I Went to 10 Gigs in 8 Weeks *so you don't have to*

50 days, 2 countries, 3 cities, 10 artists, 13 support artists, 10 different venues, and one exhausted overdraft.

By Tom Adams 16th November 2024

I know what you're thinking... absolutely nobody asked for this and I'm also wary of not appearing too out of touch and being hit with an Alfie Deyes 'I'm not a Tory' accusation. But as someone who probably spends too much money on gigs anyway, I thought why not turn it into something slightly more interesting and review ten gigs across eight weeks. I'll be honest, originally the plan was to do ten gigs in ten weeks. It just sounds better, but nevertheless it was achieved in eight so here it is! A lot of time, expense, travel, drinking and moshing later, this is what ten gigs in eight weeks does to a person... erm enjoy?

(Thursday 26th September)

1. Pixey

Support: Lois & Lucky Iris

Venue: Hyde Park Book Club (Leeds)

I fittingly kick-started this unhinged music pilgrimage on a cold Thursday night to return to my home city of Leeds at the cult favourite student bar of the Hyde Park Book Club. Once an old petrol station fused fancy dress shop (don't ask) the café turned into a library-arts venue in 2015 and has maintained its unique aesthetic since - one that was greatly appreciated after the forty minute walk from the city centre. Anyway, I'd travelled to see singer and producer, Pixey (aka Lizzie Hillesdon) who I had actually interviewed the year before in her native Liverpool - so I couldn't not be here for her first time headlining Leeds following her debut album, 'Million Dollar Baby'. Especially for only £12.50 a ticket! A house lager pint set me back a very respectable £4.20 before venturing down the old twisty venue stairs into the one-hundred capacity sized basement where Leeds-based alt-pop duo Lucky Iris would start the night's support slots, followed by Lancashire born singer-songwriter, Lois. Approximately 9:45PM Pixey took the cosy light-bulb lit stage with her band, and a characteristically stylish dark trapper hat that she wore for the entirety of her performance. Playing almost her debut album in full, including a beautifully stripped back version of 'Oxygen' and played 'Best Friend' to her actual best friend who was in attendance. Pixey's infectiously bubbly personality inevitably made even the most unlikeliest people in the room want to break into dance at any given moment - just ask the fifty-year old man at the front. 

(Friday 4th October)

2. AURORA

Support: Unflirt

Venue: O2 Apollo (Manchester)

The beginning of October brought gig number two of this silly live music expedition, but this time I was without the added train commute. Although saying I was without a commute, anyone that knows Manchester reasonably well might be familiar with the O2 Apollo which in itself feels like a commute and a half across the city just to get to the venue on the side of some roundabout in the middle of nowhere… anyway I digress. Hailing from Norway's third largest city of Stavanger, Aurora Aksnes (mononymously known as AURORA) was here to bring her 'What Happened To The Earth?' tour to the home city of her manager and a sold out 3500 capacity O2 Apollo - only after a customary pint had been purchased at a disturbingly high £7.95. Thankfully the arrival of AURORA and what would go on to become a hour long set quickly made me forget about my bank account and instead feel like I'd be transported to some Nordic fever dream. A performance packed with flawless vocals, visuals of her fighting herself with a knife and dressed as a sun, stories of oompa loompas and comments like "fucking hell I'm out of my mind" between songs, it really did have everything! I remember leaving the gig thinking I've never seen an artist be so adored by their fanbase and that feel reciprocated by the artist. Honestly, if you didn't know of AURORA before, you'd think she'd just played a hometown show after the standing ovation she received at the end. And after hours of standing upright, I felt like I was deserving of one too. 

(Monday 7th October)

3. jxdn

Support: sace6

Venue: O2 Ritz (Manchester)

Three days later fittingly brought me gig number three and admittedly this one was a little rogue. For someone who would say a majority of their music taste is indie-rock, for some reason that extra ten percent has been drawn to American punk rock for about a decade now. I'd say it was a guilty pleasure but even that wouldn't be doing it justice - it's just a pleasure. As I walked down the city centre canal to O2 venue number two of Manchester's three in the form of the Ritz, I was trying to process why this was one of the gigs I was looking forward to the most, either way I hoped to soon find out! Upon arrival and once again conceding a hefty £7.95 for a pint, support artist sace6 were delivering exactly the kind of early 2000s level of punk performance I had hoped for. For context of this gig, TikTok influencer turned product of Travis Barker's record label DTA Records (it's a long story) Jaden Hossler, or Jxdn for short, was in town playing the penultimate night of his European tour: 'When The Music Stops'. Shortly after 9pm, appearing looking like Elvis had been resurrected, Jxdn had arrived to treat us to a range of songs from across his fairly recently constructed discography. Despite often almost to a unintentionally comical extent of interrupting his set to plead the crowd to put their phones down and live in the moment, the experience was everything the 10% American punk rock part of my brain has hoped for and I left the Ritz feeling pretty great until I bumped into British social media 'influencer' Beavo outside the venue - if that name even means anything to you. I'd say to you look him up but actually don't bother… It must've been a TikTok influencer kinda night. 

(Saturday 19th October)

4. Wunderhorse

Support: Highschool

Venue: Manchester Academy (Manchester)

Almost two full weeks had passed and withdrawals were already creeping in. There's only so much lying in bed watching videos from the last few gigs from my phone can get me before concert number four rolled around. Coincidentally just six days shy of being exactly a year ago since the first time I saw them in Manchester, Wunderhorse were back for more - as was I! I remember leaving that gig back in October of 2023 convinced this was a band that would go on to headline Leeds/Reading and perhaps Glastonbury one day because they just have that exclusive sound, but anyway for now they were headlining Manchester Academy with the support of indie band Highschool. After paying £6 for a pint and thinking Highschool reminded me a lot of the Editors, everyone was on the verge of rowdy by the time Wunderhorse were due on. In the one hour twenty minutes that then followed, we were treated to almost an entire discography amid pints thrown, sweaty mosh pits moshed, frontman Jacob Slater barking down the mic for 'July' and guitars hurled across the stage by the end. Glorious! It was angry and emotional like you'd want from a guitar-heavy rock band, unconventionally raw and unapologetically out of control, yet introspective at numerous intervals. I couldn't help but leave feeling lucky I had witnessed that at the early investment of 2,600 capacity - that and how I can try and gatekeep this band for at least a few more months… please. 

(Sunday 20th October)

5. Wallows

Support: Matilda Mann

Venue: O2 Victoria Warehouse (Manchester)

The gigs were now arriving thick and fast and just twenty four hours later gig five was here to mark the halfway point. This time it involved an uncomfortably cold trek to Manchester's final O2 venue in the form of Victoria Warehouse. Much like Manchester United's home stadium Old Trafford located just five minutes walk from the venue, Victoria Warehouse has probably seen better days. Perhaps that's just the rustic aesthetic they're going for but regardless they'd packed it out for Californian band Wallows for the band's second sold-out show at the venue in as many nights. This time I actually refused to surrender another almost £8 pint and instead entered the perspiring warehouse to learn Wallows were actually due on at 8:30pm rather than the typical 9pm start. Usually made up of: Clay Jen... I mean Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters and Cole Preston, Wallows had however apparently doubled in size as they entered the stage for the penultimate night of their European leg of the Model tour as six. This was actually the second time I was seeing them live and the band's versatility never fails to impress with the Wallows trio occasionally switching up band roles for the hell of it, with the performance often ending with Dylan whipping out a harmonica for the song 'I Don't Want to Talk' before asking the crowd to put their phones down for the band's final few songs. I'm beginning to think there's a theme going on here… maybe he should have a vent with jxdn. 

(Monday 21st October)

6. LAUREL

Support: TWST

Venue: Manchester Academy 3 (Manchester)

Three gigs in three nights… by this point I wasn't sure whether this experiment would kill me off but the show must go on! For this one it was a return to the Manchester Academy complex, however to Academy room 3 housing a max capacity of just five hundred. Now this one was a little impromptu. I hadn't heard loads from LAUREL beforehand and it was actually Pixey who had mentioned her on Instagram as she was originally due to support but sadly wasn't able to that led me to be introduced to LAUREL's music and I'm so glad I was! I made it up the two floors of stairs to find the venue room being equipped with a small bar at the back, so it would be wrong to not jump back on the pint bandwagon for a tolerable £5.40. Manchester was only LAUREL's second night of the tour but she showed no signs of early tour rustiness and gave one of the best live performances I'd seen. A show that included her genuinely walking into the crowd to intimately perform 'Only One' in close proximity to an extended rock guitar solo to '45 Degrees' on her pointy electric guitar, it really did have it all! She even had time to break the transitions between songs to provide some bonus comedy. I think it was only two songs in when LAUREL admitted due to lighting, the only thing she could see was a neon lit sign at the back of the bar displaying a wild combination of spirits into one cocktail to which she jokingly advised "of all the things to only be able to see, don't drink that it looks quite dangerous" in true blunt comedy spirit! Considering the drink concoction would've cost almost twice the price of my former pint, I'm inclined to agree with her. Scandalous stuff! 

(Friday 25th October)

7. Sad Night Dynamite

Support: Bug Eyed

Venue: Band On The Wall (Manchester)

Thankfully after a triple header of gigs I was given a generous four days before gig seven was here to slap me in the face. Now this one was another I had deep down been one of the most excited for. Nineteen months after seeing them the first time supporting Easy Life (now known as Hard Life for legal reasons) it was time for round two of Sad Night Dynamite! Returning to Manchester to headline their own tour following debut record 'Welcome The Night', the chaotic duo Josh Greacen and Archie Blagden were here to perform at the 500 capacity room at Band On The Wall. The bargain price of just £17 pounds a ticket also brought the opportunity to check out the excellent support band Bug Eyed who deserve a shout out for setting the tone from the off, especially as they made me feel incredibly old… Anyway 9pm sharp and the Sad Night Dynamite boys entered the stage to welcome the night of mayhem that was about to occur. Utilising a megaphone at times, encouraging a new live band member to initiate themselves with their own song, and a small monologue explaining why not to purchase faulty limousines from Facebook Marketplace would sum that gig up pretty well. Oh and some merch was copped afterwards because, well clearly somebody has to help fund the faulty limos of this world…

(Friday 1st November)

8. Alfie Templeman

Support: SOFY & Flat Moon

Venue: Manchester Academy 2 (Manchester)

An entire week later normality resumed with gig eight, and in the sense that I was once again returning to the Manchester Academy empire but this time to Manchester Academy the second for Alfie Templeman, SOFY and Flat Moon, I was once more ready and in the mood. A criminal on tap pint selection of either Coors or apple cider didn't get the night off to a great start, however this particular venue was pretty cosy considering it held shy of just one thousand people. I couldn't help but think it had the feel of a primary school hall about it. I half expected at one point for one of those strange wooden climbing frame hinged apparatus that would pull out from a wall and create some sort of gymnasium colosseum… oh just me? Well thankfully we weren't singing religious hymns or any sort of primary school antics like that in this hall either but instead getting treated to a bit of everything from Alfie's albums right back to 2018 to when he was just fifteen! Okay NOW I feel old. Rocking a beanie for the entire gig and later stating "this gig is going right to the fucking top", Alfie fittingly announced it was actually his two hundredth gig and it was truly wholesome to see just how much he and his band were enjoying it. Especially, as he put it, to be back in the "music capital of the UK". Now as much as this sounds like defamation, I promise you those were all his words and not mine. I mean he's not wrong though right? 

(Saturday 9th November)

9. Fontaines D.C.

Support: Wunderhorse

Venue: K.B Hallen (Copenhagen)

This was the big one. Travelling roughly one thousand and seventeen miles from Manchester to the Danish capital, brought me the penultimate gig with quite possibly the dream line-up: Wunderhorse, back for another instalment, were here to support the now Grammy nominated Fontaines D.C. for the European leg of their Romance tour. Before I even mention the gig, the venue itself was pretty special. Housing 4,500, K.B Hallen in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen is funnily enough predominantly used for sporting purposes for badminton, basketball or even dance tournaments, but unless you're counting crowd surfing and the attempt of a two person mosh pit at one point. I was eager to be close to the barrier for this one and so a tactical Danish pint acquired for the price of £6.68 (or 60 DKK) then I was locked in and ready for Wunderhorse: the sequel! Now one thing I noticed about a gig abroad is the crowd often don't always sing back to every song, and to be honest it makes a nice change to be able to hear the artists and in this case every scream (and bark) from frontman Jacob Slater for a majority of the performance. A dramatic exit from Wunderhorse of some more guitar throwing brought an even more dramatic half hour wait for Fontaines D.C. as a curtain dropped to build tension further. An incredible hour and a half then ensued as the Dubliners dipped into the older backlog and the new to showcase just how varied and nostalgically sounding the band are live. It's no surprise they've been tipped as festival headliners in the near future and if you needed anymore evidence of just how quickly they've become adored, as lead singer Grian Chatten delivered his final exhale in the hit song Starbuster, I couldn't help but notice a girl behind me hug her friend tearing up followed by the words "I love the Fontaines" in the most Danish accent you can imagine. And I don't blame her! Never has a truer word been said. 

(Thursday 14th November)

10. Sports Team

Support: mary in the junkyard & Welly

Venue: Club Academy (Manchester)

Exactly forty nine days since I started this whole endeavour brought me to the final instalment at Manchester Academy's final room: Club Academy. At this point I was beginning to feel pretty exhausted and it's fair to say this was not the gig for any of that weary talk. At just six-hundred and eighty capacity the venue itself would soon become a sea of sweaty mulleted and nose-ringed people moshing away to Sports Team. The final pint purchased for the price of £5.80 and it was quickly time for Sports Team to kickstart their first UK tour since November 2022. Entering the stage to 'The Boys Are Back in Town', lead singer Alex Rice wasted no time in rallying the mosh pit into order within a matter of seconds. The man himself then got even more involved with the crowd individually asking fans "why spend money on a Sports Team gig and not Fontaines D.C. or something", to shortly after asking if anyone had any marriage proposal plans for the gig as a mid interlude, to then singing (with the mic stand) in the centre of the pit, then finally finished off by crowd surfing out on the final track to the cult favourite 'Stanton' leaving behind a beautiful sort of chaos, and a ardent crowd craving one more. It's fair to say after two years Sports Team are back, and after that I'm officially out because it's been a fucking time... and breathe.