Live Review: London Grammar - O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester 9/11/21
London Grammar return to Manchester for the second of two nights for a flawless show backboned by their new album yet hampered by venue issues.
Back in 2016, I found myself in the queue outside Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse for a psych festival with a line-up that was impressive even by the city’s usually high standards. As such, it was a massive disappointment to find that the venue’s sound, poor logistical decisions, and its heavy-handed, over-zealous security made it an almost impossible-to-enjoy experience that saw us leave before Brian Jonestown Massacre or Sleaford Mods had even stepped on stage.
It’s for that reason that as we approach the huge brick edifice of Victoria Warehouse for the first time in five years, it’s not without some reservations. Any hesitancies are put to the back of our mind however, at the prospect of finally being able to see London Grammar for the first time.
Thankfully, any worries about heavy handed security are unfounded as we’re allowed to jump the large queue and get straight into the massive warehouse venue without any issues. Inside the venue, it immediately felt as if more tickets had been sold than was reasonable, with the gig room seemingly full to the rafters with punters spilling around corners with literally no view of the stage.
With little chance of a comfortable position in such a packed room, we instead opt for the venue’s balcony that overlooks the room, and offers only a marginally better view, taking up position just as the three-piece take to the stage amid a backdrop of visuals.
Opening with the title track of their recent third album Californian Soil, the sound issues that had plagued my first and only visit to the venue were thankfully non-existent, and the band’s trademark ethereal elegance was crystal clear.
With a set backboned predominately by tracks from the aforementioned Californian Soil, and with fan favourites such as ‘Hell to the Liars’, ‘Wasting My Young Years’, and ‘Hey Now’ from the previous two records punctuating the set perfectly, it’s a set that showcases the band perfectly, with new classics-in-the-making such as ‘How Does It Feel’ or ‘Baby Its You’ fitting in effortlessly besides the more established cuts like ‘Metal & Dust’ or ‘Strong’
Indeed, it’s the latter that you’d expect would elicit the bigger reaction from those in attendance, but from our position on the balcony, its hard to pick up on any sense of enthusiasm in the 5000 strong. Instead, it feels as if the vast majority of the crowd rarely, if ever, attend a gig, and would rather talk loudly, or post to Instagram than watch what was happening on stage.
Of course, this is par for the course for bands as they, the venues and indeed their fanbase get bigger. And though a band’s profile growing is only a positive thing, when said band has made their name on a brand of pop music that’s just as ethereal as it can be anthemic, you’d hope the fanbase would have a little consideration when watching them live.
Then again, from our position, and indeed the various positions of many others, there really wasn’t a lot to see. Thankfully however, the band’s sound and lighting was as flawless as one would hope. And while the venue still succeeded in leaving a bad taste in the mouth of at least this reviewer, London Grammar themselves were nothing short of perfect.
Words by Dave Beech