The Lightning Seeds at Liverpool’s Eventim Olympia

with support from

Badley Drawn Boy

and Casino

The Lightning Seeds are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie, formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based solo project for Broudie, the Lightning Seeds expanded into a touring band following Jollification, and the rest, as they say, is history!

“So what fight is on at the Olympia?” Our Uber driver asks on the way up. We tell him it’s not a fight, ‘The Lightning Seeds‘ are playing. “Who?” He asks.

Prominent 90s band ‘The Lightning Seeds‘ are playing a massive homecoming show at the Eventim Olympia with support from ‘Badly Drawn Boy‘ and local band ‘Casino‘. There’s no getting away from chants of “It’s Coming Home” since 1996. 26 years later it’s a song which is still very much going strong.

The last time this writer saw both Badly Drawn Boy and the Seeds was at the doomed shambles that was Hope & Glory festival back in 2017. Where the Lightning Seeds jumped ship from St John’s Gardens like many others and played in a packed-out Zanzibar instead.

Casino took the early slot just after 7pm as the space started to fill up. A group by the bar proudly pointing out “that’s my lad”. The band have had a busy few months supporting ‘Jamie Webster‘, national festival appearances and appearing on a stacked Liverpool International Music Festival lineup.  They have a big soulful sound that fills the venue. Definitely, one to keep an eye on.

(Badly Drawn Boy_Credit: Lucy McLachlan)

Badly Drawn Boy’s Damon Gough performs a beautifully quiet acoustic set which echoes throughout the hall and switches it up halfway through, “the electric guitar section where I betray my roots”.  Making quite a name in the early 2000’s especially for writing the soundtrack to the Hugh Grant film ‘About A Boy’, we thought the crowd would be more into the songs than they seemed.  “Something To Talk About”, “All Possibilities” and “Once Around The Block” are all pretty well known, but from where we were near the back of the floor the sing-along parts got a little lost. It was still a great performance with Gough pausing to say how much Liverpool means to him, a sentimental moment to say his brother had died not so long ago and wanted his ashes scattered at Anfield, Liverpool Football Clubs ground.  A short cover of Sister Sledge’s “Thinking Of You’ was added in at the end of a song.  His set appeared to be cut a little short, only changing to keyboard once at the end but a delightful heartwarming set it was.

A short wait between sets and the crowd is getting hyped up by the playlist playing through the venue. Now we’re singing along!

Lightning Seeds performed a career-spanning set of songs old and new in support of their latest release “See You In The Stars”. Ian Broudie and bass player Martyn Campbell line the front of the stage with Broudie’s son Riley on guitar, with drummer Jim Sharrock and Adele Emmas on keyboards at the back.

(The Lightning Seeds_Credit: Lucy McLachlan)

With well-known songs like “Lucky You” sprinkled around the whole set and not left until the end kept the audience on its toes. And a particular highlight for this writer was Byrds cover …”You Showed Me”. Further into the set and big hitters “Pure’ and “Life of Riley” signal the end of the show. It’s been an absolute joy of older pop songs we’ve grown up with and new tunes that sound just fresh and sunny.

But wait.

After the encore, and with the 2022 World Cup just one week away (plus the England women’s team winning the Euro 2022) we’re treated to a live version of the football anthem “Three Lions”. Minus David Baddiel and Frank Skinner and the Olympia turns into one big party. An absolutely massive end to a big night of music nostalgia, all the phone are out and bouncing around in the crowd.

A hugely fitting end for the gig and taking us right into the World Cup. Now let’s see if the men can keep up with the women…!

Review and photography by Lucy McLachlan

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