October Drift continued their UK tour in support of their third album Blame The Young by playing their biggest headline show to date at Manchester's Gorilla on Tuesday night. In front of an adoring audience, they delivered an adrenalin-heavy seventy-five minute set featuring tracks from across the band's catalogue. Support came from Rude Films.
Rude Films seem to be following us around wherever we go this year. The four-piece have secured a number of good profile support slots as they seek to build their own following. They're an interesting contrast to the headliners, particularly in the first half of the set that is much darker and claustrophobic in its intent and it's not helped particularly by the muddy sound in the venue that means some of the detail in the intensity of the songs is lost a little. Their last two songs though show their real potential. Gory Bastard is a multi-headed beast of a song, whilst their final track has synths that were underused or underheard in the rest of the set and takes the audience on a journey with them.
Those who've seen October Drift before know exactly what to expect from them and push their way forwards to join the patient ones who'd queued before doors. The roar of anticipation as the lights go down - then nothing happens for a couple of minutes - is huge, testament to this being their biggest headline show to date and some familiar faces having travelled to see them on a school night. They launch into Demons and until the end of Not Running Anymore, fourteen songs in, there's hardly pause for breath as they let loose and encourage the crowd to do the same. By the end the look on their faces tells how much fun they've had and the beaming smiles around us tell us that it's been reciprocated in kind by their devotees.
Everything feels turned up to the max. At points, Chris Holmes' drums, the rock and backbone of the songs, threatens to drown out everything else other than Kiran Roy's vocals that sound stronger and stronger as the set progresses and the effects are toned down after the first couple of songs. At points he doesn't need to sing though, the audience would willingly do his job for him as he stands their slightly agog at the strength of the reaction and the love that those bouncing around are showing their band. Chris tells us towards the end that Manchester was the first place to take them to heart when they started off a decade ago and that love's clearly grown.
It is a very full-on set with virtually no pause for breath. Daniel Young is out in the crowd a couple of times, gets lifted on shoulders and still somehow manages to eke sounds out of his guitar when it looks like he's on the verge of being dropped. Kiran also ventures out and climbs up onto one of the bright red stanchions at the side of the venue and sings, one arm holding on, one holding the mic, over the crowd who are looking excitedly up at him. This showmanship isn't anything new at an October Drift show, in fact Kiran's a little tamer than normal because of Gorilla's layout, but it still excites the crowd and gets them going.
Half the set comes from Brave The Young, their most recent album and most consistent piece of work to date. The crowd greet it like they're old favourites even though the record has only been out in the world for a couple of months. There's still space for genuine long-term classics like Oh The Silence and Cherry Red from their debut as well as the key tracks from Airborne Panic Attack, Waltzer and Webcam Funerals from 2022's I Don't Belong Anywhere as well.
They finish the night with Kiran plus his guitar and Chris, armed with a tambourine and his backing vocals, out in the middle of the crowd singing Like The Snow We Fall that came out as part of an EP between the first two albums. It's an intimate moment of communion between them and their fans at the end of the night and their appreciation and wonder at just having played their biggest ever gig (to date) is very clear to see. October Drift might not surprise you if you've seen them before, but you're guaranteed to have a lot of fun watching and joining in with them and being carried along by the atmosphere they create for themselves and their fans.
October Drift's official website can be found here. They are also on Facebook and Twitter.
Their tour continues at Dundee Beat Generator (October 31), Newcastle Think Tank (November 2), Leeds Key Club (3), Birmingham Hare And Hounds (4) and London Scala (5) before heading to Europe in late November for a three week tour).Follow Even The Stars on Twitter at @eventhestarsuk and like our Facebook page for all the latest updates
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