The Blackout - Manchester Academy
Welsh rockers The Blackout are back out on tour and we took the opportunity to come out and see the guys. Support came from Hyro Da Hero and The Swellers.
Hailing from the states and bringing a fresh twist on modern day hip hop Hyro Da Hero opened the night up with an energetic and very hard hitting set. Over my time working on Riff I have been to a lot of gigs and seen a lot of great bands but non compare to how impressive Hyro was. The crowd were behind him 100% of the way and his set even included a guest appearance from Sean Smith of The Blackout for the track 'Beam Me Up Scotty' All in all I was highly impressed with Hyro and all that are heading to Download this year are in for a treat, definitely one to not miss! We caught up with Hyro too so check that out!
Next up were The Swellers also from the states, but very well known and loved over here in the UK. They entered the stage very dramatically with the lights dimmed their set included a new song from their up coming release which seemed to go down well with the crowd. After hearing their name being passed around by bands such as Young Guns I was really keen to see what they could deliver, and I was not disappointed when they came out on to the stage right from the go they were keen to get the crowd going and they sounded perfect. We managed to catch up with Nick so check that out!
Finally the main event. The Blackout came out on to stage and were greeted with a huge applause, before hand the crowd were chanting 'We Are The Dynamite' to set the mood. They opened with Ambition Is Critical from their new release Hope. I have seen the guys perform once before at Slam Dunk Festival so I was eager to see what a headline show would consist of. Little did I know I would be stood there for well over an hour! They played a huge collection of songs, new and old pretty much non stop. They came back on after an hour for an encore which consisted of Higher and Higher with Hyro Da Hero's input which was probably one of the greatest moments of the entire night and they finished off with Save Our Selves (The Warning) and just like Slam Dunk they made everyone crouch down to the floor and jump up which caused chaos for most of the people participating! The crowd involvement was the best I have ever seen at a gig, the pit was absolutely massive and there were numerous crowd surfs. The security and event organisers need a lot of credit as the gig ran very smoothly and had no major slip-ups. We managed to catch up with Gav for a talk too so check it out.
Best part of the gig: Seeing Hyro destroy everything people thought they knew about music and laying down some new foundations.
Worst part of the night: Hard to say, everything was brilliant. Maybe the fact that there wasn't enough Hyro! I loved his set so much and it was over with a blink of an eye.
Adam
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