Live Review : Ghost + Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats + Twin Temple @ AO Arena, Manchester on April 9th 2022

The rise of Ghost has been stratospheric. Eleven years ago I saw them open for a In Flames and Trivium double bill. They weren’t the slick flamboyant show-people that they are today, but the foundations were there. Press fast forward, and on the back of the fastest selling album of the year they are starting their campaign for global dominance here in Manchester. The arena is a seething mass of merging tribes. Ghost have attracted a heady mix of grizzled metallers, one-show a year trendies, goth nuns and curious bystanders. What these diverse groups share is a desire to be entertained. Ghost have tapped into that pent up need for escapism and showmanship.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas12 April 2022AO ArenaGhost, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Twin Temple, AO Arena, Manchester, 2022, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Twin Temple + The Violent Hearts @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester on January 27th 2020

You can’t help but feel sorry for Brummie support act the Violent Hearts. Their brand of goth inspired post-punk is really rather dandy and brings to mind a halfway house between Orange Juice and the Chameleons but this is so not their audience. In fact, I am rather nonplussed what or who this audience actually is. It is a about 25% curious metalheads, 25% Wicca and 50% hipster (the immaculately manicured beards and the pints of Porter (the new IPA) are a plenty).

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas27 January 2020The Deaf InstituteTwin Temple, The Violent Hearts, The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 2020, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Gregg HowarthComment