Live Review : Mason Hill + Hollowstar + Empyre @ Academy 3, Manchester on September 25th 2021

You know what my first thought was about tonight’s bill when I was asked to come out and watch it? Any of the three bands playing could actually be headliners. Despite their different styles and their different strengths and weaknesses,I am genuinely amazed at the quality of some of the bands knocking about on the club-sized venue circuit in the UK at the moment. Tonight we are treated to three who are all different, yet also share an eagerness to make music and perform it, a keenness, a hunger. It’s good to see that although not a sell-out there is a decent-sized crowd gathered, and also good to see that most of them get in early and stay to watch all three acts.

We start with Empyre. Now if you’ve read any of my recent pieces on them you’ll know that although I am a fan I am not sure exactly where their rather unique style of music fits in terms of live space. Tonight that lingering question was answered because a small, dark, intimate venue was the perfect setting. Starting with the howl of Henrik’s plaintive vocals Empyre took us on a journey of discovery. Their music is complex and compelling, almost orchestral in its intensity. In this womb-like setting we can give the music our full appreciation, and indeed we do. There is no rush here, the 30-minute set gives us just five songs, and we are able to savour every moment of every one of them.

Hollowstar too are on a bit of a roll tonight. Their dirty heavy blues has power and melody, and the combination of Joe’s gritty vocals and Phil’s soaring guitar notes (complete with grimaces) take the crowd on a totally different type of journey. If Empyre were a raft on a lazy river, Hollowstar are a white-knuckle white-water ride. Faster, louder, much more raw, the crowd are right there stomping and clapping with them. Although at first I was not a massive fan I have to admit that they are growing on me the more I see them. Their cover of Free’s ‘Wishing Well’ is still a highlight of the set (for me) but their own songs stand proud and are also worth a listen. A slightly Southern influence seems to be creeping into their set and ‘Good man Gone’, dedicated to Phil’s recently departed father, is an indication of how their songwriting is leaning in this direction. This is a good thing, it suits their playing and goes down well with the crowd. Overall a superb performance by a band who are very much on the up at the moment. One of my friends, seeing them for the first time tonight, likened them to Black Stone Cherry, and who am I to disagree with that?

And so to headliners Mason Hill, who have arranged this tour on the back of their just-released first album “Against The Wall”. This is the 3rd time I’ve seen them this year, and on each occasion they have been a little bit better than before. If we are maintaining the boating theme, Mason Hill are a speedboat, racing past the competition smoothly and with style. They too depend on power and melody to get their point across, and they have the added bonus of a powerhouse of a frontman. Scott Taylor has the pipes and also the charisma to form an unbreakable bond with the crowd. His signature move is to thump his chest at heart level to signify his emotion, and tonight it’s a wonder he doesn’t break a rib because emotion is indeed running very high. They are another band who combine power and melody into delicious chunks of heavy goodness. The harmony vocals are great, the musicianship is superb, each not is placed perfectly just where it belongs to give the greatest effect. The vibe puts me in mind of Alter Bridge and Myles Kennedy, with a nod towards Avenged Sevenfold who I am assured are metalcore. I’m not sure if that label really fits Mason Hill, they do have the hard edges but there is a bit of a soft centre to cushion the blow. The emotion is carried from the vocals into James Bird’s guitar performance, and I am not alone in finding myself spontaneously hugging my friends throughout the show. It turned out to be Scott’s birthday so there was a cake and some singing of Happy Birthday to him, giving us all more feels! There is a single cover in the set, and it’s the Foo Fighters’ ‘Best Of You’, performed with an energy and passion that puts even Mr Grohl himself to shame. There’s a singalong, splitting the room in two and pitting the halves against each other, and the warmth in the room is palpable. They finish with what seems to be becoming their own signature tune; ‘Where I Belong’ is a stonker of a power ballad that has the whole room swaying and singing. All in all a superb night, and another of those shows where I think it’s entirely possible that in  future when they are packing out stadiums it will be nice to be able to say “I was there when……….”