Lottery Winners - KOKO Tour pt2 Engine Shed Lincoln 21/11/25 Concert Review
- sarah fisher
- Nov 27, 2025
- 7 min read
The Lottery Winners are just what we need right now! A down-to-earth northern, Neurodivergent band who say it how it is and brings the humour into everyday struggles.
Their music is fun and brings enjoyment and catchy lyrics about some of the heaviest topics, such as depression, with a catchy song titled after one of the most commonly used antidepressants in the UK ‘Sertraline’.
The show starts as it means to go on, as the band come out on stage to the Vengaboys song ‘We Like To Party!’ The atmosphere already feels fun, like we’re all in for a good time. The crowd is cheering dancing and the band find their positions. Thom bending over and wiggling his bum. Thom starts talking to the crowd like they are all his mates. He even jokes and talks to all of us photographers in the pit. Jokingly saying “look at all those perverts down here”. He had me laughing out loud in the pit. If you can’t take a joke, don’t go to a Lottery Winners show! The band, the crowd and the pit are all in hysterics. Going to a Lottery Winners show is like being at a party, comedy club and concert all rolled into one, with a bit of therapy thrown in free of change.
After having us all in stitches, Tom takes what he is saying and joking about into his first song ‘Superpower’. The crowd dances and sings along. Thom interacts with the crowd again. The crowd throw back the banter as good as they get. Two people in the crowd made a sign and had it hung over the barricade which read ‘Thom I’m A Fanny, I love You’. A play on words about being a fan. A phrase Thom has used in the past. This goes down a storm with the crowd and Thom. The whole room erupts with laughter. Thom makes some suggestive actions with his fingers in jest. Yes Thom, I caught it all on camera! Haha.
The band then play ‘Worry' a song with lyrics that the crowd sing back like a football chant. The entire room feels like everyone has their guard down and feels completely at ease, living in the moment. Thom and the band are so down-to-earth and have such a joke with everyone that it makes you feel so comfortable, like you are at the pub with your mates or having a laugh on the sofa with close family, like the Royal family. Jim Royal (not the ones that live in Buckingham Palace).
After seven songs, Thom brings out ‘Thomsbola’ a fun segment with it's own theme tune where he jokes about people mailing in saying “you didn’t play my favourite song when I saw you at such and such venue and I’m really disappointed”. So to alleviate the pressure on the band and any disappointment to the fans, they have a fun system where all the other songs which aren’t on the set list are written on balls and placed in a tombola drum. I’ve never seen a band do anything like this before and it makes for so much fun. It certanly brings the Lottery Winners name to life. Thom spinns Thomsbola and pull’s out the song ‘Elizabeth’ for the first time on the tour. Thom then explains that the crowd have two chances to gamble for another song to be drawn. Thom asks the crowd “shall we keep Elizabeth or gamble for another song?”. The crowds reaction sounds fairly even. Thom pulls a member of the crew Hamish on stage to be an adjudicator. It’s decided that a gamble is to be made. The second song to pop out of Thomsbola is the song ’21’. The crowd then shouts and cheers for their favourite of the two and '21' wins. - A personal favourite of Thoms.
The band leaves the stage after playing 21, leaving Thom with his electric guitar. He starts singing the song ‘Struggling’. After a verse or two Tom A Smith comes on to duet with Thom. ‘Struggling’ is an emotive song about someone struggling with their mental health. Tom A Smith’s voice is so raw and accentuates the tenderness and pure emotions within the lyrics. I felt every word of this performance and it was gut-wrenching. I’ve had my own struggles and I’ve also had someone very close to me suffer. The song is about holding space and just being there. No matter how long it takes. Holding space for the person who is suffering whether it be yourself or another. I feel I want to be an open book in this review because the Lottery Winners held space for me to do so. Their honesty brings out the honesty and conversation in me. I hope that people go home from a Lottery Winners concert wanting to talk through their own worries with someone and those who don’t suffer want to lend an ear and hold space for those who need it. I know going to their concert and listening to their music and hearing Thom speak out has certainly helped me.
Thom spoke about feeling like an alien growing up and I know people in the crowd felt the same including myself. Lots of people had brought alien teddies and blow-up aliens. Thom was gifted a flag with his alien self pictured on it in a UFO along with an alien cuddly toy from another fan. Jokingly asking “has anyone else brought me gifts? I love receiving gifts”. The perfect Segway into the song ‘UFO’.
If anyone in the crowd wasn’t already having a good time, then singing along to the next song ‘much better’ certainly brought the joy.
Thom asked Kate on Bass if he has time to do the thing? Kate replied “if you’re quick”.
Thom starts the crowd singing the good old Frankie Valli cover ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’. The whole venue is singing at the top of their lungs, like they are at a football match until….everyone stumbles on the verse nobody knows. Haha. Thom starts laughing and jokes about. - It's become a “bit” they do at every show to have a sing-song and a laugh with the crowd.
Thom picks up one of the Aliens from the crowd and starts singing ‘Letter To Myself’ to the alien. It’s the song every struggling kid should hear at least once. I do hope this song gets a lot of radio play, as I know it would have helped me to hear as a neurodivergent child who felt completely alone and misunderstood in this world. The song is a letter Thom wrote to his younger self about how he knows his younger self is struggling and wants him to know everything will all be ok when he grows up. Thom sings about how he grows up to be a person who his younger self would think is cool and not to put so much emphasis on the things he thinks are really big now, because they will seem insignificant when he gets older and life will become something worth living.
The encore is packed with three of their most fun packed songs staring with ‘Burning House’ (which I’ve been singing all week, doing the kids heads in, haha). Followed by ‘Turn Around’ which the whole crowd have to follow a dance routine like it’s the 90’s with ‘Macarena’ or ‘Saturday Night’. Who isn’t going home feeling uplifted after joining in with a dance routine?!
Before ending on a show stopping song, Thom gave a speach about the BBC recently championing an Artificial Intelligence artist on BBC introducing. Saying we need to support the real talented up and coming artists like Cusp and Tom A Smith who both opened the show. The crowd applauded and cheered in agreement.
Thom announced it was time for their last song. ‘Start Again’. A real fun, uplifting and catchy song to end on that is fuelled with hope. The night ended on a high with the whole crowd dancing and singing along. Followed by cheering and applause.
If you have never heard of the Lottery Winners or if you or someone you know struggles with their mental health or feels like an alien in this neurotypical built world, then I highly recommend giving them a listen and spreading the word. Cos not only will you have fun and maybe even a little dance. You might just help someone feel a little better about themselves or put a small spark or a pinch of confidence back in them. I know my first experience of the Lottery Winners gave me back my spark and also gave me a cathartic cry just when I needed it most. As a neurodivergent parent, who home educates her neurodivergent children who struggle in this neurotypical world. My experience of watching them at Kendal Calling this summer brought me back to life and helped me feel understood in a world where I felt so alone. My ADHD brain loves their catchy lyrics too. “It’s like a burning house and I’m just sitting on the couch chilling out as it all burns down around me”.
Set List
Superpower
Worry
Monaco
You Again
Your Last Song
Meaning Of Life
Sertraline
Thomsbola choice - 21
Struggling
UFO
Much Better
Letter
Encore
Burning House
Turn Around
Start Again
Words and photos by Sarah Fisher ~ Sarah in the pit
