9
Total: 7.5 / 10
The Lottery Winners
At 9pm, THE LOTTERY WINNERS finally took to the stage and started their Indie Pop set with ‘Worry’ without much of an introduction. In no time at all, the entire audience was at the quartet's feet. This was mainly due to frontman Thom Rylance. The singer chatted to the audience at every opportunity, joked, interacted and captivated the crowd. Only Katie Lloyd on bass also managed to catch some attention - her open smile while she shone on the bass guitar was too likeable. Guitarist Robert Lally and the always stoic drummer Joe Singleton, on the other hand, remained comparatively inconspicuous, but did their jobs extremely well.
With ‘Superpower’, ‘You Again’, ‘UFO’ and ‘Turn Around’, the setlist contained four tracks from the new album ‘KOKO’, which will not be released until the end of March 2025. But that didn't dampen the mood. No, on the contrary. A good proportion of the audience were of course already familiar with the pre-released singles and were able to sing along to ‘UFO’ or sing AND dance the chorus to ‘Turn Around’ later in the set. During ‘You're Not Alone’, it was the audience that made sure that singer Thom Rylance in particular got a little emotional. In the run-up to the performance, small, colourful plastic plates were distributed, which every fan was asked to place between their mobile phone and the protective cover in front of their torch. As soon as the song started, all the equipped fans switched on the torch on their mobile phones and waved them in the air. From then on, the band looked at a colourful sea of lights and was visibly moved.
The singer then recalled a German song that the band heard for the first time when they supported NICKELBACK in Germany and had to google what the German NICKELBACK fans were saying after the gig. In fact, some fans in Club Volta immediately knew which song Thom Rylance was referring to and sang “Oh, wie ist das schön”, which the whole audience eventually joined in with and celebrated the band extensively. Another emotional moment. As I said, Thom Rylance had the fans completely under control. In the middle of the set, he handed his digital camera to the fans in the front row and asked them to take photos of the audience and perhaps also of the audience for the next two songs. He also asked them not to look at the photos he had taken in the hotel beforehand. A few of the photos made it into a slide show the following day, which the band published on Instagram.
A little later, the singer asked six volunteers to come on stage. Together with them, he explained the dance moves that the audience should perform during ‘Turn Around’, before things got serious for the six fans on stage and the fans in front of the stage during the song. After the song, he asked a young woman from the sextet to stay on stage. He handed her a small video camera and asked her to film the last song ‘Burning House’ from the stage. Which the young woman gladly and confidently did. After around 90 minutes, the gig came to an end after ‘Burning House’. 90 minutes during which the atmosphere couldn't have been better. 90 minutes in which the LOTTERY WINNERS once again showed that they are an almost frighteningly good live band that knows how to put a smile on the fans' faces. Especially in the troubled and uncertain times we all live in, it's just so good to take a break from all the madness for 90 minutes sing and laugh to some great Indie Pop.
Setlist
01. Worry
02. The Meaning Of Life
03. Sertraline
04. Superpower
05. You Again
06. You’re Not Alone
07. UFO
08. Favourite Flavour
09. Letter To Myself
10. Much Better
11. Start Again
12. Turn Around
13. Burning House
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 7
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
All pictures by André Wilms
