Live Review : The Callous Daoboys + Knives + Love Rarely @ Rebellion, Manchester on February 25th 2026

Rebellion is rammed tonight. Not in a passive “oh it’s busy” rammed, more like “can I not even stand at the back of the room by the merch” or “please stop breathing near me” rammed. It’s the busiest I’ve seen it in Rebellion for ages, and there’s a distinct hipster‑who‑doesn’t-go-to-gigs vibe in the room. I guess that’s what you get when you have genre-busting mainstream darlings like The Callous Daoboys headlining and an undercard of the excitingly novel Knives and Love Rarely. Let the games begin!

Love Rarely open the night, and I mentally tag them as a Paramore from Leeds. That’s no slight on them though. It fits them with all the bright alt‑hardcore-rock choruses, bouncy energy, emotional clarity, and that slightly earnest, melodic punch that could soundtrack a coming‑of‑age montage. Singer Courtney Levitt weaves between shouty, angsty punk yelps and smoothly sweet enticing cleans with skill and ease. There’s skilful and technical guitar-work to go with it all as, and they have the core to be something akin to Ithaca with a more accessible edge. Their songs translate into songs filled with enthusiasm, accessible hooks, and genuine fun – keep an eye on them.

Next up we have Bristol’s Knives. They come out like a variation on Seething Akira - an explosion of hardcore punk, ska, noise‑rock, and whatever else they can cram into the blender. Imagine early Slaves (sorry, Soft Play), The Cooper Temple Clause, and a siren’s wail of saxophone chaos, all stitched together with the dance genre‑mashing abandon of Does It Offend You, Yeah? It shouldn’t make sense, but it absolutely does.

Lead vocalist Jay Schottlander swings between snarled lines and spoken punk venom, pausing only to allow Izzi Allard to blast chaotic lines or velvety saxophone parts into the night. Behind them, two guitarists and a bassist skate across tones and textures with an impressive variety that’s far more imaginative than technical. One minute you’re head‑banging, the next you’re skanking, the next you’re in a post‑hardcore fever dream. One guitarist leaps into the crowd mid‑song and the crowd react like he’s just broken their phones - the confusion is delicious. Knives are fun, anarchic, and the only band tonight who feel genuinely dangerous and pushing the envelope.

And so to our headliners, The Callous Daoboys. I brace for chaotic mathcore weirdness. But what we get is a boy racer’s bassy stereo bellowing through Rebellion like someone’s revving a modified hatchback in the middle of the venue. The mix is catastrophic. Not a bit off. Not dependent on where you are in the room. No, it’s unlistenable. The kick drum and bass dominate everything with the subtlety of a neighbour starting DIY at 7.00 am on a Sunday morning. There is zero point having the violin tonight as it’s fully sacrificed to the sub‑bass gods. I catch occasional flashes of noodling guitar (or am I imagining them?) like a rare wild animal sighting. But mostly it’s just low‑end sludge swallowing anything resembling nuance.

They clearly pull influences from the noodling unpredictability of Protest The Hero and the angular abrasiveness of Glassjaw, but very little of that translates through tonight’s audio mudslide. The violin, arguably a definingly unique feature of their arrangements, is rendered pointless, swallowed whole by low‑end bloat. One guitarist’s intricate, angular lines occasionally manage to pierce the sludge like a distant flare, but they vanish as quickly as they appear. Vocally, it’s difficult to gauge any real range as frontman Carson "Big Animal" Pace sometimes sings, sometimes screams in a way that bounces between Fall Out Boy theatrics to a less convincing imitation of Knocked Loose aggression.

Yet the room loves it. Fans scream along, fists in the air, oblivious to the sonic carnage blaring from the PA. Good for them. But to me I’d get a clearer, more enjoyable listening experience inside a subwoofer demo at your local Halfords. It really is a shame because somewhere beneath the abysmal mix lives a genuinely interesting band. It’s a reminder - great gigs live and die not just by the performers, but also by the mixes pumped out and bodies crushed together.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
The Callous Daoboys + Knives + Love Rarely