Gig review: Manchester Orchestra

SINCE forming in 2005, Manchester Orchestra – a rock band, from Atlanta, Georgia, to be clear about it – have advanced steadily, both in terms of support – this packed gig was originally scheduled for a much smaller venue – and in musical confidence.

Bandleader Andy Hull has grown up in public, airing his teenage apprehensions and spiritual questing through character sketches, his angst leavened by a folksy humour.

Now married and in his mid-twenties, it is time for him to break out the concept album. Simple Math features a sequence of songs where Hull fences emotionally with his wife and his God. But there is no need to be afraid. This tension is articulated in the quiet/loud terms any fan of contemporary alternative rock will be familiar with. Hull has lapped up Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Weezer and is making his bid to cross over to the mainstream.

Much of his material oscillated between hushed passages, with his emo keening to the fore, and contrasting, satisfying slabs of bludgeoning caveman riffola which came crashing in at regular intervals, much like Biffy Clyro if they were more influenced by classic rock than punk.

The set came to rely on that dynamic too often though, a default position which became less potent each time it was rolled out. The alternative was the tuneful but so-what altrock of Pensacola and a stripped-back two-part harmony ode to Hull’s favourite rapper 50 Cent – pleasant diversions both, but not songs you could stake your musical reputation on.

For their encore, they moved from the throwaway to the would-be monumental with a self-conscious, self-indulgent epic Where Have You Been? which tried just a bit too hard to be important. But, judging by the rapturous reception, this is a crossover cult in the making.