Pierce The Veil / Letlive / Creeper – Manchester Academy – 02/12/16
Since the last time Pierce The Veil were here in the UK on a massive tour, they have toured all over the world, concurred countless festivals, and also brought out a fantastic new album ‘Misadventures’ with some absolute corkers on it! Tonight Pierce The Veil are back in the UK looking to close out the year touring that very album here for the first time. But before we get stuck into ‘Misadventures’ live for the first time, it’s left to Creeper and Letlive to warm everyone up for a night to remember.
Creeper (7) only have a short set, but they fill it with energy and some killer tracks which prove the hype for the band to anyone finally checking them out for the first time. Front man Will Gould is straight in the face of the crowd and doesn’t look to shy away from the early turn out as he sings and shouts his way through bangers like ‘VCR’ and ‘The Honeymoon Suite’. The band look a lot tighter on stage than when we last saw them at Leeds Festival earlier in the year which is a promising sight for a band who hold plenty of potential.
Letlive (9) don’t quite warm the crowd up for Pierce The Veil, they work them to their full potential. Hitting the stage kicking and screaming to ‘Renegade 86’ any new comers are thrown straight into the deep end. As ever with Letlive, mayhem breaks out and the next twenty-five minutes are full heavy riffs, screaming, singing, mosh pits, circle pits and crowd surfers. And at the forefront of the chaos is frontman Jason Butler who is throwing water around sliding across the stage, running around the photo pit dodging photographers, and crowd surfing mid song in ‘That Fear Fever’. Jason heads into the depths of the crowd to sing with the fans for ‘A Week Ago’, before progressing with a set full of furious rock filled with powerful messages and meaning. ‘Good Mourning, America’ closes the set leaving everyone pretty knackered ready for a much needed break before Pierce The Veil take to the stage.
Every Pierce The Veil (10) show is not just a live show, but an experience, and tonight is no different. When the lights drop, a video in the theme of the new album cover is projected onto a curtain covering the stage, which drops to almighty screams from the crowd. Blue lights glow across the stage as the band members appear from within a broken rocket as they take off white space suits and pick up their guitars, and ironically dive in with brand new single ‘Dive In’. The steady verse builds into an explosion of heavy guitars screaming and a blast of confetti to cover the crowd, as they start the night in true Pierce The Veil fashion!
Tracks such as ‘The Devine Zero’ and ‘Floral Fading’ are thrown into the set nice and early, and the crowd prove their approval of the new album by singing along to the top of their voices for the tracks from ‘Misadventures’. ‘The Devine Zero’ has that typical PTV feel to it with it’s frantic guitars and fast paced beat which has the band flying around the stage covering every inch available. ‘Floral Fading’ is a little different, slower moving and more of a sing along which does keep the set nice and diverse.
The Band have grins smeared across their faces throughout the set tonight, and it’s always clear they want to have the most fun they can have at every show they play. If their not singing into a mic stand, they are darting across the stage, jumping through the air from the stage risers, head banging with the crowd, and even pretending to shoot each other with their guitars from time to time too!
As much as tonight’s show is off the back of ‘Misadventures’, PTV know they can’t leave out some fan favourites from the back catalogue! The space themed banner drops and reveals a silhouette based on their previous album cover ‘Collide With The Sky’, which appears as the sound of the album intro ‘May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight’ eerily plays out in the dark. As you would expect, ‘Hell Above’ abruptly follows and all hell is let loose. The circle pits open up and streamers fly out from the stage as the energetic track kicks in, before the full throttle chorus has everyone jumping on their tiptoes as they watch the stage burst with CO2 cannons. All of a sudden were at level 10 for the highlight of the night thus far, and nothing other than ‘Bulls In Bronx’ could keep this show at this level, so that’s exactly what we get. Not a single person in the Academy is stood still, and rightly so, because maybe we’re all just having too much fun!
Very little can top the last 15 minutes so it’s left to a guest appearance from Jason Butler of Letlive to keep things moving for ‘Tangled In The Great Escape’, who fits in just perfectly launching himself around the stage kicking and screaming as per usual.
The Manchester crowd is treated to the encore they desperately call for in the form of ‘Circles’ taken from the new album, written for the people who tragically lost their lives at the Bataclan attacks in Paris last year trying to save their friends. It’s warmly received by the crowd and is emotionally fuelled in high energy, as you would expect.
‘King for a day’ receives deafening screams, and even though it might be lacking the voice of Kellin Quinn’s guest vocals, the crowd more than make up for that as they shout back the lyrics at the stage piercingly, covering for the Sleeping With Sirens frontman. A huge mosh pit opens up and a few crowd surfers arise to take full opportunity of the last few minutes to have some more fun before it’s all over. Blasts of CO2 burst from the stage in the breakdown submerging the band before one final blast of confetti rains on the crowd for the very final chorus.
Another exceptional performance from Pierce The Veil who look to only be getting better and better from each show they play and city they conquer. Having been freshly announced to take on the main stage at Download Festival next year, we’re leaving the venue already counting down the days until they next return!
Check out more live photos of Pierce The Veil in Manchester here!
Photography – © Danny Peart Photography
