Live Review : Dream Theater + Arion @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on February 17th 2023

In a world of nonconformity, Dream Theater are strident nonconformists. For nearly 40 years they have defiantly bucked the trends and ignored metal's prevailing winds. They have managed to operate in their own cryogenically sealed bubble, immune from passing fashions or fads. They initially emerged at a point in time when everything had gone short and spiky (song length, hair length, and stature of lead singers) and they defiantly ploughed their own field. Resolutely un-vogue from conception, they have built a fevered fan base through word of mouth, hard work, and by never wavering from their steadfast belief that more is definitely more.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas18 February 2023O2 ApolloDream Theater, Arion, O2 Apollo, Manchester, 2023Comment

Live Review : The Black Crowes + Reef @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on September 24th 2022

We have come full circle. Thirty-one years ago (almost, almost to the day) The Black Crowes played Manchester Apollo on the crest of a blues rock wave. Their star wasn’t just ascending, it was hurtling towards the cosmos. They had stolen the show at Donington Park the month before and a year after its release, their stunning debut was finally winning over British Audiences. Fast forward three decades, various reunions, countless line-up changes and an awful lot of sibling squabbling later and they back at the Apollo playing their now revered “Shake Your Money Maker” in its entirety.

Live Review : Greta Van Fleet + Marcus King @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on June 28th 2022

Well, this is a bit different. I do not think I have been in the Apollo since Billy Idol played in 2014! On arrival the queue is massive, and I am thankful I can go straight inside. The place is heaving, which comes as no surprise as this is the first of two sold out shows in Manchester.

Live Review : Nine Inch Nails @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on June 21st 2022

We all have tales about Trent Reznor being difficult. Whether it be playing behind a view-obscuring bank of lights (Leeds Festival 2007), looking bored and massively disinterested (Sonisphere 2009) or failing to acknowledge that there was an audience there at all (Manchester Arena 2014). Well, I am proud to report that tonight our Trent is personable and even bordering on affable. He interacts with the audience numerous times and voluntarily enters into a conversation with vocal members of the front row.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas22 June 2022O2 ApolloNIN, Nine Inch Nails, O2 Apollo, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Stewart LucasComment

Live Review : Saxon + Uriah Heep + Girlschool + Diamond Head @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on January 28th 2022

So, the light at the end of the tunnel has wheels of steel. Tonight, is a veritable oasis in an otherwise arid desert of cancellations and postponed shows. This show was meant to happen in October 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Saxon releasing their first record, however due to Biff’s heart problems and the inevitable onset of Covid, this is now a (as he coins it early into their headline set) a 42nd year commemorative show. Leading up to this evening the omens haven’t been good. Every other event and tour around it has hit the wall and even the Glasgow Barrowland leg of this short soiree around the country has been postponed. However, with the same level of dogged resilience that has seen them regain their position as one of the marquee names in British Heavy Metal, the band have vehemently maintained that tonight would go ahead,

Live Review : Amon Amarth + Arch Enemy + Hypocrisy @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on November 29th 20

It seems fitting that as the northern winds waft icy cold blasts across Manchester that they should also blow into town an exquisite Swedish Melo-Death triple bill. Aside from the obvious combination of gruff vocals and melodic guitar lines, what all three acts have in common is grit, determination and resilience. With a heady mix of hard work, blood, sweat and road-miles, all three bands have earned the respect that the sold out crowd show them. These are acts that show that it may well be a long way to the top, but if you stick to your guns and your principals you will get there.

Live Review : Volbeat + Baroness @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on October 1st 2019

Be careful what you wish for, it may well come true. For literally years I have bemoaned that fact that the UK never seemed to succumb to the utter joy that is Volbeat. As they graduated to stadium and festivals headliner status on the continent, in this country it felt that they had become caught in a groundhog day loop of club gigs and mid-afternoon second stage slots at Download. Tonight, however, things may have finally changed. The Apollo is literally bursting out the seams and the entire tour has been sold out for months, so why oh why, do I have reservations?

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas4 October 2019O2 ApolloStewart Lucas, Volbeat, Baroness, O2 Apollo, Manchester, 2019, Live Review, ReviewComment

Live Review : Gojira + Rolo Tomassi + Dead Label @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on July 1st 2019

I fell in love with Gojira back at Bloodstock 2010 and from the moment that I first clapped eyes on them I knew that they were doing something really rather special and that they should be huge, stadium huge. Nearly a decade later it feels that my premonition is finally becoming a reality. Tonight feels like the moment that they transcended into the big league and show that they are the ordained successor to Metallica’s crown. There was something so confident and so masterful about this evening’s performance, very much the hallmarks of a band completely in control of their own destiny. The Apollo is heaving, absolutely heaving and even though they were part of the same touring cycle, there is a clear difference between tonight and their 2017 Manchester Academy show. I had been worried that at the Academy that they were stalling, that the fevered audience reaction that I had expected for a band that had created one of the greatest Metal albums ever (“Magma”) was not materialising.

Live Review : Parkway Drive + Killswitch Engage + Thy Art Is Murder @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on January 29th 2019

They breed their rock bands hard Down Under, I cannot name a single Aussie metal act who don't look like they could go six rounds with Antony Joshua and achieve the feat without spilling their pint. Thy Art is Murder mean business, they have under thirty minutes to make their mark but over six brutal heavy tracks, they chuck the gauntlet well and truly to the ground. Whilst Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive have embraced the melody, this is pure unadulterated raw primal Death Metal and whilst it may be early, the pit opens accordingly.

Live Review : Within Temptation @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on November 10th 2018

Let's get this out there first, during the entire gig the sound is utterly atrocious. It is far too quiet, the guitar and bass are lost in a muddy quagmire and the whole thing sounds like it is being relayed through a dodgy mono radio. I believe that protracted conversations at gigs should be defined as a criminal offence and with the sound so muffled and faint you can hear quite clearly every single conversation happening across the packed Apollo, most of them about why the sound is so dreadful.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas11 November 2018Manchester, O2 Apollo, 2018, Within Temptation, Live ReviewComment