Throwing Muses Brudenell Social Club soundcheck, panoramic full band shot with white light reflected by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses - Moonlight Concessions UK Tour - Part 1

September 20, 2025

TM2025 Tour - May/June

A crazy dream....'

That's what this felt like, To do all the Throwing Muses UK shows, to hand print all the tour shirts, totes and tour posters, my house was filled with this stuff, for months. To have my little stall so that people who couldn't necessarily afford merch could still support The One Hersh, I took basic material costs and no more, paid my own way around that tour, got crew entry to the shows... and gave every penny of profit to KH. I had this idea to complement the official stand, with the vinyl and books and all the tour stuff I'd made, with affordable prints, badges, bracelets and keyrings.... as well as hand printed flyers so that everyone could have something nice regardless... that was the idea that was in my heart... and it was an absolutely beautiful thing.

I had an anxious start... because I have never done anything like this before... but it really was a dream... and I was so lucky to be able to do so many shows. 🖤

Jump to Show

My small collection of passes

Bearded Theory 25th May - Videographer Pass

Waterfront, Norwich - 17th May 2025

The first show of the tour, I felt absolutely horrible, not because of anything that anyone else did, it was just my own anxiety and mental health issues trying to screw me over. I was convinced that I shouldn't be here, that I shouldn't be doing any of this. It's no exaggeration to say I was on the verge of cracking, and making a run for it through the whole evening, and it took everything I had to hold myself together to the end. So... apologies now if I seemed off, it was nothing personal... just me and my messed up mind.

The venue folks were super nice to me, helpful in getting my camera set up. (Though I messed this up, was trying to set it up backwards, from the very precarious top of a step ladder on this little area, risking... well... not quite life probably, but almost certainly limb, to bring you what turned out to be a badly aimed (I cut Dylan off completely) and cut short set (who knew a 16GB memory card wasn't enough to record a full set... well... I knew after this)). The sound guy set up a mic stand for me near his desk to get the audio mics up over the crowd, bootleg came out pretty well I have to say, I will get those uploaded soon, and add links for them here.

I really struggled to concentrate on the music, but without that, I don't think I would have made it through. I must have looked pretty bad, because a couple of people asked me if I was OK during the set. There are hardly any pics from here, because I spent almost the whole set trying to hold my head in place. But, I am fairly proud of myself that I managed to get through this with anything like my so-called sanity, intact.

Throwing Muses 17th May 2025 Waterfront Norwich Soundcheck by ElRat Designs

Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 18th May 2025

I still had quite a lot of anxiety here. I was worried about how bad I had felt in Norwich, and had a lot of time waiting around in the van in Leeds to think about it all. I did venture out to source a bigger memory card though, and was feeling a lot happier that the 32GB would do the job, which it did.

Felt pretty good when I got into the venue, all the people in there were really nice about me setting up the camera and mics. I asked about whether it was OK for someone I know to bring their big camera, and that was all good, so when they arrived I had someone to chitchat with about Hersh music, and that always makes me feel better. Another friend of ElRat Designs came to introduce themselves, so that was really nice too. All in all, a much more comfortable show, and I was able to really lose myself listening to the band, which is how it should be.

I really feel like I was starting to get into the swing of it here, feeling more confident about being there. I still forgot to photograph any of the wild shirts I saw, but I didn't feel like running away at any point.

The Cluny, Newcastle - 19th May 2025

I feel like I was getting into my stride here. The sound guy was amazing, really kind and chatty, so many friendly Hersh people came to say hello. I ended up talking to quite a few of them about the custom lyric shirts, saw a beautiful wild TM86 misprint, *and* remembered to take a picture (see below), loads of Hersh people chatting Hersh things. Lots of people telling me about the first time they saw Throwing Muses, those are always nice stories to hear.

Oh, and this was my first time at the Cluny, and they have the most fantastic wall of dog Polaroids with the names of the dogs written on, it really is very pleasing indeed!! I suggest you go early to give this proper perusal, I wish I had more time to really enjoy it. I did send some to my kid, she thought they were hilarious.

It has to be said, it was a good night. The band sounded amazing, got great video... It was a really long uphill hike back to the van carrying all my goods though.😆

Newcastle 19th May - empty stage panorama

The Cluny dog wall, a most pleasing collection of pet dog Polaroid's

The ElRat stall, with Art prints, badges and keyrings... a thing of beauty

CelloPete taking Pictures

Newcastle 19th May - wild shirt TM86 portrait

This fella told me his sister bought the Throwing Muses 1986 Misprint for a present, looks great

SOLD OUT!!!

Newcastle 19th May - soundcheck landscape

Little treat here, full video of "Shark" from the soundcheck. I loved being at soundcheck, being able to capture these moments for us... I am still absolutely gutted that the tour manager decided at the flick of a switch to stop me from going.... for reasons that have never been defined

Newcastle 19th May - full stage panorama

The Garage, Glasgow - 20th May 2025

Before the Glasgow gig was the first time I ever met the ElRat Designs Badge Angel, @just_like_bunny in person, after months of talking at distance, it was a lovely moment, and I'm so lucky to have them in my corner. Again, the venue people were so nice and friendly, extremely helpful in giving me a spot to get some good recordings for us, I think this video came out great, *and* I got to watch, and record from the balcony, right in the sound booth.

Afterwards, loads of people came to say hello, asking me about their tour shirts from the official Merch stand. They were kind enough to look at my little stall, again, some people wanted to ask me about the custom lyric shirts, but most just wanted to talk a little bit of Hersh with someone who knew their passion, tell me about the first time they saw her, or the first time they heard her (It's a mark of the power of Hersh's music that a lot of people have a story about the first time they heard her, and how it felt (feel free to add yours in the comments, I love hearing about all our different Hersh journeys)). A lot of people just wanted to say how good the gig was... and it was... really good. As someone with ASD, whose "special interest" is Hersh music, it was so good to be able to connect with people who understood that passion... didn't look at me like I was a complete weirdo. Thank you, to all of you!

After this gig I got *all* the merch in my van to hold while they all went off to Ireland, I was left with a tiny spot to sleep in the back on my way back home. This middle/late part of the May tour, up to Bristol, was the dream part of the tour, when everything seemed to be going great. The ElRat Designs stall even got a mention in the Resound Online review.

Glasgow 20th May - empty room load-in panorama

This part of the tour really did feel like a Summer of Love... so here's a "Summer of Love" soundcheck clip. We do a handwritten by Kristin Hersh "Summer of Love" T-Shirt with "Finally life..." on the front, and "As it should have been" and "Throwing Muses" on the back.

Glasgow 20th May - waiting, blue light and crowd

Waiting for the Throwing Muses with all these wonderful people

Academy 2, Manchester - 24th May 2025

Arrived here early, and the band was late getting there from Ireland, so I had a lot of time to sit and worry, but actually I didn't. I got to park up at the venue, sit crammed in the back of my van amongst all the merch, and have a cup of tea and do some drawing.

This was a great gig, bigger than I normally like, but I was at the back in the sound/lighting area, so didn't have to be in the melee. I was a little bit distracted from the band, partly I guess because I was quite a long way from the stage, and I had a drunk guy talking at me (Likely can hear him on some of the recordings) and some distracting clattery bar noise, the atmosphere was great though. The lighting lady was really concerned with my recording, so was checking my camcorder screen occasionally to see what her lighting was doing. Which she didn't have to do at all, but it was really nice of her. She also sent me a few pictures that she'd taken after, she was a genuinely lovely, warm human.

I got to meet the excellent Paul Gormley , a very good friend and supporter of ElRat Designs. He's a relatively new Hersh listener, and all around good guy. After months of talking with him online, it was nice to actually talk with him in the real. I saw some other people I knew there too, and I saw a bunch of wild ElRat shirts. The band were great (always) and it was just a lot of fun despite my distractions, didn't really have any major anxiety... which was nice.🖤

Manchester 24th May - soundcheck panorama

Manchester 24th May - soundcheck landscape

Manchester 24th May - ElRat Stall portrait

The beautiful ElRat Designs stall, showing prints, badges and keyrings

Manchester 24th May - set times portrait

Set times! The important information for the night

Manchester 24th May - Throwing Muses University shirt

Me in my "Throwing Muses University" in fluorescent yellow ink. (not listed, but you can use the "design your own" page to create it, or just email me)

Kristin Hersh "Silver Sun"

Manchester 24th May - Chains Changed shirt

Throwing Muses "Chains Changed" logo Misprint

Manchester 24th May - Throwing Muses 1986 shirt

Paul Gormley in one of his

Throwing Muses 1986 logo

Throwing Muses "University"

Bearded Theory Festival, Catton Park - 25th May 2025

I had some anxiety here, more logistical than anything, I am not a fan of huge crowds. I had a pass for the staff parking but took a wrong turn from accreditation, and ended up driving Lizzie around the entire circuit of the back stage area of the site without the correct pass... when I got almost to the end, the security person looked fair livid (Not with me, with the 5 people that had kept letting me through secure areas, without a pass. Security person thanked me for not being a terrorist😬😆)

After I got in anxiety subsided a lot, met a couple of people I know, got to take a couple of wild shirt pictures, set my camera up at the sound desk and watched "Osaka Ramones" from there (Which was very worthwhile it has to be said), then had a little chat with the sound guy and he said he's done sound for TM somewhere (I can't remember where or the exact date) back in the 90s, so he was really looking forward to the set, I also asked him if this was his first cello setup of the weekend and he said yes, didn't think there was another one there... certainly not that he knew about.

I ended up being able to watch the Throwing Muses from in front of the barrier. Which was a fairly amazing spot. Took too many pics, with my phone... many of which are here. (I make no apology) So despite me expecting this to be quite a difficult show, in the end it turned out really well, the crowd were appreciative, I got a great video of "Limbo" and "Counting backwards", from my phone, watch out in the middle for my friend in his Ellen West shirt. I'm not sure you needed to know all of this, but it's everything I can drag from my Aphantasia/SDAM brain, and I guess it will help me in the future... so... sorry about that if it's too much jabber...🙄😆🖤

Bearded Theory 25th May - festival opening panorama

Bearded Theory 25th May - weird head portrait

Bearded Theory 25th May - The Meadow landscape

Bearded Theory 25th May - in front of the barrier portrait

Bearded Theory 25th May - D in Hook in her Head shirt

Bearded Theory 25th May - T and D in Ellen West and Hook in her Head shirts

Bearded Theory 25th May - T in Ellen West shirt

Wild ElRat shirts at Bearded Theory! D wearing her "Hook in her Head" shirt, T and D together in their Ellen West and Hook in her Head shirts, and T solo showing off his Ellen West shirt - this is the friend you can spot in the Limbo video!

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Full Band Silhouette Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Fred & Hersh and Dylan - Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Hersh and Dylan - A beautiful moment - Photo by ElRat Designs

I felt guilty about taking this picture after I had... but it's such a beautiful moment, I'm pleased I did.

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - CelloPete - Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Full Band - Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Fred & Hersh - Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Fred - Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Full Band from the back - Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Dylan - Photo by ElRat Designs

Throwing Muses at the Bearded Theory 25th May 2025 - Kristin Hersh - Photo by ElRat Designs

Bearded Theory 25th May - festival closing panorama

The Fleece, Bristol - 26th May 2025

I really enjoyed this gig, despite the dodgy sound (in my opinion)... felt comfortable... like things were really going well. I ended up having quite a long chat with the sound guy about bootlegs... he was really dismissive of audience recordings, but I have good mics and I defended our corner. He offered to do me a sound desk mix if I had a spare memory card, and absolute boon, I still hadthat 16GB one in the bag from earlier in the tour... so I snapped his hand off thinking that would be amazing. I still setup my own gear, and got the sound deck recording... and I have to tell you folks, in my opinion mine is better... maybe because the sound was off, and I think the mix on my general room recording sounds clearer.

As it transpired, something changed here... and I still don't know what, or why, (Not with Hersh, or the band, they have been consistently kind, welcoming and amazing) but this was the last soundcheck I got to see (Except for one accidental partial one in September) and the last zero anxiety gig of the tour... I think that's really all I can say.

Bristol 26th May - Pete soundcheck portrait

Bristol 26th May - Dylan soundcheck portrait

a couple of videos from the soundcheck for your viewing pleasure

Bristol 26th May - Waiting for the Throwing Muses

Bristol 26th May - Hersh and Dylan portrait

Electric Ballroom, London - 27th May 2025

Anxiety was back here, and I was a bit stressed with the reduced time to setup the stall and sort out a spot for recording. The sound engineer wasn't around before doors open, so I was limited for options, I ended up on the balcony with a proper weird angle, and too many chattery people. (I don't know why people go to a gig to have a shouted conversation, it's just disrespectful to everyone else, please don't do it) So, the view isn't what I wanted for the video, and I don't have a lot of pics for the same reason. The security guy up top was really nice, kept an eye on my gear while I was at my stall, before and after the Muses set.

The Hersh people were, as always amazing. Saw a nice selection of wild shirts, and there were a few people there that I knew, met someone I've talked to online for ages, who came all the way from the USA. So many of you came to see my little stall, and I'm so grateful to all of you. You people really carried me through the anxiety, made me feel better about it all.

Unfortunately this turned out to be the last night of this tour due to Hersh's ill health. The band were great as always, despite Hersh's voice issues incoming.

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - opening panorama

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - set times portrait

The important information

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - waiting landscape

Waiting for the Throwing Muses

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - live crowd portrait

The crowd from above

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - Hook in Her Head black shirt

Hook in Her Head (Black/Scarlet)

Kristin Fuckin' Hersh graffiti tee

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - Hook in her Head charcoal shirt

Hook in her Head (Charcoal/Scarlet)

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - USA visitor with custom lyric shirt front

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - USA visitor with custom lyric shirt back

I finally met this wonderful human at the Electric Ballroom gig in London. All the way from the USA, wearing one of the first handwritten custom lyric shirts. It has "Throwing Muses 2024" on the front, and "Lazy Eye" lyrics on the back.

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - live red portrait

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - live blue portrait

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - live red white portrait

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - live blue landscape

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - live white landscape

Electric Ballroom London 27th May - closing panorama

Kristin Hersh Solo
Signature Brew, London - 6th June 2025

I went to this show with just my phone and the audio recorder, met my friend there and had a relatively stress-free show

Met the guy with the KFH shirt, from the previous section again, along with his wonderful wife. Was so nice talking to him, he said some extremely kind things about ElRat Designs. Also got to finally see the custom tour shirt I made, It was apparently at the Bearded Theory but I missed it there somehow

Hersh sounded amazing, despite the obvious voice issues that had caused the end of the Throwing Muses tour to be cancelled. I really loved seeing the band, but I am a Hersh listener first and foremost, and I absolutely love hearing her play, I swear I could do that every day of my life and never be bored... it's a real shame that she dislikes playing live so much... because she's so fucking good at it. Blows my mind every time. I often think about all the coincidences involved in any of us being here at all... all the millions of small incidental things that happened to get to this moment.... and how lucky we are... and on top of that, to be alive at the same time as Kristin Hersh, and to know her music... *and* to get to hear her play in the real world... we really did win the random life lottery.

As I said, I only had my phone and my audio recorder, and since I videoed the whole set, there are no in set pics, I may add a couple of screen shots though. She played "Your Ghost" with Memorials and Graham Reynolds at the end... the sound was terrible, and, it wasn't for me... but for sure Hersh looked like she was having a lot of fun with that so...

Kristin Hersh Solo London 6th June - opening panorama

So lucky to hear the first ever Moonlight bone!!
If you want to learn more about bones versions of Hersh songs, I did write a whole website (To be updated now)
Kristin Hersh Song Bones - Looking for bones and finding treasure

Kristin Hersh Solo London 6th June - Hersh playing landscape

Kristin Hersh Solo London 6th June - Hersh smiling

Kristin Hersh Solo London 6th June - Hersh with MEMORIALS portrait

Kristin Hersh Solo London 6th June - Hersh smiling with MEMORIALS landscape

Kristin Hersh Solo London 6th June - closing panorama

ElRat Designs - Approved Kristin Hersh Merch

Feel free to browse our collection of Kristin Hersh, Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave Merch. Every single Hersh item at ElRat Designs, is personally approved by The One Hersh. Money from every singly Hersh item, goes directly to Kristin Hersh to fund studio time. All the shirts and designs you see throughout this tour blog are available from ElRat Designs. We will be doing another run of custom lyric shirts in the future, most likely next time Kristin Hersh is over here on tour, if you want to keep informed about when that happens, feel free to sign up for our e-mails (I am fairly slack at sending emails, so you won't be inundated) I have a bunch of other handwritten lyrics still to put out, and a mass of other Hersh merch ideas in my head. So there are lots more things coming. If you have anything in particular you would like to see, feel free to come and talk to me.

From handwritten lyric shirts to original ElRat Designs, to classic band logos, and Exclusive Strange Angel items, you can find all your Hersh Merch needs at the ElRat Designs Kristin Hersh Collection.

All our merch is hand screen printed with eco-friendly inks, available in sizes S-6XL because music is for everyone, and merch should be too.

Thank you to everyone who has supported ElRat Designs so far, and I look forward to talking more Hersh things with more of you in the future

Love, El🖤

All photographs and video recordings © ElRat Designs 2025. Recorded with the express permission of Kristin Hersh. These are made to be given freely to the community, please feel free to share and repost with credit to ElRat Designs - that's what they're for! 🖤

Find more live recordings:
ElRat Designs YouTube - TM live recordings & promo videos
ch33sl3y YouTube - Live Hersh recordings & cloud timelapses with rarer songs

ch33sl3y is the handle I used (and still use for personal stuff) before ElRat Designs - if you see that name on bootlegs, recordings, or websites that's also me!

🎵 Hersh Bootleg Community Notice

Never pay for Hersh bootlegs! I maintain a collection of over 200 Kristin Hersh/Throwing Muses bootlegs, all freely available on the Internet Archive. If you're looking for live recordings, email me and I'll help you find what's available for free - that's what the community is for.

Got old bootleg tapes that need digitising? Please reach out - I'd love to help preserve them for the community.

Contact: ch33sl3y@gmail.com (this is also me) | Browse the collection

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Throwing Muses - Moonlight Concessions UK Tour - Part 1

TM2025 Tour - May/June

Jump to Show

Waterfront, Norwich - 17th May 2025

Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 18th May 2025

The Cluny, Newcastle - 19th May 2025

The Garage, Glasgow - 20th May 2025

Academy 2, Manchester - 24th May 2025

Bearded Theory Festival, Catton Park - 25th May 2025

The Fleece, Bristol - 26th May 2025

Electric Ballroom, London - 27th May 2025

Kristin Hersh Solo
Signature Brew, London - 6th June 2025

🎵 Hersh Bootleg Community Notice

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Country/region

TM2025 Tour - May/June

Jump to Show

Waterfront, Norwich - 17th May 2025

Brudenell Social Club, Leeds - 18th May 2025

The Cluny, Newcastle - 19th May 2025

The Garage, Glasgow - 20th May 2025

Academy 2, Manchester - 24th May 2025

Bearded Theory Festival, Catton Park - 25th May 2025

The Fleece, Bristol - 26th May 2025

Electric Ballroom, London - 27th May 2025

Kristin Hersh SoloSignature Brew, London - 6th June 2025

🎵 Hersh Bootleg Community Notice

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Kristin Hersh Solo
Signature Brew, London - 6th June 2025