Cast

Chrismas Show

With Support from 

Woo & Mexican dogs

O2 Academy 

Liverpool 

16/12/22

It’s a cold and chilly night in Liverpool as I make my way through the city towards tonight’s venue, the O2 Academy to see a show I’ve been waiting all year to see and if I’m honest I’ve been waiting for more than a decade to see them again live after last seeing them play at Liverpool’s ‘Alma de Cuba’ a lifetime ago.

Right now it’s around minus 2 outside and I’m really hoping the venue has the heating on as I’m not bloody made for this kinda cold, is anybody? Arriving a little before 7 pm I’m not surprised to see the queue being rather small, likely because of the weather and everyone waiting till they know the doors are open before arriving and who can blame the right?

Happily inside I make my way to the side stage to secure a place. I am now grateful that I did as I start to see the venue fill up, eventually so full that it takes a good 15 minutes to navigate through the crowd to the toilets, I’m not lying, this is the busiest I have ever seen this venue and its plain to see that Cast still captivate such a large crowd to come to their shows.

(Mexican Dogs_Credit: Billy Vitch)

Up first we have Liverpool”s ‘Mexican Dogs‘ which consists of the trio of Gaz Wilcox (ex-Bribes) on guitar and lead vocals, Carl Rooney on drums and Sonny Winder-Rodgers on base. The band formed in the summer of 2021 and their trajectory has been nothing but monumental, to say the least, supporting iconic bands such as ‘Deaf School’ and Liverpool’s own ‘Jamie Webster’ on sold-out shows. Mexican Dogs’ sound has been described as something between T-Rex and Led Zeplin but with a high-octane delivery of modern-day bands like The Black Keys or Royal Blood, and I most definitely agree. Their set is phenomenal and I feel like I’m seeing a headline act perform and who knows, in the new year we may see this… Some songs that really stand out as firm crowd favourites were “When It Gone”, “You And I” and “Run, Run, Run” with the crowd singing and dancing along to every single song! Keep an eye on these guys as I can only see them getting bigger and bigger.

Next up we have Liverpool 5 piece “Woo” who in my opinion are a propper old Skool indie band with similarities of a young ‘Stone Roses’ who own the stage in a manner that belies their age. A young group of lads with the musical skills of a well-established band who are an absolute joy to watch, reminding me of the Irish rock band ‘Fontaines D.C.’ with their style of delivery and sometimes poetic songs. Some stongs that really stood out to me were “Bastard Nation”, “Life Moves Slow”, “Going Out” and “Drive”.

(Woo_Credit: Billy Vitch)

And now for the band, we were all waiting for, the legendary and iconic scousers that are cast!

Cast, as you will know, are something akin to scouse rock royalty and they have definitely earned their place in music history with songs like “Walk Away”, “I’m So Lonely” and Guiding Star to name but a few.

Cast was formed in Liverpool in 1992 by John Power (vocals, guitar) and Peter Wilkinson (backing vocals, bass) after Power left The La’s and Wilkinson’s former band Shack had split. Following early line-ups with different guitarists and drummers, Liam “Skin” Tyson (guitar) and Keith O’Neill (drums) joined Cast in 1993.

Emerging from the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s, Cast signed to Polydor Records and their debut album All Change (1995) became the highest-selling debut album for the label. Further commercial success continued with the albums Mother Nature Calls (1997) and Magic Hour (1999). After a few changes over the years, the band now consists of John Power, Liam Tyson, Keith O’Neill and Zotons bass player Jay Lewis.

As the band enter the stage we get a warm welcome from frontman John Power and they get right into it starting with “Tell It Like It Is”. They are on form tonight and fly through serval other songs including “Promised Land”, Sand Storm” and Fine Time”. Johns energy is infectious and he runs around the stage grinning like a Cheshire cat to his bandmates and the Audience. They play so well together and it’s a real treat to see this group of musical masters perform effortlessly for us all. John Power is now 55 but he seems to have the same energy as he did at 21, he’s hardly aged one bit and it does make you wonder what keeps him so youthful. So John, let me know what your secret is, please! 

(Cast_Credit: Billy Vitch)

We are treated to a constant stream of iconic songs Like “Live the Dream” and “Magic Hour” and it is enchanting, to watch their interaction with the crowd tonight. We have a little magical moment when John does an acoustic solo of their hit song “I’m So Lonely” and I find myself with a little tear in my eye as I watch him play this as its a very poignant song to me, reminding me of a time, long time ago when my life was particularly hard and I was listening to their album ‘When Mother Nature Calls‘ a lot, with this song helping me through the brutality of that time, this song gave me a lot of hope. John takes a little break to introduce the band and has a chat with the crowd who are singing “FUCK THE TORIES” to which John responds with, “while it’s great to show solidarity and fight against this government, we are gonna have to do a lot more than just sing chants to get them out of office!”, he then tells us he’s been saying it his whole life and will continue to keep up the fight. The crowd here tonight is immense and as I previously said I’ve never seen this venue so full and the vibe is just pure love. The set continues with more belters like “Walk Away”, History”, “Guiding Star”, and “Free Me” with the set finishing with “Alright”.

It’s been a magical night, with so much love in the room and it’s definitely been the highlight of my year. The support acts were amazing as were the venue staff.

All in all, a proper Scouse Chrismas!

Review and photography by NSGs Billy Vitch

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