Lottery Winners in Leigh
Had been looking forward to the Lottery Winners homecoming stadium gig for ages. And it was last weekend at the Leigh Sports Village stadium—home of the Leigh Leopards rugby league team and Man Utd Women’s team.
Leigh is not on a train route, so I took the train to Newton-le-Willows and caught a bus from there which terminated at the bus station in Leigh. First time I’ve been to Newton by public transport and not made it into the Firkin for a pint or two of ale—‘cos it didn’t open until 2pm and I was leaving before then.
The bus to Leigh was fine. It didn’t take long to get there. It was another warm sunny day (earlier in the week the forecast had been light rain all day, so that was a result). Thought I’d get a few ales in places I hadn’t been to before. Unfortunately it proved a hopeless cause in terms of real ale. The first place I went was Bond Street Brewing Company, which sounded promising (and had a 4.7/5 rating on Google). There was no ale on and not even any vacant hand pulls. I ended up with a John Smiths keg thing. To be fair it was only £3.10 for a pint so I couldn’t complain too much. Let’s say the visit was interesting.
John Smiths keg in the Broad Street Brewing Company
Next up was the Waterside, a large canal side pub. This time they had three hand pulls on the bar. But nope, they were all vacant. Perhaps the Billy Ocean fans had drunk them dry the day before (he played the stadium the night before). It was very warm drinking in the sunshine (this time keg Boddingtons). The pub got overly busy in the sun and they kept putting a rope up by the door to prevent (or at least discourage) new customers coming in.
Boddingtons keg in The Waterside
Just across and down the bridge it was on into the Leopards Den. The Leopards being the rugby team and not a local feline. Perhaps the Leigh Leopard is akin to the Hartlepool Monkey—maybe I’ll look into it. This time I was left on Thatchers cider—and in floppy plastic glasses to boot. All in all a very different drinking experience for me than usual. It’s how the other half lives, I guess.
Thatchers cider in the Leopards Den (in plastic glasses)
Then I made my way towards the ground, I hoped to get a pint in at the big pub by the stadium. I’d decided not to get in to the Lilacs, as I was not sure four or five hours in the stadium would be good for me legs. Ended up with a very expensive pint of Beavertown, Neck Oil. The area outside was heaving with people heading towards the gig.
I got to the stadium about 7pm. Unfortunately the long queues for merchandise were off-putting for me. A real shame as I fancied getting another LW t-shirt. They do have some nice ones, and it’s good to further support the group. Maybe I’ll get one online in the coming weeks. I picked up a can of Guinness instead.
Scouting for Girls had gone and now it was time for the main band. Everybody clap!
Thom gets 'Leigh' tattoo whilst on stage
I struggled a bit to get up to my seat. It was booked as an Accessible ticket, but being accessible apparently didn’t mean having anything to hold on to traversing the stairs. It was no different to any other part of the stadium, as far as I could see.
Ended up sat next to a couple who had come up from Cardiff for the gig. Whenever LW play they do pull in fans from all over. After a while with the DJ playing some decent northern tunes it was time for Scouting for Girls to come on. I’m not a particular fan of theirs, but I have listened to the new album a couple times and I prefer it to their older stuff—they’ve been going for X years now. Time flies etc. The atmosphere was upbeat and increasing in volume and exuberance all the time ably helped by the DJ’s tuneage.
This is beginning to read too much like a gig review, but it isn’t for the music press so let’s just cut the chase. The Lottery Winners came on to adoring fans who loved every fucking minute of it. The band playing their hometown fucking loved it to. I’m sure there were tears of joy shed around all corners of the stadium. Thom, Kate, Rob and Joe loved it—possibly as much as I did. So many good songs, a vibe delivering wide smiles bigger than the town of Leigh itself. Frank Turner came on to do his stuff with them (‘Start Again’ was on another level), and the Reverend himself delivered You Again with Kate with aplomb.
Chad Kroeger, the Nickleback singer, wasn’t in attendance and his part had been sent as a full screen video for Kate to duet Ragdoll with—and it worked well. Another guest who came on stage didn’t sing at all: it was a tattoo artist who inked ‘Leigh’ onto Thom’s arm as the band delivered Superpower. Super indeed (it brought back memories of Frank getting the date of the Wembley Arena gig inked live backstage at the gig in question—I was wearing my FTHC T-shirt from that night. A nice juxtaposition.).
Kate bossing with the Bass all night
Thom and Frank loving the occasion—it's not Dirt and Gold, it's gold and gold.
Nearing the end in Leigh.
The performance and humour of the band shone through and, as night fell, it was a cue for bright lights, and streamers, and coloured cannon fodder to drench the crowd, and there were fireworks on stage too. Brilliant light for a brilliant night. Long live the Lottery Winners. Please get on the LW bus, if you’re not on yet, you’re missing out.
I didn’t get on the bus, I got an Uber home to Liverpool from just outside the Leopard’s Den. It was only £42, cheaper than any hotel I could get and I was home just after midnight. Result. While I was waiting for the taxi I got chatting to some other fans who were trying to get taxis to their hotel in Warrington. They’d come down that day from Durham. The Lottery Winners performances do have some pulling power and devoted fans throughout the country—and this home gig was north of special. You can see the smiles for miles around.
Leigh is not on a train route, so I took the train to Newton-le-Willows and caught a bus from there which terminated at the bus station in Leigh. First time I’ve been to Newton by public transport and not made it into the Firkin for a pint or two of ale—‘cos it didn’t open until 2pm and I was leaving before then.
The bus to Leigh was fine. It didn’t take long to get there. It was another warm sunny day (earlier in the week the forecast had been light rain all day, so that was a result). Thought I’d get a few ales in places I hadn’t been to before. Unfortunately it proved a hopeless cause in terms of real ale. The first place I went was Bond Street Brewing Company, which sounded promising (and had a 4.7/5 rating on Google). There was no ale on and not even any vacant hand pulls. I ended up with a John Smiths keg thing. To be fair it was only £3.10 for a pint so I couldn’t complain too much. Let’s say the visit was interesting.
John Smiths keg in the Broad Street Brewing Company
Next up was the Waterside, a large canal side pub. This time they had three hand pulls on the bar. But nope, they were all vacant. Perhaps the Billy Ocean fans had drunk them dry the day before (he played the stadium the night before). It was very warm drinking in the sunshine (this time keg Boddingtons). The pub got overly busy in the sun and they kept putting a rope up by the door to prevent (or at least discourage) new customers coming in.
Boddingtons keg in The Waterside
Just across and down the bridge it was on into the Leopards Den. The Leopards being the rugby team and not a local feline. Perhaps the Leigh Leopard is akin to the Hartlepool Monkey—maybe I’ll look into it. This time I was left on Thatchers cider—and in floppy plastic glasses to boot. All in all a very different drinking experience for me than usual. It’s how the other half lives, I guess.
Thatchers cider in the Leopards Den (in plastic glasses)
Then I made my way towards the ground, I hoped to get a pint in at the big pub by the stadium. I’d decided not to get in to the Lilacs, as I was not sure four or five hours in the stadium would be good for me legs. Ended up with a very expensive pint of Beavertown, Neck Oil. The area outside was heaving with people heading towards the gig.
I got to the stadium about 7pm. Unfortunately the long queues for merchandise were off-putting for me. A real shame as I fancied getting another LW t-shirt. They do have some nice ones, and it’s good to further support the group. Maybe I’ll get one online in the coming weeks. I picked up a can of Guinness instead.
Scouting for Girls had gone and now it was time for the main band. Everybody clap!
Thom gets 'Leigh' tattoo whilst on stage
I struggled a bit to get up to my seat. It was booked as an Accessible ticket, but being accessible apparently didn’t mean having anything to hold on to traversing the stairs. It was no different to any other part of the stadium, as far as I could see.
Ended up sat next to a couple who had come up from Cardiff for the gig. Whenever LW play they do pull in fans from all over. After a while with the DJ playing some decent northern tunes it was time for Scouting for Girls to come on. I’m not a particular fan of theirs, but I have listened to the new album a couple times and I prefer it to their older stuff—they’ve been going for X years now. Time flies etc. The atmosphere was upbeat and increasing in volume and exuberance all the time ably helped by the DJ’s tuneage.
This is beginning to read too much like a gig review, but it isn’t for the music press so let’s just cut the chase. The Lottery Winners came on to adoring fans who loved every fucking minute of it. The band playing their hometown fucking loved it to. I’m sure there were tears of joy shed around all corners of the stadium. Thom, Kate, Rob and Joe loved it—possibly as much as I did. So many good songs, a vibe delivering wide smiles bigger than the town of Leigh itself. Frank Turner came on to do his stuff with them (‘Start Again’ was on another level), and the Reverend himself delivered You Again with Kate with aplomb.
Chad Kroeger, the Nickleback singer, wasn’t in attendance and his part had been sent as a full screen video for Kate to duet Ragdoll with—and it worked well. Another guest who came on stage didn’t sing at all: it was a tattoo artist who inked ‘Leigh’ onto Thom’s arm as the band delivered Superpower. Super indeed (it brought back memories of Frank getting the date of the Wembley Arena gig inked live backstage at the gig in question—I was wearing my FTHC T-shirt from that night. A nice juxtaposition.).
Kate bossing with the Bass all night
Thom and Frank loving the occasion—it's not Dirt and Gold, it's gold and gold.
Nearing the end in Leigh.
The performance and humour of the band shone through and, as night fell, it was a cue for bright lights, and streamers, and coloured cannon fodder to drench the crowd, and there were fireworks on stage too. Brilliant light for a brilliant night. Long live the Lottery Winners. Please get on the LW bus, if you’re not on yet, you’re missing out.
I didn’t get on the bus, I got an Uber home to Liverpool from just outside the Leopard’s Den. It was only £42, cheaper than any hotel I could get and I was home just after midnight. Result. While I was waiting for the taxi I got chatting to some other fans who were trying to get taxis to their hotel in Warrington. They’d come down that day from Durham. The Lottery Winners performances do have some pulling power and devoted fans throughout the country—and this home gig was north of special. You can see the smiles for miles around.
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