You’ll be alright R’Kid…..The inspirational Alex Warren triumphantly returns to Manchester with his “Cheaper Than Therapy” tour
- Paul Dixon
- Mar 31
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 31
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, MANCHESTER, 29TH MARCH 2025
WORDS PAUL & MEGAN DIXON / IMAGES PAUL DIXON
It’s a typical wet Saturday night in Manchester but Alex Warren’s much anticipated return to sell out two nights at the Academy only brings smiles and a hell of a lot of homemade signs?
Last night of the UK tour that has seen Alex fill every venue over and over. He has an affinity with many young people given his life journey and battles with adversity. Sitting pretty with a his latest single at No1 in the official charts for a 2nd straight week! There’s nothing “ordinary” about that.
I was there with my daughter, she had been eagerly anticipating the gig for weeks. It’s hard to detail what Alex’s music and his road to this point means to fans of her age. It was apparent from the large number of A3 sized, home-made signs that they all had messages for him. He connected with them and they wanted him to know and understand what this meant. Not all were that in depth, “I like your shoes” wasn’t the soul deep connection I allude to above.
As 9pm swung by, the merch laden fans primed their phones and their smiles and the stage was set.
We’d already been “treated” to a round of “oggy, oggy, oggy” initiated by a chap up on the balcony. The quizzical expression on my face at hearing this ageing chant at a gig, with this demographic and to be returned with such volume and vigour…..was explained by my daughter. “He’s American… they don’t do this…. Someone did it at an earlier gig on the tour and Alex was dumfounded”. It seems Alex has been learning lots about the UK and our quirks on this tour. Many played out on Tik-Tok/You-Tube for his millions of followers. I knew I’d be looking to her and her connection with these platforms for explanations through the evening! It’s interesting that these platforms are enablers in bringing music and the need to see an artist in real life performing to today’s younger people. A generation that endured Covid/Lock down and that scan socials with 15 or 30 second clips having such power. Let’s hope the joyous experience that the vast majority of the 2500 crowd had at a LIVE gig ignites the fire and desire to explore more and get out to venues and support music.
The evening flew along, the phones capturing every moment of every song and interaction.
From BURNING DOWN, YARD SALE, CATCH MY BREATH to SAVE YOU A SEAT, TROUBLED WATERS. All received with love and many tears across the venue.
Alex is a modern communicator. He knows how to connect and talk to a crowd. Most of the dialogue and interaction between songs is absolutely ad lib and driven by the home made signs, their messages of connection to Alex and their adulation.
We had a moment of preplanned content after the second song….with Alex filming a Tik Tok reel in answer to his Wife’s earlier comment that it wouldn’t work…. and it didn’t… trying to ask a giddy and psyched up crowd not to respond to a minions call out, for comic effect was always destined for failure!
Later in the set Alex brought football into the equation in response to a sign about a request to play a gig in Liverpool… (remember we’re in Manchester)…. He mentioned football and boos rang out. It was apparent that Alex isn’t a “soccer” fan and his knowledge of teams was limited to say the least but it was great fun watching him trying to manipulate his way through the ongoing interaction with phrases like “ Arsenal… they are a team aren’t they? Do you like them? And what is the name of the other team?”….
Quickly he boomeranged back to music and using all the “it’s my birthday” signs …. Encouraged a rendition of “ Happy birthday” to what seemed to be half the audience.
Alex stormed through his set, each song as well received as the last. Introducing at least 3 new songs in amongst the 12 songs he delivered.
Alex has a knack of writing and delivering songs that absolutely feel like they’ve were written, as though they’ve been plucked from a deep personal life experience and it was a therapy in getting them out and sharing them. His life story so far and his experience with his parents and the sad outcomes only drives him to share and connect. It feels like this honesty and desire to help others to see that if you believe in yourself and work hard then your past and your hard knock experiences don’t define you but can inspire you to achieve your aspirations.
We arrived at the encore after another round of of “oggy, oggy, oggy”…. To celebrate an evening of joy, great music and confetti cannons!
We all had a blast and I reveled in the joy that the rest of the room felt for the music and the connection.
Cheers Alex…. Or as we say round her in Manchester… “nice one R’Kid, you did alright”
Set List
1. Burning Down
2. Yard Sale
3. Catch My Breath
4. Save You A Seat
5. Troubled Waters
6. You’ll Be Alright Kid
7. Who I Am
8. Never be Far
9. Chasing Shadows
10. Before You Leave Me
11. Can’t Stop This
12. Ordinary
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