On the night of the 19th July 2024, four bands came together at Academy 3 in Manchester to put on an incredible night of music. As the opener, Monday’s Problem – a four-piece indie/alt rock band from Manchester with upbeat indie rock songs and guitar solos that truly found their place in their rock focussed set. Occasionally it was difficult to make out the lyrics of the tracks, but that was completely made up for by the energetic performance.
Next, Caesar of Cymatics made up of singer (Caesar) and backed by The Cymatics (the band). A concept that I personally love, it’s time we started naming the backing bands again. Caesar’s music stepped straight out of the 80s Manchester scene, with songs similar to The Smiths‘ catalogue and a voice with occasional resemblances to that of Adam Ant. Even Caesar’s outfit, a white shirt and a purple waistcoat, wasn’t complete without a gold laurel headband. As a final touch to their set the audience sang front man Caesar a happy birthday, before shouting out the band name.
Next on the line-up, Quadzilla, a four-piece jazz fusion band. The band’s genre stood out against the others of the night, but it was a welcome change of scenery. The audience were able to fully let go and just lose themselves to the chill melodic sounds. It was pure vibes, there was no other way to describe it.
And last, but definitely not least, the band we were all waiting for, Montello. Another four-piece indie rock band from Wigan delivering an absolutely electrifying performance with one of the most charismatic lead singers I’ve seen in recent times. Amazingly, this was only the bands fourth ever gig.
Photos by @seenbysharyn
There was a slight concern amongst the band members that they wouldn’t be able to sell enough tickets as one of their biggest influences, fellow Wiganers The Lathums, were performing in Wigan on the same night. However, there was no need for panic, as Academy 3 was packed with people.
Opening with ‘When We’re Older…’ the set was off to a good start followed by my personal favourite, ‘House On Fire’. The track continued the 80s sound from earlier in the night, while giving immaculate gothabilly vibes (a fusion of goth and rockabilly). Both renditions of ‘All My Loving’ by The Beatles and ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ by The Stone Roses were received very positively by the audience, who sung every word back to the band. Both songs saw the lead singer (Jacob Knowles) jump down onto the barricade, somehow elevating the level of enthusiasm even further from those down at the front.
Photos by @seenbysharyn
The rest of the set was just as incredible as the first few songs resulting in a well-deserved, characterful encore. The audience were shouting the obligatory “one more song” when the bassist (Jacob Ratcliffe) started playing from side stage; slowly each band member made their way onto the stage to join the bass, who walked onto the podium last.
A similar thing happened during the last song, where everyone but the singer walked off stage and into the dressing room. For a moment it seemed the last song would just be performed by the singer, but once again the rest of the band made their way onto stage one by one, except for Jacob on bass who jumped straight onto the barricade instead.
All in all, the event will go down as a night you shouldn’t have missed. I can see these bands one day performing around the larger venues in a couple years. As for Montello, I think it might be sooner rather than later, those guys are going to make it big time, mark my words.
WORDS: SHARYN BELLEMAKERS
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