The Lottery Winners were joined by Bez and Boy George at their show in Manchester last night (December 28).
The band performed a host of hits from their 2023 album ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’ at the Manchester Academy including ‘Money’ which saw the former bound onstage with his maracas. His Happy Mondays bandmate Shaun Ryder sings on the album version of the track.
Later, Boy George joined them on vocal duties for ‘Let Me Down’, which he also featured on the record’s single. You can view both performances below.
The band went on to play further songs from their recent album including ‘You’re Not Alone’, ‘Sertraline’ and the record’s title track.
Celebrating @LotteryWinners number 1 album with Bez! First night was great but that was special 🙂 pic.twitter.com/y7Xd9I7OEM
— Manchester Gigs (@ManchesterGigss) December 28, 2024
Bez and Boy George joining @LotteryWinners tonight @MancAcademy. As Larry David would say ‘Pretty Good…..Pretty Good’. pic.twitter.com/LEJausjhVd
— ANDREdoubleU (@ANDOWALSHO) December 28, 2024
The show was the second of three homecoming concerts for the band which will wrap up tonight (December 29) at the Manchester Academy.
It comes after frontman Thom Rylance recently spoke to NME about his regret at starting a row with Kate Nash over the lack of working class representation in the arts.
Last month, he tweeted that Nash shouldn’t try to represent working class musicians, as well as criticising her background as a former pupil of the BRIT School, mistakenly labelling it a fee-paying establishment.
The tweet was in response to Nash’s ‘Butts For Buses’ campaign, which has seen the singer join Only Fans to raise funds for her tour, as well as highlighting how it’s far more lucrative for musicians to sell images of their body compared to streaming royalties.
Nash responded to Rylance stating that she was “slightly confused by your argument”. Elaborating in a recent interview with NME, she continued: “What’s the argument about the BRIT School? It’s a free performing arts school. An important message to get out there is that the BRIT School is for everyone. You don’t have to pay to go there. If you heard and got confused, don’t be discouraged from applying. Free performing arts access to young people is so important.”
Rylance had previously clarified his comments, saying he was “in no way meaning to start beef with anybody.” Then, in a recent interview with NME, Rylance admitted he regrets attacking Nash and The BRIT School, fearing his comments had overshadowed his wider point that working class people need greater access to music and other art forms.
“My intention was to make valid points, but the way in which I delivered it took that validity away,” said Rylance. “Hindsight is a great thing. So is education, and I’ve since spent a lot of time educating myself on the matter.”
The Lottery Winners were recently named as the support to Robbie Williams on his 2025 European tour. The band will also release their new album ‘KOKO’ on February 21, which features collaborations with Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, Frank Turner, Reverend And The Makers and Shed Seven singer Rick Witter.
