Britpop legends Cast returned to the Liverpool Olympia for a sold-out show celebrating 30 years of All Change. This was my second visit to this stunning Edwardian venue having just covered Manchester bass-slayer and all-round indie royalty, Peter Hook and the Light.
Outside, the queues build quickly and understandably so. Cast had ‘sold out’ the place.
I was 17 when ‘All change’ was released on the 16th of October 1995. It was Polydor Records, highest-selling debut album at the time. Liverpool’s music story didn’t begin with Britpop; it began with Merseybeat. A flavour that combined American rock’n’roll with local ingenuity, driven by the likes of musical mecca, The Cavern with its homegrown artists like The Beatles and Gerry & the Pacemakers. THAT sound of the iconic jangly guitars and super-tight harmonies created the template for British pop bands for decades to come.
Fast-forward to the mid-90s, when the music scene was once again awash with those same jangling guitar sounds—a golden age where the airwaves were dominated by guitar bands, each one of them, often without realising it, was handcrafting the soundtrack to someone’s youth. ‘All change’ peaked at No. 7 and then spent almost an unbelievable year in the Top 40. It achieved ‘Platinum status’ and sold over 300,000 copies, making it Polydor’s biggest selling debut at the time. Jump ahead another three decades where I now stand amongst fellow fans, reminiscing about those same anthems that shaped our lives and are about to echo through the Olympia. Excited wasn’t the word.
PASTEL
But first, opening duties fell to Pastel, a rising Manchester guitar band selected as tour support across the 30th anniversary dates. Their melodic, shoegaze leaning indie set unfolded with chiming guitars and mature lyrics which were an obvious nod to the rich 90s musical tapestry without feeling trapped by them. It was a smart pairing I thought. Frontman Jack Yates is youthful and a little intense. Tightly gripping his mic stand, singing with a strong, angsty vocal, fed directly into the anticipation for the headliners. Their presence on the bill underscored how Cast’s legacy still catalyses new talent on stages across the UK.
CAST
The house lights dropped, the band walk on to raucous cheers, and then, those opening chords of ‘Follow me down’ chimed out, Olympia erupted. John Power backed by Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson’s crystalline guitar lines, Keith O’Neill’s superb drumming, and the grounding bass of Jay Lewis, kicked everything off with road tested songs that were given a renewed energy fuelled by the unique heat of a hometown crowd.
Cast’s importance goes beyond chart positions. In Liverpool’s cultural narrative, Power’s move from The La’s to Cast symbolises continuity and evolution which took the city’s melodic DNA and sharpened it for a new generation. Noel Gallagher described watching Cast as a “religious experience”. Probably a justified reason to put the band in the role of supporting Oasis for their reunion shows, then. It proved that you could put them in front of vast, multi generational audiences and they still have the knack of converting big rooms into small, shared precious moments.
The promise that All Change would be played complete set an irresistible pace: Moving on to Promise Land, it made you realised what an influential album of bangers this really was. Followed by the philosophical ‘Sandstorm’, a song of chaos and emotional upheaval, Power frames this as a necessary disruption before growth, suggesting struggles often precedes transformation.
The beautifully melodic Four Walls (a personal favourite) flowed seamlessly after the anthemic debut single ‘Finetime’. Pints swung high in the air as the crowd roared the opening line with gusto: “So what’s it all about?” In that instant, I was transported back to being 17 again, grinning like a kid with a smile I couldn’t shake. And there was John Power in front of me, trademark camo jacket and loose curls swaying with every lyric, a figure that felt like a musical DeLorean, carrying us all back through time.
The evening was a celebration of pure indie brilliance, track after track of bangers you simply couldn’t resist moving to. ‘Alright’ had the crowd completely in the band’s hands, every voice raised in unison. Even the new material, Way It’s Gotta Be (Oh Yeah) and ‘Poison Vine’ was met with rapt attention. There was no mass exodus to the bar or restless chatter. Instead, the audience stood and listened and absorbed every note. Between songs, John Power leaned into the moment, asking for feedback with a grin, the reassuring cheers with pints held aloft, spoke volumes. These new tracks already felt like part of the family.
Walkaway” sparked one of the night’s most powerful singalongs, transforming the theatre into a single, swaying voice in harmony. John Power’s lyrics have always captivated me. They carry a disarming simplicity, yet beneath that surface lies a rich blend of optimism, vulnerability, and quiet philosophy, all wrapped in the vibrant energy of an indie melody.
If you were inside Olympia for “Walkaway,” you would have felt the intangible thing that keeps live music irreplaceable in Liverpool, the moment when thousands of local musical histories braid into a single voice. It’s why the city’s venues matter and why records like All Change endure. The songs are personal and communal at once. That dynamic, a crowd finishing the chorus for the band is what connects a 1960s cellar club to a 1990s theatre anthem to a 2025 homecoming.
This is what makes Liverpool special for me (as a ‘non-Liverpudlian’).
The most unforgettable moment of the night came when the beautifully simple, slightly melancholic intro to Live the Dream began to ripple through the theatre. In an instant, a wave of pure emotion swept across the room with smiles breaking out everywhere, mine included. The lyrics “I don’t know where I’m going, but I know where I’ve been… come on and live your dream” feel like a simple truth we all need to hear, a reminder that even in uncertainty, hope is worth holding onto. It resonates massively, for me.
I’ve rarely seen a crowd turn to face each other, dancing and singing every word as if reassuring one another that chasing dreams still matters. For those few minutes, the entire room was united by a connection that acknowledged the fragile beauty of hope. This is, without question, my favourite Cast song and this was a moment I won’t forget in a hurry.
Cast at Liverpool Olympia for me, was a masterclass in how to honour heritage without feeling nostalgic for nostalgia’s sake. By playing All Change front to back, they framed Liverpool’s broader story and offered living proof that these songs still breathe and still belong to the city that shaped them.
Cast are most definitely ‘living the dream’. And so am I.
New album ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,’ by Cast will be due for release 30th January 2026.
Words and Photos by Shavorne Wilbraham
