Review: The Tivoli at Plug

The Tivoli's last visit to The Plug could best be described as a disaster.

No vocal track during the first song and poor sound quality throughout—it was about as bad as things could get for Lee McMahon and his bandmates.

Thankfully, things went a whole lot better this time around, with a warm reception both for the old favourites and the rocking new additions to the quartet's canon—and it all sounded great.

Kicking things off with new songs Rooftops and A Dear Do, McMahon looked well up for the occasion and left no holds barred with a throat-shredding vocal performance.

Both tracks showed signs of a harder, rockier edge, while The Messenger, The Tivoli's previous regular live opener, continued the show's storming opening, enhanced by the raucous backing of Gareth Eaton, Russell Frisby and Damian Baughan.

Of the new tracks, my favourite has to be My Soul Has Served Me Well, another winning marriage of soul and rock, which I can see featuring in many a future Tivoli sing-along.

With a healthy crowd of at least 300 warmed up (quite a challenge given the snow and freezing temperatures outside), McMahon was left the stage to himself for an acoustic performance of Drop Me Off in Rotherham.

Friends, family and fans in the crowd joined in and a real party mood set in as McMahon revelled in the love song to his home town.

My Town was in stark contrast to this festive feeling, McMahon standing motionless stagefront as his bandmates returned to the stage to create the ballad's throbbing and atmospheric intro.

In the second of the singer's bittersweet tributes to Rotherham, My Town's verses are based on stories from the murkier side of life, dealing with subjects from murder to drug dealing, and the song builds to a crescendo with the passionate, repeated refrain: "Living in my town, this is what's going on." Food for thought, especially at Christmas.

The ultimate call to arms, Common Foot Soldiers brought matters to a suitably rousing end, McMahon's exhortation to those assembled to "raise your glass" seeming apt with the party season in full swing.

This was the perfect send-off for a successful 2009 for The Tivoli and next year shows few signs of being any less eventful. Expect big things from them in the new year.