21 March 2023

Live Event: The Teskey Brothers, Albert Hall, Manchester, March 19th 2022

The Teskey Brothers:

A few years back, Steve Woolley, my mate and partner in music, sent me a video of the Teskey Brothers performing Pain and Misery. I felt as though my heart would burst.
I think for an instant I blacked out at the sound of Josh Teskey’s voice, so filled with soul, pleading with me not to leave him.

Josh Teskey is one of those rare singers, the type that don’t come along very often. Why? Well…he was singing JUST to me.

Steve introduced the Teskey Brothers to me, and he loved them, as do I.
Steve took his own life 2 years ago, so I carried him in my heart with me to the concert in the Albert Hall last night. As the band took the stage and played ‘Remember the Time’ I did shed a tear for you Steve. You should have been there with me.

I’ve seen all the videos and have all the albums, but wasn’t quite prepared for how rich Josh’s voice really is, the power and tone, the emotion, yeah, its all there, all real, and along with Brother Sam’s chunky soulful guitar playing, these 2 have a deep connection, constantly taking cues from each other, like they’re part of the same musical soul.

Sitting in the disabled section, we looked down to the band and were to their left slightly behind them, so a great view of the band, but I couldn’t catch a lot of what Josh said to the crowd because of this. Which is a shame, as Josh connected with the crowd, chatted, told stories and was so – lovely. The band were all smiles all night, they were having a blast up there, and so were we. Their affection was palpable, and the joy at being able to perform to a crowd that adored them was real.

At the beginning of the year the band parted ways with founder members Bass player Brendon Love and drummer Liam Gough, and I have to admit that although their new drummer seems capable, he has none of Liam’s charisma on stage and I found myself wondering why they got rid of these founder 2 members, but the band were tight, and young and keen, and the addition of a brass section was fantastic and gave a real ‘wall of sound’ to the whole experience.

They played all the favourites from the last 2 albums, and threw in some new songs from their album being released in June 2023, “The Winding Way”, and unsurprisingly they are instant bangers – they grab you, shake you, make you sigh, one listen and you’re hooked. I’ve heard ‘Oceans of Emotions’ 4 times and can sing most of it, quite a feat.

The crowd loved them, and so did I. I was moved, I cried, I sang, I held Mr 60MW’s hand a bit too tightly through Take my Heart and swayed the whole time.
Heart full, soul possessed, corny grin across my face. OH my, they write songs for the soul.
Beautiful.

I think this is the end of performing in smaller venues for the Teskey’s, and with the release of their new album and a sold out world tour, they have risen, and I see stadiums on the horizon, and deservedly so.
(PS – I still like Liam).
(PPS – I’ll never leave you Josh).

The Venue – Disabled access:

I’d never been to the Albert Hall before, but knew that it was an old Wesleyan Chapel, so it was unlikely it would have a lift. I tend to write about the venue itself when I review a gig, especially if it’s a new one to me.
As a physically disabled woman, the way a venue is set out and the staff are so important, and can make even the most amazing gig ever performed – a terrible experience.

The Albert Hall is such a glorious place. It’s a BEAUTIFUL venue to see a band in, retaining all of its originality, and the sound is ace.
But it has to be one of the most difficult places for someone like me to see a band for two reasons; FOUR flights of stairs to climb (4!) to get to the ‘disabled section’ (a staff member told me they’ve tried and tried but can’t get permission for a lift as its a listed building), and the seating, which is the original ‘step’ seating for the chapel. So you have to literally sit on a cushion on a step, with no support or back-rest. VERY hard for a disabled person.

Wheelchair users go up on a specialised wheelchair riser, which takes around 20 minutes to get to the disabled balcony. This section is cordoned off, but to get to this section ‘walkers’ must get through a gamut of people already sitting on the steps, and again…those step seats. OUCH.

Now all that sounds very negative, but the venue does make it very clear that it’s a ‘difficult’ place for a disabled person to see a band and their blurb online gives a very thorough description, so there are no surprises! If you phone or email the access team, they will bend over backwards to help you, space is a problem as the disabled area must be near to stairs, so space is limited but they will provide a chair if you request one and there is room.

The HUGE positive of this venue for accessibility is – the staff. The Albert Hall have a truly lovely access staff.
Big shout out to the wonderful Jen who greeted us at the door, took us (very patiently) up the 4 flights of stairs (which took me a good 10 – 15 mins), took me to the toilet, then to the step-seats. We were then approached by the equally lovely Caitlin, who every 20 mins would ask if we were okay and would we like a drink? Caitlin also accompanied us downstairs.
Thank you ladies. Absolute stars.

And this is the big PLUS to the Albert Hall, their staff really do want you to have the best time, and try as best as they can, to enable that.

It would be daft for me to suggest that the Albert Hall is ‘disabled friendly’, it just isn’t, but it’s not the teams fault, it’s because it’s an old listed building, so if you’re able bodied – it’s a fantastic venue, because you can stand at the front, or go upstairs and sit down. Perfect.
But I must admit that after being there, I would have to be really desperate to see a band to attempt the 4 flights and the wonky seat again (crips obviously didn’t go to church 200 years ago haha!).

The staff make ALL the difference in this place, they go above and beyond to enable you to enjoy your visit.
So to all you disabled people it IS possible to see a gig there, but be prepared for pain! I Suggest, as with all venues, get there early so you don’t have to trip over a lot of feet to get to the disabled section and also RING the venue and speak to someone about your needs, as they really will do everything they can to make your visit a good one!

SETLIST: