Project Description
MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA
@ UOW UniBar
04/02/2018
By Georgia Dickinson
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Manchester Orchestra have aged remarkably well throughout their career. The Atlanta-based quartet are onto their 14th year as a band, have performed at major music festivals around the world and have engraved themselves as a staple in emo culture. The band have created a sonic masterpiece with their recent release A Black Mile to the Surface, inspired from their journey creating the soundtrack for 2016’s Swiss Army Man starring Daniel Radcliffe. To promote the album, Manchester Orchestra have come to Australia for the first time since 2014, playing both familiar cities and new ones. This includes their most intimate Australian show to date at the University of Wollongong’s UniBar, in which I was fortunate enough to finally witness the wonders Andy Hull and co. in person.
To kick off the night, Wollongong locals Jacob and El Grande took to the stage, providing catchy lyrics and delectable drum beats to woo the crowd. The bands brought different elements to the stage; Jacob provided melodic 2000’s emo whilst El Grande contrasted with indie rock which had everyone bopping their heads. The crowd response for both bands had everyone clapping along but fell flat as everyone was still in their seats by the end of both sets.
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Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra – by Liz Kent
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Supporting Manchester Orchestra across the country was Modern Baseball co-frontman Jake Ewald with his side project Slaughter Beach, Dog. Compared to his live performances with Modern Baseball I had seen prior, Jake was juxtaposed alone with only his guitar and the occasional appearance of a harmonica but this was more than enough to have everyone in the building on their feet. Songs like “Gold And Green” and “Phoenix” had the entire place silent, eagerly wanting to hear as Ewald weaved through the story of his recent album Birdie. Throughout songs, Ewald connected with the crowd with banter and soon enough, with his final song “Acolyte”, everyone was singing along.
Manchester Orchestra walked onto the stage in single form as the lights came up and the crowd applauded. Vocalist Andy Hull is prophetic in the way he conducts himself onstage from the time he begins to front the band in opener “The Maze” before delving into their single “The Gold”. The euphoria could be witnessed through everyone’s face in the crowd, mine included. Manchester Orchestra bring everything they can to their performances, making it as intense as it possibly so match the incredible depth created in each song they produce. However, through the cracks of intensity, the hidden happiness and fire inside the band still burns after 14 years and multiple lineup changes.
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Andy Hull and Andy Prince of Manchester Orchestra – By Liz Kent
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Hull and his counterparts don’t speak much in between songs. If anything, he doesn’t speak at all. However, this creates more of an emphasis in the songs the band performs to the audience. Songs like “The Alien” and “The Grocery” have everyone in silence, or at the most, have people humming along. It attracts the ears of security and even bar staff, who stopped to indulge in the performances. Hull is a mastermind in the way he conducts himself and the crowd, it’s infectious. To the point where Hull closed out the set with a personal song of his called “Untitled (Blue)”, a song in which left chills in the back of the entire crowd and a standing ovation from those who were sitting at the back.
To say that Manchester Orchestra are underrated on Australian shores is completely underestimated. There’s an awfully good reason why the band are on major festival lineups like Boston Calling and Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. It’s in the way the band breathes as an entity. It’s in the shivers you get when you only hear Andy Hull’s angelic voice in a sea of people. It’s in the way they speak nothing at all.
There’s a magic to Manchester Orchestra. And the only way you truly experience that magic is live and loud.
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