Twin Atlantic - Manchester Academy 2

As winter draws in and the nights get a little darker and a little colder, it seems less and less inviting to leave the house in the evenings, especially on a Sunday night. But tonight in Manchester, Scottish rock band, Twin Atlantic are here to brighten things up with a healthy dose of their energetic rock anthems. 

Theres only one band in support tonight and that is Daytime TV. Like tonight's headline act they have also come from Scotland to be here. The band themselves are quite fresh to the scene, however they’ve had some huge tours supporting the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, The Kaiser Chiefs, The Wombats and a whole host of other bands, so this should give the crowd a good indication of what they’re in for with this set.

Playing a selection of fun and vibrant indie songs, the band slowly begin to get the growing crowd warmed up. A stand out song from the set was the indie banger ‘Little Victories’, which brought with it some jumping and dancing amongst the crowd.  Musically, Daytime TV are easy to compare to the likes of Circa Waves and Sea Girls but they do also bring their own flare to the genre.

It's always tough being a new band supporting an established artist but the band take it in their stride and the Twin Atlantic fans embrace them with open arms. They thank the crowd one final time and encourage people to come and chat with them over at the merch table after the show, before leaving the stage. Daytime TV is usually pretty dull, but the band 'Daytime TV' are more than entertaining and it will be interesting to see how they progress over the next few years.

Tonight’s headliner, Twin Atlantic, made a name for themselves with the release of their debut album ‘Vivarium’ back in 2009 and have moved from strength to strength throughout their career, playing multiple shows and even headlining 2000 Trees in 2018. Tonight, the band bring their tour to Manchester in support of their latest album ‘Meltdown’ which released earlier this year.

The house lights go down and the stage lights go on revealing a stage thick in smoke. As Queen's ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ plays, figures move out of the smoke, armed with their instruments. Twin Atlantic start their set with two notably slower songs ‘Meltdown’ and ‘Yes, I was Drunk’ before introducing themselves to the excited crowd. The band pick up the speed with ‘Get Out’ before delivering a fan favourite early in the set with ‘Free’. The atmosphere within the room completely shifts from enjoyment to a sense of total euphoria as the crowd belt out the vocals to the huge chorus. Songs like ‘Free’ are where Twin Atlantic shine, the verses are a quiet build up to a monumental chorus allowing Sam McTrusty’s voice to soar over the crowd whilst backed by uplifting riffs and huge booming drums.

Whilst this tour may be in support of the new album, it's a career-spanning set, taking tracks from across their discography and crafting an exciting and enjoyable setlist and the crowd is loving it. Even though tonight isn’t sold out that doesn’t matter, with each member of the crowd singing along so loudly they make up for it, proving that the band have a truly loyal fanbase.

Tonight's set also questions why the band haven’t quite made it to arena level yet. In a smaller room all of these songs sound so big and deserve to be played on a bigger stage. The newer songs also sound great live, gaining a great response from the crowd but they’re always out done by the hits which the fans know and love. Songs like ‘Hold On’ have the room bouncing, where ‘Make A Beast of Myself’ has all hands in the air and the whole room singing along. ‘Snow In Texas’ brings out the softer side of the band alongside the heartfelt anthem ‘Brothers & Sisters’. 

Tonights performance is rounded off with a true taste of Twin Atlantic's signature sound, ‘Heart and Soul’. This is a prime example of their stadium rock sound and brings possibly the biggest singalong of the whole night. It's been an enjoyable and energetic night with both bands sounding fantastic.

Twin Atlantic once again proved why they have such loyal fans, delivering all their biggest hits whilst also injecting their latest material into the mix. Sam deserves some praise of his own with his voice sounding pitch perfect; possibly even better than on their recorded material. The only thing that may have let them down a little is a stage presence that didn’t quite match the energy of their music but this isn’t necessarily a problem for the fans who are more than happy with tonight's show.