In a break from my Manics-packed spring ’25 gig schedule, I found myself back at my favourite venue, for my long overdue second gig from Hurts.

In 2010, Hurts captured my heart and soul with their stunning debut album “Happiness”. This was an album with stirring emotional perceptiveness combined with killer hooks and club-ready beats, and it announced to the world that the best pop duo since the Pet Shop Boys had arrived. So enchanted was I by their brilliance that, in a time a time when I was much more preoccupied with Doctor Who than music, their gig at Shepherd’s Bush Empire was my one and only gig of 2010, despite the fact that many of my all time favourite bands were also touring.

Unfortunately, I turned into a bit of a fickle fan in the following years, only dipping in to pay attention every so often when they released a particularly good single, like the soul-stirring “Some Kind Of Heaven” in 2015. However, the opportunity to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their fantastic debut album at the glorious Brixton Academy was too good to refuse.

This was my first time venturing to the Academy since seeing the Prodigy there in 2022, with the extended closure that followed later that year after tragic deaths due to overcrowding. Security was naturally at high levels, and I found myself having to queue much longer than I’d anticipated, having to traipse round to the very back of the building before I could get in and find myself a place in the densely packed crowd. From my diary:

‘I was about two thirds back on the right hand side and would have liked to be closer, but had not anticipated the keenness of the Hurts faithful filling the venue before I arrived.’

14 and a half years earlier, when I first saw the band, I’d complained about the apathy of the crowd. The same could definitely not be said for this gig. ‘Brixton was ablaze with the Hurts faithful singing along to every single word of “Happiness” with such fervour that I felt like something of an imposter, a fair-weather fan amongst obsessives.’

Interloper or not, it was impossible not to be swept away by the magnificent tunes once the band were on stage. Lead singer Theo Hutchcraft was an impeccable frontman, charismatic and energetic, able to embody the drama of the songs while still maintaining an affable and welcoming persona. The other half of Hurts, was not present on the tour due to health reason, and I’m sure his absence was keenly felt by the devoted fans.

As well as the backing band, there was a trio of vocalists including an operatic tenor providing added gravitas to a selection of songs. Two elegant and intense dancers also appeared periodically, puncuating the songs with angular and dramatic choreography. I’m not sure if this is usual for a Hurts gig, but for me, it elevated the experience significantly. I remarked in my diary that ‘the whole thing felt like an Event.’

The run-through of “Happiness” was note-perfect. The opening track “Silver Lining’, with its sense of despair merged with hope and yearning, set the mood for the evening, and the intensity remained throughout the length of the album. Highlights for me were the explosively emotional “Better Than Love” and the dramatically menacing “Devotion”, which on record is a duet with Kylie Minogue. Sadly, we were deprived of the chance to witness Kylie performing with the band, as she was herself playing a concert in Liverpool that night. Finally, there was an encore of select Hurts classics and I must admit that most of these tunes were unfamiliar to me, but I was delighted to hear the two other hurts tracks that had burrowed into my soul over the 15 years since their debut, the aforementioned “Some Kind of Heaven” and “Voices” from 2020.

Despite having a fantastic time, I couldn’t help feeling like something was missing from the experience, for me. I’ve gotten so used to being in the crowd at gigs by my all time favourite bands that it felt very strange to be out-obsessed by everyone around me at this gig. I closed my diary entry wondering if I should restrict my choice of gigs in the future. ‘A great gig to be sure, but I think my time experimenting with bands outside my ultimate faves may be coming to an end.’

I have certainly followed through on this prediction since then, and any glance at my list of gigs will show that I have been very unadventurous in my gigging choices in the past year or so. But I’m now feeling myself pulled in the opposite direction. I want to revisit bands that I’ve only seen once or twice, like Hurts, or even those that I’ve listened to for years but never seen live at all. So hopefully, while nearly 15 years passed between my first Hurts gig and my second, it will be a much, much shorter wait for my third.