The Lottery Winners w/ Scouting For Girls, The Lilacs – Leigh Sports Village Stadium – 30th May 2026

TATTOOS AND TEARS

Not a dry eye in sight as The Lottery Winners took to the stage and headlined their first-ever stadium show in their home town of Leigh in Greater Manchester. The fans knew it was going to be an emotional one as the band has worked so hard to get to where they are now. The Lottery Winners fans are like family; just like the band, a lot of people in the crowd have gone through their own struggles with mental health, school, and live a Neurospicy life.

Before the band head on stage, a video is played on the big screen at the back of the stage. A comical sketch of the band trying to get to the stadium. The crowd was in stitches. One thing The Lottery Winners are known for is their down-to-earth humour. If you don’t like music, it’s still worth going to one of their gigs for the comedy alone! 

(DON’T) WORRY

The band walk on stage, the crowd goes wild, and Thom has the look of pride, disbelief, and humble gratitude on his face. He goes to give Kate (on bass) an emotional support hug. I think Kate is Thom’s emotional support when on stage with the band. Thom greets the crowd and says he can’t believe it and this is mad! This has been a dream for the band since they got together in school when they were young teenagers. They go into their first song Worry, then the craziest thing happens…on walks a tattoo artist!

Thom says he’s going to sing the next song whilst getting a tattoo done. It’s a first for me to witness, but this is a life-changing pinnacle moment for Thom, so I can see why he wants to celebrate the moment with a tattoo! Kate starts Superpower while the tattoo artist starts up his needle. The ink flows and so do Thom’s rhymes. At the end of the song, Thom jokes with the tattoo guy saying “I hope you are going to clean my arm and be all professional.” Thom tells the camera operator to get in on his arm so everyone can see. The word ‘Leigh’ is freshly inked into his skin.

Whilst the band played Sunshine, a lady at the front of the barrier blew bubbles as it’s a theme within the music video, and you can hear bubbles popping in the song. It was such a wholesome moment and so beautiful to see everyone enjoying the bubbles.

Special Guests

Frank Turner came out as a special guest to sing Dirt And Gold as he features on the song. Frank helped spread the word about The Lottery Winners years ago and has been a massive supporter and collaborator for many years. Frank leapt about the stage as he always does and screamed those lyrics to the extent I was worried he was going to lose his voice – how he does it, I don;t know! Thom thanked Frank for all he has done for the band over the years and said, “Half the people in this crowd are here because you told them about our band many years ago.” A show of hands for who knows The Lottery Winners because of Frank? It was at least 25%.

Thom introduced the next song Steady We Go. A new song never played before, and announced that they were going to film the music video for it tonight with the crowd! Everyone cheered with excitement. Thom’s only request was, “That is very important that everyone looks like they fancy me.” He taught everyone the chorus so we all would be singing like we already knew it so it would look good in the muted video. It was a really uplifting, positive song about supporting someone through their mental health struggles. The next special guest was Jon McClure from Reverend And The Makers to sing a duet with Kate. You Again is such an earworm it often finds itself stuck in my head. 

Emotional Support

After 21 and UFO, Thom said he would need some help with the next song as he wouldn’t manage to get through it without getting emotional and proceeded to be overwhelmed with emotion. The song is about mental health and the battles Thom has been through, as to have some of the audience. It’s a tough song to sing, but even more so when overwhelmed at living out his dream of playing his hometown stadium in the town he and the band grew up in. The band are best mates who get to live out their dream together, and it was a lot for them all to take in.

The next song hits me hard as a parent of two neurodivergent kids who have both struggled in the school system. Thom said that The Lottery Winners have been going into local schools in the Leigh area and helping young children to see their potential in being creative and following their passion for music. The song Letter To Myself (sung with Frank Turner) is all about how tough life is when you are a struggling kid. It’s a letter Thom wrote to his younger self aged 12, saying you don’t know it yet, but things are going to get better and “if you saw me now, you’d probably think I was cool.” Frank stayed on stage for another song they wrote together, Start Again. 

As the band left the stage the big screen encouraged the crowd to cheer if they wanted more. The encore belted out the party anthems, Turn Around, which has its own choreographed dance moves, which is always a must for audience participation, and a favourite of mine, Burning House’ the catchiest of all their songs.

NOT STOPPING HERE

All in all, the show couldn’t have been better! We had tattoos, tears of joy, special guests, and dance routines. Katie Owen kicked the night off with a Dj set that was great for a singalong with indie anthems and all the genres in between. The Lilacs played a crowd-pleasing set, which had a lot of people on shoulders, and Scouting For Girls played some of their classics from the last twenty years. This was a milestone gig for The Lottery Winners, but I don’t see it stopping here. I think I can hear the arenas and Wembley calling!

The Lottery Winners: Website

At The Barrier: Facebook / X / Instagram