By Desh Kapur, Rock At Night Manchester

Venue: The Albert Hall, Manchester-March 2^nd 2019

It’s a great feeling when you go to review and check out a band that you are not familiar with and walk away at the end of the evening with a big grin on your face, texting your mates about how good you thought they were, and then checking the band’s Facebook page to see when their next show is, so you can go see them again. Well, that’s exactly what happened when I covered The Lottery Winners at the Albert Hall in Manchester.

Who are The Lottery Winners? A 4-piece from Leigh in Lancashire consisting of members Thomas Rylance, Robert Lally, Joe Singleton, and Katie Lloyd. They are signed to Warner Bros/Sire Records.

The Lottery Winners play infectious Indie Pop; jangly guitars, tight rhythm section, clever lyrics, great vocals and sweet harmonies, all tied together with an energetic, interactive live performance and the charisma of front man Thom Rylance, reminding me in parts The Housemartins/Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbot, sprinklings of The Smiths and the guitar work of Johnny Marr.

And the packed out, all-ages crowd at The Albert Hall tonight got it all, by far the best performance of the night, I enjoyed every minute of it, song after song of the purest Indie Pop.

I won’t list song for song, I won’t break down each song individually, but the two standout songs for me were ‘That’s Not Entertainment’ and ‘Pillows’. But you need to go and see them and you will be an instant fan, just like me. So to sum it up, great band, great songs, not sure about the name, but they will be coming to a radio station near you very soon, if not already being played.