18 December 2015: The Courteeners rounded off a hugely successful year by giving all the fans from their Manchester hometown a chance to end the year with a party this weekend.
Rather than playing one or two nights in an aircraft hangar sized arena, they chose to play seven consecutive nights at the more intimate Apollo which gives everyone a great view of the band. Remarkably, tickets sold out in no time but Gigwise was fortunate to be down there for this Friday night.
A short interval interspersed with the sold crowd chanting the chorus from ‘What Took You So Long?’ and then the lights dimmed. By the time Liam Fray and co hit the stage to Oasis’ ‘Morning Glory’ they were at fever pitch and stayed pretty much at that level throughout the show, only pausing for a breather to savour Liam's three song acoustic set, including the excellent ‘Smiths Disco’ which borrows heavily from superb songsmith Steven Fretwell’s ‘Scar’.
Liam introduced their latest track ‘Winter Wonderland’ encouraging the audience to spare a thought, cup of tea, and a few moments of time to chat to the homeless this Christmas. He said that proceeds from the sale of that song were being donated to the homeless charity Shelter.
They finished with the emphatic 'What Took You So Long?' then mad their exit - but not before taking time to personally thank the people who had been at the front of the crowd all night, handing out the unused plectrums and setlist sheets, rounding off an excellent night.
The Courteeners played:
'Are You In Love With a Notion?'
'Cavorting'
'Acrylic'
'How Good It Was'
'Please Don't'
'Lose Control'
'Bide Your Time'
'You Overdid It Doll'
'Winter Wonderland'
'Take Over The World'
'Small Bones'
'Hometown One'
'No You Didn't, No You Don't
'Smiths Disco'
'Next Time You Call'
'Here Come The Young Men'
'Beautiful Head'
'Not Nineteen Forever'
'What Took You So Long'
