A Decent Theatre Set + Sell Everything

Theatre and Sell Everything, Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom

Tuesday 13th October, 2026

(n.b. Gig photos from Gordon @woolie6147 will follow in a couple of days).

This is Theatre’s first headline tour of the UK and they wanted to share the joy of the experience with fellow musicians from Ireland, so on the way to the ferry they pulled off the highway and picked up a bunch of lads from Dublin who were up for the ride. The name of this lucky band is Sell Everything.  

But it is not entirely luck, because these five musicians are very much deserving of a place on Theatre’s tour, one that is attracting a lot of interest by dint of the broad appeal of the headline act.  Sell Everything have a bit of work to do yet to lead a UK tour in their own right, but as an opening act, they set a decent bar for their headlining compadres to straddle.

The energy and enthusiasm of Jack Ussher on guitar, stage left is quite a distraction, as he doubles himself up, stretches and adds his snarling to the vocals. He exudes a never mind the bollocks attitude from the stage.  He is not playing this music to please us, but to please himself. If you like it, good for you, if not, that’s your problem, not his.

What’s the story of how this band got together?  The roots are a little unclear and is not overly important? I am spun a line about how they all live in a big house in Dublin. A collective of sorts, of about twenty people, Jack tells me, after stowing his kit post-set.  He lives a life of smoking herbs and playing music for most of the day, he says.  This is no Hackney squat of old, where copper wiring and pipes had been ripped out, lead flashing sold off and the residents are ingesting everything from speed to heroin and tripping out in an old bath, open to the stars in a roofless bathroom.  The band are adept tradesmen, I am told. The residence has polished wood floors and everything.  It with a craftsman’s pride he repeats, “We all have trades.” stretching out his hands.  His hands are his most precious assets, that and is good heart.

With his performance adrenalin diluting after the set, Jack admits he had never heard of Norwich, didn’t know where it was, probably still doesn’t.  Which is refreshing and humbling.  This is small city, small enough to be seen by Putin as expendable. It is a hub to a vast expanse of intensively exploited agricultural land, Norwich needs to be reminded occasionally that places exist beyond The Fens. Places that offer other jewels to attract travellers. Places like Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester and Galway, Ireland’s west coast mirror image city to Norwich. Apparently, Galway is a bit of a vortex, after going the first time, bands keep being drawn back for more of whatever it is that pulled them in to begin with. Very much like Norwich. Perhaps Galway and Norwich should establish a twinning arrangement?

So the band Sell Everything comport themselves on stage with punk attitude, but turn out to be  a really decent group of hard-playing musicians, loving being out on the road together.  How long could these friends hold it together on tour? About two years, I am told. These might be early days, but who would not want to keep on rolling down the road, troubadour like, with your mates playing music for a crust and a crust it is. Other work to pay the bills is very important and it also keeps these guys grounded.  Also having a life outside the band, once you have sold everything, is vital to the creative process.  It also makes going on a tour even more stimulating, because this is not the day job.

What of the music?  It is sincere. They are trying to work in changes of pace, layers of electronics from Toby Whelehan's self-built box of tricks.  The bass of Fionn Mac Locklainn threads a funky throbbing throughout proceedings with the cultured assistance of drummer Oisin Cavanagh.  Led by Tom Kelly's low-key vocals, with some backing harmony and  occasional passionate interjections, the songs are punchy with some catchy chorus lines. They tell neat stories drawn from lived experience, personal, poetic not philosophical.  This is soft rock music (definitely not Shoe-Gaze-Landfill), that is listenable, solid urban driving music.  It gets into your head and into your pelvis, hips, knees and toes.  Driving music = sexy music. Nice.

The Voodoo’s crowd filled roughly three quarters of the room and clearly enjoyed what they heard.  A lot of people got into the groove. The crowd comprised of a number of Voodoo’s regulars, which includes a good number of elder guys who are always keen to hear something new, people  who would rather hack into town for live entertainment, than sit passively in front of screen, or join a Tuesday night quiz team in a desperate effort to keep their cerebral data banks functioning. The city has been enjoying the return of academia to the workplace, so the audience also contained a suitable proportion of musically on trend ‘undergrads’ as they seem to be monikered currently. I don’t know what was wrong with the original term, ‘Bloody students’, but there we go, times change. Also a fair attendance of women have turned out.  Everyone is coming along to see Theatre’s lead singer, Maeve O'Shea punch above her slender weight.

As is the way, as the headline band pick up their equipment and instruments, the room gets a little fuller and the crowd’s talkers STFU, for this is what they have paid to see and hear.  Where the openers were unheard of prior to this show, Theatre have been getting some exposure somewhere and there is some excitement as their walk-on music is blasted out and then cut, just as Thom Yorke’s voice is about to wind in.

The walk-on music is indeed Radiohead’s ‘The National Anthem’. What a superb intro that number has, one that sets the pulse pounding. It sets very high expectations for what is to follow.  Do Theatre quite match that level of expectation? Can they deliver what the hype promises?

Judging by the reaction of the crowd, they were much appreciated. Looking at the line of gig-goers stretching halfway across the venue for the merchandise stall, Theatre did enough for many of the people to want to get their hands on some product, gather souvenirs of a first headline tour of a breaking band. Acquire something to tell your friends and family about in fifty years time.  For some, this was a “I was there.” moment.

Gig-goers love to swap stories about how they once got ahead of the curve.  You know the stuff, seeing U2 with Bono going full Bono to an near-empty Top Rank, Brighton with tickets on the door at £5, or seeing an ill-practiced band called Duran Duran, playing their second-ever gig (or was it sixth-ever?) opening for Fashion in front of twenty-seven people at Barbarella’s in Birmingham. Well, I might be wrong, but I thought those Brummie lads would go nowhere.

So, what I am getting round to, is that Theatre went down well.  There was a touch of Cure about the music. They certainly have a Gothy sound and they rock along solidly. The drumming of Sean Storan and bass of Gerry Sheil are vital to the sound of the band. These two play exceptionally well. The rhythm-section is the beating heart of this band. Their vibrant pulsing shapes the band’s sound to good effect.  The guitar work of Dara Gooney and Oscar Halpin layer up the sound for O’Shea to cut and slice through with her flint sharp vocal delivery.  O’Shea speaks between numbers from time to time, in dulcet tones, before switching back into full keening Banshee mode.  The songs come across as an expulsion of emotion that cuts uncomfortably into the well-crafted rock sound.  Which, I think is the point. Those who came along for a bit of pure Theatre were not disappointed and had an especially good time.

I skipped the Theatre merch queue and managed to grab a copy of the Sell Everything, limited edition, hand-numbered, white label single ‘Taxi’ with its hand-drawn cover and band sticker.  Three of lads were kind enough to sign it too.  A nifty token from an uplifting evening out.  The band only had the singles to sell, perhaps everything else had already been sold.

~

Spencer Ide

13th October 2026