Terrorvision front man Tony Wright strapped on his acoustic guitar and played a terrific set at the Colby Glen Hotel, becoming the first visiting musician to perform in the island since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

As the lines to Tony’s confessional opening number ’Self Portrait’ went:

’I played the stadiums, I played arenas, I played the festivals. You might have seen us.’

However, despite being one of most recognisable of Britain’s rock stars of the 1990s, Tony looked right at home sat in the Colby Glen.

Joined by fellow bandmate Milly Evans, Tony ran through a powerful set of his solo work and acoustic re-workings of some of Terrorvision’s hits, throwing in funny stories and one-liners as he went on.

Given that all they had were two acoustics, they made a forceful, powerful noise between them, not least with a mighty version of ’My House’ and the final, closing song, a brilliant version of ’Perseverance’.

Of course, ’Tequila’ was song in earnest, but with a gutsy Spanish sound, stripped of its big beat production.

It was some night too, one that will stick in the minds of most who came along.

Tony bowled over to a couple of Terrorvision fans wanting to have records signed and sat for a drink and a chat, and cheered and clapped through Steve Nash’s support set.

After waiting almost a year and a half to play the gig, both the crowd and Tony made sure they all enjoyed every minute, singing along with each familiar chorus line as loudly as possible.

Tony and Milly have been able to play the odd socially-distanced gig back in England, but nothing like the regular string of dates they would normally anticipate playing.

’We’ve been opening up and shutting down all the time, back home,’ said Tony.

’We’ve done gigs before the things shut down, and we’ve organised them only to sack them off a few weeks later.

’It happened so often that I was starting to think that I’m a curse.

’But we’ve played a couple of time around the north west recently, which have all been socially distanced gigs.

’To be honest, that isn’t all that bad for the acoustic gigs that me and Milly play, as people are sitting down and keeping to themselves and generally listening to the music. It’s different for Terrorvision, though.

’We’re doing a couple of small gigs to warm up for the festivals this year and the venues say they are struggling to get people back to standing in crowds and moshing again. People are out of the habit, and being a bit more cautious.

’But look here. I’m in a room with a crowd that can sit and mingle and chat like normal. And you’ve been doing this for ages, too. I’m well jealous. I’d be happy to miss my plane home and stay here for a bit longer.

’It was a strange thing to get off the plane and be told that I don’t need to wear a mask.’

Tony is a huge motorbike fan and took the opportunity to have a drive over the mountain, which has whetted the appetite to return with the full band.

’I’m a big fan of my bikes but have never managed to get over here,’ he said.

’A few people have said I should get over here with Terrorvision and, seeing as Reef have played here and bands like that, I don’t see why we couldn’t.

’That would be ace, wouldn’t it? I’m right up for that.’