It is Friday night and after a hell of a week I was off to let off steam at the gig of the month! Massive Wagons and The Darkness at the Manchester Academy. Being a fan of the Wagons I was more than chuffed to be shooting them again.
Into the gig at Manchester Academy I went, and on came the Wagons kicking off with Fe Fi Fo Fum and the adrenaline fuelled Baz jumping around the stage to this banger. The crowd were bouncing already! Shortly followed by “In it Together” then “China Plates” Baz is throwing his mic stand around and over his head (I am a pro at mic stand dodging now) and I was running around trying to track Baz with my lens.
The Hard fired fast paced ‘Pressure’ was next up booming out of the speaker stacks at the back (ya get the track name here). Smashing out the riffs are axe wielders Ste, always smiling living his best life, Adam armed with his signature flying V and Bowzer hidden in the shadows at the back (sorry I couldn’t grab any shots of him) We were treated to the medley starting with Bangin’ On Your Stereo, leading into The Clash’s “I Fought The Law” and Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” Brilliant….loud cheers from the crowd at this point. Their short set ended with “Ratio” and “Back to the Stack” one of my faves! The boys certainly did not disappoint and smashed the whole set! I will look forward to receiving my Wagons bobble hat and checking out the new album which is coming very soon.
I’m not really a follower of The Darkness but really like them live, just like Barry Mills from Massive Wagons, Justin Hawkins has that massive stage presence.
They open with Welcome tae Glasgae ( if auto correct would have changed that one more time, phone was getting drop kicked ) followed by one of my faves One Way Ticket.
I’ve always been addicted to a bit of Glam Rock but The Darkness give it to us a little heavier.
It wasn’t until the encore was approaching that my Favourite got played ‘Get your hands off my woman’, which gets played on a regular basis at work, top tune.
As always, The Darkness have been the highlight of my December, but to have Massive Wagons supporting made it an unforgettable night!!!
Setlist
• Welcome Tae Glasgae
• One Way Ticket
• Growing on Me
• Motorheart
• Open Fire
• Sticky Situations
• Givin’ Up
• It’s Love, Jim
• Black Shuck
• Friday Night
• Love Is Only a Feeling
• Japanese Prisoner of Love
• Solid Gold
• Eastbound
• Barbarian
• Get Your Hands Off My Woman
• Supersonic (Oasis cover)
• I Believe in a Thing Called Love
• Encore:
• Grace’s Amazing Machines
• Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)
Review Ange Cobham/Philip Goddard
Photos Philip Goddard
This post was sponsored by Tameside Distillery, please take a moment to check out their Rum and Gin…
