WITH CONFIDENCE + ROAM // MANCHESTER ACADEMY, MANCHESTER

Tonight’s show saw a coheadliner from Australians With Confidence and Eastbourne’s own ROAM with support from fellow Australians Dead Love and Scotland’s own WOES.

WITH CONFIDENCE PERFORMING AT MANCHESTER ACADEMY - 26.09.2019 PICTURE BY: | KIRSTY LEANNE PHOTOGRAPHY — **WITH CONFIDENCE PERFORMING AT MANCHESTER ACADEMY - 26.09.2019**
PICTURE BY: | KIRSTY LEANNE PHOTOGRAPHY

★★★★☆ (4/5)

First up with the fellow Australians Dead Love, the trio took to the stage with rocky riffs and an interesting energy just ten minutes after the doors opened. The band provided the crowd with catchy riffs and some impeccable stage presence much to the delight of the early audience turn out. The band got the crowd engaged by encouraging a ‘woah’ repetition which was well received. The band got a decent turn out to say how early on their set was, a guy in orange on the front row was the life and soul of the bands crowd jumping up and down and singing along happily. The band left the stage to the sound of applause and cheers from the audience.

Next up was Woes. Having seen the band previously I was interested to see how their performance would weigh up to the last time I saw them. They didn’t disappoint. Their energetic stage presence paired with their catchy riffs and charismatic personalities meant their set went down well within the crowd. The energy from the band was reciprocated from the crowd who spent the entirety of the bands set jumping about and singing along. The bands set saw a variety of balloons and party streamers from one audience member who’s birthday it was, it earned them a shout out from the band regardless. The band gave a shout out to their ‘homies’ who had been following the tour which only spurred the excited audience on further. In a burst of spontaneous nature, the bassist then launched his shoes off stage into the crowd which only added to the fun. The energy from both the band and the crowd was on another level, they were a definite crowd pleaser. These guys put on an incredible show, watch out for them!

The playlist that played between the sets was a dream. So many pop punk tunes that made the waiting between turnaround seem like nothing. For me it was a highlight of the set!

Next was the first of the two headliners for this evening show, ROAM. Having never seen this band before I was intrigued for what their set would hold. Their energy was electric from the get-go, the frontman was diving about the stage which spurred the crowd on. The energy in the room was as hot as the temperature, sweaty!! Mosh pits opened in the middle of the floor to the delight of the band and audience members who dived in to join the fun. The crowd surfers flew over the crowds into the unexpecting security members which only added to the energy present in the room. Frequent seas of clapping echoed across the room as the bands set continued. As the band began introducing their new album smile wide, frontman Alex Costelllo made a pun “When you leave here, you’ll be smiling wide with smile wide” which earned some judgemental looks from his fellow band members. He went on to discuss the meaning behind the album title “Smile wide is about taking that control back and not letting others walk all over you” which then saw the song beginning and the energy resuming. The crowd jumped along on command of the frontman which was loved by the band and reciprocated on stage. As the band began to intro a slower song on the set Costello asks the crowd “Is it cool if we calm things down for a minute, we can go back to punching each other in the face in a minute” which earned some laughter from the crowd who swayed along with the slightly slower track regardless. The band declared the crowd was one of their favourites on tour so far and proceeded to give the support bands Woes and Dead Love the chance for some cheers. As the band introduced their album track Piranha, they revealed the track was written in Texas alongside the rest of the album. The crowd sings every lyric back at the band loudly, sometimes louder than the band themselves. Head Rush sees the crowd energy accelerate a level with even more jumping and surges of pushing as circle pits begin to open within the crowd. As Costello climbs down onto the barriers the fans surge forwards once more both on the floor and via crowd surfing. As the final track Playing Fiction is introduced Costello announces, “If you know the words to this one come up here and spit in my face”. ROAM is a band to watch, if you have the chance to see them, they’re a must see!

SETLIST: | ROAM : MANCHESTER ACADEMY - 26.09.2019

I Don’t Think I Live There Anymore
Alive
Flatline
Better in Than Out
Deadweight
Hand Grenade
Hopeless Case
Turn
Piranha
Head Rush
Playing Fiction

Finally, tonight’s closing act Australian born With Confidence. The second headliner and by the sound of the front row the one they’d been waiting for. The four-piece band brought catchy riffs and energetic stage presence to the stage and lit the crowd once more with energy. As the band introduced their track Spinning, they announced the track had never been played in Manchester before. The bands bassist was full of energy and spurred the crowd on even more with every swing of his guitar. The bands set saw crowd surfers galore, every time security caught one another one appeared shortly after. The catchy lyrics were on par with the happy nature of the band’s frontman. Dinner bell had an indescribable crowd energy, the entire room seemed to be on their feet for the entirety of the song jumping and moshing. Circle pits frequently opened just behind the second row of people and spanned across the entire floor. The crowd clapped and sang along with the guitarist happily. Frontman Jayden Seeley then announces “Hey Manchester did you know that exactly a year ago we were in this exact room playing a show” which earned some cheers from audience members. Godzilla beginning causes an eruption of singing from the crowd much to the delight of the band. Arms wave in unison as crowd surfers begin to fly over their heads once again. There’s so much energy in the room and it’s understandable why. As the band closes with their crowd favourite Voldemort the energy continues right until the end.

All bands who performed tonight gave it their all. The show was full of guitar riffs and catchy punk songs from start to finish. The energy was indescribable all night long. With Confidence are a must see if you ever get the chance! As are the other three bands on the line-up tonight. Catch a show if the bands play near you!