By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Thursday 22 May 2025, tour runs through to 16 August 2025

Setlist: Silver Lining; Wonderful Life; Blood, Tears And Gold; Sunday; Stay; Illuminated; Affair; Evelyn; Better Than Love; Devotion; Mother Nature; Unspoken; The Water; Verona; Miracle; Some Kind Of Heaven; Rolling Stone; Somebody To Die For; Voices; Ready To Go; Nothing Will Be Bigger Than Us; Under Control; Wings

We join Hurts at their 1st UK gig for ‘7 or 8 years’ where lead singer Theo Hutchcraft describes the band’s debut album Happiness as their passport from the dole in Manchester to the rest of the world, making their dreams come true in the journey.

• Read on for reasons including why founder member Adam Anderson was unable to join the band

Hutchcraft is not joined by his keyboard partner and best friend Adam Anderson tonight but in keeping with the bold choices of that debut album played in full there is a string quartet, dancers, an opera singer on occasional numbers as well as a live band.

Happiness saw the band elevated to worldwide fame, especially in eastern Europe, and Hutchcraft dresses as he did in that era for much of the show with a suit and white scarf and tosses many white flowers, we think roses, into the enrapt audience at opportune moments.

We saw the band a lot around the time of that debut album’s release in 2010 – the tour is called 15 Years Of Happiness – and it’s incredibly exciting to see it being realised in such a way and with the enhanced theatrical presentation and gorgeous lighting it deserves.

Anderson is much missed, as well as the onstage banter between the 2 founding members of the band, and he explained in an Instagram post this month the reason for it.

He wrote: ‘As many of you know I’ve been struggling with my mental health for years now. Sadly, due to my ongoing recovery, I have taken the very difficult decision to sit out all forthcoming Hurts shows this year and focus solely on my well-being.

‘It hasn’t been an easy decision but it’s the right thing for me to do at this time. I want to express my love and gratitude to Theo for his understanding and supporting me in making this decision. All shows will go ahead as planned with Theo taking centre stage and I couldn’t be happier that they’re taking place.

‘I don’t want anyone to worry about me. I am doing my best to recover with a good support system around me and I look forward to getting better.’

We share that happiness and Hutchcraft is quick to pay tribute to his ‘best friend’ when he doesn’t have his hands clasped behind his back like a schoolteacher as he marvels at the embellishment the opera singer brings to beloved tracks like Silver Lining and Illuminated.

Hutchcraft is asked about the whereabouts of Kylie Minogue, who is currently touring also, perhaps in Liverpool tonight, and appeared on 1 of the tracks from the Happiness album called Devotion. Her appearance to sing it alongside the band at this very venue in around 2011 is 1 of our favourite ever gig moments.

The show peaks early with tracks including their most beloved hit Wonderful Life and there’s a treats section after Happiness which underlines how much darker the material became.

We send our best wishes to Adam, really enjoyed Hurts re-connecting with the material that was so transportive for them, reminding us why we grew to love them in the 1st place and look forward to the next musical step in their evolution.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Hurts Tickets
• Have you seen a Hurts show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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