The Cheap Thrills at Grand Central Hall: Mersey Music's case for a best-ever night

This is a look back at one of the most glowing reviews the live show of The Cheap Thrills has received. Mersey Music published its verdict on 25 November 2025, following the band's performance at Grand Central Hall in Liverpool. The notes available for this piece do not name the critic, so the credit rests with the outlet itself.

What the reviewer seemed to respond to first was energy. The review describes the performance as relentless, a word that suggests the pace did not let up for the length of the set. Alongside that, the critic judged the production and lighting to have improved, pointing to a presentation that felt more considered than the band's previous outings. Taken together, these elements framed the music rather than competing with it.

The crowd also features heavily in the account. According to the review, the audience sang along with the band throughout the evening, and the critic appears to treat that participation as a key part of why the night worked. Live reviews often mention a room in passing, so the emphasis here marks the audience as something close to a co-author of the performance.

Among the individual moments, an extended performance of the song Codependence is singled out as affecting. The notes do not indicate how the song was reworked, and this piece avoids guessing at specifics, but the reviewer's attention to that stretch of the set suggests it was one of the points where the atmosphere in the hall shifted most clearly.

The verdict is the headline judgement: the reviewer considers this arguably the band's greatest night. No numerical rating was attached to the piece, so the praise rests entirely on the written assessment. That matters for a band whose live reputation is built on shows of this kind, and the review offers a useful snapshot of how a single night can shape a critic's view of an act. For fans and for anyone assessing the group's stage work, it stands out as a notable marker.