When a band is fronted by the Son/Daughter of a music icon, I immediately have concerns. Is this just a chance for someone to use their parents' status to have a go at music and see what it's like, via worming their way into support slots they seriously don’t deserve? Do they use their marketability to obtain a record deal due to the name associated with their act? No band is safe from this, even tonight's openers Mammoth WVH.
Read MoreI reckon we should have a sweepstake about when we will finally get through the Covid backlog of postponed gigs. My guess is some point in 2027… This gem was meant to have happened back in 2020 and this evening both acts mention that the respective albums it was designed to promote have now long since disappeared into posteriority. But to be brutally honest there is nobody in the entire arena that has pitched up tonight with the sole intention of hearing new music from either of these rock veterans. This is an audience that vividly remembers the classics, knows all the words to the classics, and is here to hear the classics.
Read MoreTonight’s gig is not only a masterclass in charismatic vocalists and virtuoso lead guitarists, but also in how to be an arena band, with all three bands nailing each of those elements perfectly. Grabbing my ticket and taking up my seat stage-side with the arena still filling up, we see openers Lorna Shore take to the stage. Hitting us straight off with their deliciously brutal onslaught, many of the crowd around me and even in the standing sections up close to the stage, seem taken aback by quite how extreme and heavy the New Jersey deathcore crew are.
Read MoreIf you want proof that the cost-of-living crisis is beginning to bite, then you need not look further than the woeful attendance for tonight's show. Both Machine Head and Amon Amarth are titans in our world, yet once-in-a-lifetime pair up has sold less than 5000 tickets for a twenty-two thousand-capacity arena. The underpopulation and unadvertised early start mean that the Halo Effect are shoved out in front of a bare handful of people. This is a crying shame as they are absolutely astonishing this evening.
Read MoreInitially, it seems that Creeper have the odds well and truly stacked against them. There are barely a thousand people inside this gigantic arena for their 7.00 PM start and the seating set-up is reminiscent of those cringe-worthy times at school that your mates' band played assembly. Additionally, a wholly unscientific mid-set survey, conducted by the band, shows that the vast majority of people present don't have a Scooby who they are. However, Creeper have two secret weapons.
Read MoreTonight, the AO arena has become one vast Karaoke booth. With no material to promote, all three acts unashamedly head down the “greatest hits” path. This is a case of raiders of the back catalogue, and even the most fair-weather planet rock listener finds at least one track in each set they miraculously know all the words to. Europe are first out the traps and whilst they are all now in their late fifties, they have the playful air of five teenagers playing rock n’ roll for the sheer love of the music.
Read MoreThe rise of Ghost has been stratospheric. Eleven years ago I saw them open for a In Flames and Trivium double bill. They weren’t the slick flamboyant show-people that they are today, but the foundations were there. Press fast forward, and on the back of the fastest selling album of the year they are starting their campaign for global dominance here in Manchester. The arena is a seething mass of merging tribes. Ghost have attracted a heady mix of grizzled metallers, one-show a year trendies, goth nuns and curious bystanders. What these diverse groups share is a desire to be entertained. Ghost have tapped into that pent up need for escapism and showmanship.
Read More
