Live Review : Pop Evil + Call Me Amour @ Rebellion, Manchester on May 5th 2023

It’s a unique occasion heading into Manchester tonight with my brother, given that he moved to Australia 15 years ago… but he introduced me to our headliners Pop Evil about 3 years ago and making the most of our time together is what memories are made of.

We arrive just before four-piece Call Me Amour take to the stage. The venue is already packed and having been asked to arrive on time to catch this band I am intrigued to see and hear what they are all about. Their website describes them as “mixing dark electronica and sonic guitars” and the energy on stage is infectious; they have the audience engaged from the get-go. I have not seen a support act receive this sort of response in a long time. The singer, Harry Radford, formerly of Yashin, drags his microphone stand out onto the floor multiple times throughout the set and gets the crowd singing along. At one point he introduces what should be a song about addiction and recovery, referencing his own struggles and the importance of friends before his bandmates affectionately, but amusingly remind him he’s missed a song… So, we must wait before we get to hear ‘Deeper’, but when we do we are encouraged to bring forth our phone lights, it is a moving and emotive experience. Before they depart, we go to the opposite extreme and are given a fast and furious rendition of ‘Breathe’ by The Prodigy. It’s a total curveball I didn’t see coming, it sounds great and is much fun. Be sure to check these guys out, their debut EP is being released very soon. 

<Intermission> When did they wallpaper the toilets in here? Sorry but that was actually a nice surprise in this somewhat musty and damp venue! Though I still miss the eternally amusing toilet without the cubicle in the ladies’ toilets from yesteryear. Anyway… back to proceedings, the place has gotten even busier now as we await our headliners and as I scan the room, I am surprised there are not more young people here. I know Pop Evil have been around since 2001 and maybe it is because they are still quite a recent discovery for me, but the crowd is predominantly over 30 (maybe even 35) and there are some interesting older rockers among us (suppose I had better start including myself in that category now I am the wrong side of 40!) My brother points to the side of the stage, near to where we are stood, spying another older rocker who he thinks is part of the band and it is indeed rhythm guitarist Dave Grahs.

Pop Evil, hailing from Michigan, have seven studio albums including recently released “Skeletons”, six songs from which make up nearly half of tonight’s playlist. They launch into “Paranoid (Crash and Burn” and something is not quite right to my ears… Singer Leigh Kakaty has an absolutely stunning voice, but it sounds like he has taken his microphone into another room and trying to sing through the wall as the bass and drums are completely drowning out the vocals. At times the unintended reverb cuts through too and although I am trying to ignore it and hope that things improve as the set continues, my hopes are quickly dashed.

I am familiar with about half of the songs tonight and relish the rapport between the band members and the interaction with the fans but is it enough to distract me from the poor sound quality? Meanwhile Leigh introduces the band and says this is the UK date, indeed THE European date, they have been looking forward to most and they love this old school style rock venue. He also reminds me that drummer, Hayley Cramer, who joined the band in 2015, is from London. I am sure I knew that but consequently forgot. He reflects on the last few years and profusely apologises for all the disruption that has kept them away and caused previous tours to be cancelled. He also regales us with the story of how he asked Chris Robertson of Black Stone Cherry how they broke Europe and the UK. Sheer persistence was the answer and with that an appeal to the crowd to keep turning up and they will keep coming…

Three songs in and we get ‘Let the Chaos Reign’ from 2020 album “Versatile”, and the sound is no better. The band have a huge presence on this tiny stage, with no fancy backdrops or lighting and are giving it their all; it’s a powerful and visually explosive performance, but it’s too powerful. After this track they blast through another five songs from the new album (including one song they are performing live for the first time). I’ve been looking forward to the moving lyrics and catchy beat of title track ‘Skeletons’ (possibly my favourite single of the year so far) all night but the poignancy of the moment is lost once more. The same happens with ‘Waking the Lions’, from their 2017 self-titled album. Given Pop Evil’s signature style is fast, furious riffs and thundering drums, coupled with lyrics and vocals that assault the senses and the soul, this is a performance that pales in comparison to what it could be and something that seemingly could be easily remedied. 

We get a slight reprieve when we are introduced to ZILLION who’s 2022 single ‘War Inside of Me’ from debut EP “Radio Face” featured the band. Zillion stays on for a further song and frustratingly his wired microphone is so much clearer than Leigh’s wireless one. We get one final song but no ‘Set Me Free’ or ‘Be Legendary’ (check out the retro arcade game video for the latter if you have not already seen it), both of which I was hoping to hear but instead the night ends with ‘Breathe Again’. This was written before the pandemic but only released in 2020 and the lyrics are a cathartic and soothing balm to anyone who has struggled in recent years, but has finally managed to come up to breathe again. It focuses more on the evil part of Pop Evil as the band wanted to “let their metal roots shine”. The strength of the song lies not only in the lyrics but the impact of the vocal delivery. It portrays the immense emotional release on the other side of struggle through the quieter moments when the lyrics literally have the chance to breathe in-between the heavy riffage. Alas both the vocals and melodic guitars are heavily muted beneath the bass and ear-splitting drumbeats, though we do get a glimmer of how clear and defined the vocals should sound during the softer parts… Then what seems a very short set (about an hour), comes to an abrupt end, leaving me rather deflated. 

We stick around at the end of the night and take the opportunity to meet Harry from Call Me Amour and ZILLION and spread the word about ROCKFLESH. They are happy to meet people and take the time to chat. Both bands are worth a listen and despite the sound issues (which quite a few others mentioned to us at the end of the night) please do listen to Pop Evil’s latest album “Skeletons” as Leigh says “I know it’s a morbid visual, but behind every skeleton, there’s a story and something worth talking about. Overall, it’s about looking at something in a positive way.”

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Pop Evil, Call Me Amour