The Man From Delmonte concluded the most surprising and glorious comeback of 2025 with a celebratory homecoming at Manchester's Ritz to celebrate the release of their debut album Better Things, thirty-five years after they first split up. Support came from Pageant Mum and The Mudd Club.
Pageant Mum open the night, accompanied by The Man From Delmonte’s Mike West reading a poem over the instrumental opener. He’s spoken about how he’d been blown away by them when they came to record at his studio. We first saw them as part of a Rockit Bolton event as part of 2021’s Right To Roam festival and were impresssed but lost track of them. They’ve blossomed into a ferocious live act, led by Izzy who acts like she was born for this stage and fills the room with a powerful emotion-laden vocal that fights through the wall of guitars that get slightly lost in a muddy sound but which still roar ferociously and lay down an impressive marker with a growing crowd. Their set consists mostly of singles they’ve released in the past couple of years - Crucify, the most recent Lick It Off Knives and in particular Home Again being the highlights. They seize the opportunity with open arms and we’ll make sure to not lose track again.
The Mudd Club have been ever present on The Man From Delmonte’s headline shows. Mike’s son Julian and step-daughter Sadie are key to this reformation and while Sadie jokes about nepotism, they’ve won over countless admirers at these shows with a classic rock and roll trio sound that’s direct and in your face. Taking heavily from their most recent album Give Me A Thrill, including its title track, the quickfire New Tattoo and the high-energy assault of Friday Night On A Monday Morning, their half-hour set seems to fly past in a blur and no shortage of love from a now nearly full Ritz.
There’s far too little joy in the world right now but in one corner of the internet and on a cold pre-Christmas night in Manchester, thirty-five years on, The Man From Delmonte bring the most simple unbridled form of it back in an hour and a half of the most magical beautiful communion. Old songs merge with new old songs and new new songs to unite over a thousand in a trip down memory lane that makes nights at the long-gone Internationals, The Number One, Devilles and the like feel like yesterday, a time with no social media, smartphones, of living in a moment. Simpler more joyful times of self-discovery.
The older songs have aged far more gracefully than many of their more celebrated contemporaries and are delivered with such infectious enthusiasm that it’s impossible to stop yourself being carried along on their wave. Will Nobody Save Louise, Drive Drive Drive, an impromptu Sun Serious and the finale of My Love Is Like A Gift You Can’t Return are sung back like they still mean absolutely everything and in many ways they do. Opener Australia Fair’s “I wish I was born in Lancashire” still has that communal buzz but one less parochial than the standard “Manchester la la la”.
There was never any big showmanship to this band. The International, one of the brand new songs, tells of watching boys in bands at the venue’s legendary Monday local band nights and dreaming of being in one and dedicated to Gareth Evans, its owner and one time Stone Roses manager, laced with references that those there at the time will recall and reminisce about.
Even when they slow things down on Waiting For Anne and To The Country, The Man From Delmonte hold the crowd transfixed, still pinching themselves in disbelief that the band is there in front of them performing songs shared from decades-old cassettes and ripped vinyl. The moshpits might be absent but the absolute joy and escape of their live shows hasn’t diminshed one iota. Songs with hooks that penetrate and become part of you, even the often difficult new ones, make the world a better place. Sheila Seal’s vocal harmonies alone are worth the entrance fee alone whilst Martin Vincent adds a harder edge to the songs on guitar and Howard Goody sits almost hidden at the back holding it all together. Ruby and Bob’s brass simply adds to the wonky brilliance.
There might be a more celebrated reunion in these parts this year, but for the thousand of us witnessing this glorious gig, and the ones that have preceded it, this is the one that matters most.
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