By Josh Bicknell
What better venue to close out an unforgettable year of live music than Manchester’s Albert Hall? With its historic charm and dreamy acoustics, this quaint venue was the perfect setting for the emotive performances of Heart of Gold, Rain City Drive, and of course, dayseeker. With this tour featuring three bands instead of the usual four, there was a longer gap between doors opening and the first act hitting the stage. This gave concertgoers plenty of time to make it from their day jobs to the Albert Hall, and allowed the crowd to pack in early, perfectly timed for Heart of Gold to kick things off, as their opening set was certainly not one to be missed.
True to their name, Heart of Gold arrived on stage beneath a mixed palette of yellow and golden hues. The lights reflected off their all-white guitars and drumskins, while an ambient backing track of forest sounds captured the crowd’s attention before they had the chance to play a single chord. By the time they started, even those standing far back by the bar seemed captivated, gently nodding their heads to the calming melodies of ‘Stranger (To Your Love)’ and ‘Bright Lights.’
As their set progressed, the Manchester crowd continued to warm to them, sharing an intimate moment midway through, with everyone waving their phone flashlights in time with the rhythm. While this has become a somewhat overused staple of modern gigs, it was incredibly refreshing to see so many early arrivals getting involved with a band that so many of them were likely hearing for the first time. Heart of Gold brought their set to a close with one of their better-known tracks, ‘See Through,’ before exiting in the same way they had arrived, with the sounds of nature once again playing softly in the background.
Up next were Rain City Drive, whose brand of post-hardcore-influenced pop-rock made them an excellent choice to be the night’s main support. The five-piece walked out with the artwork for their latest album, Things Are Different Now, displayed behind them, launching into their set with one of its hit songs, ‘Frozen.’ Given the band’s close ties to the city of Manchester, it was no surprise that the crowd sang back every word.
Despite being from Florida, Rain City Drive derived their name from their time in Manchester and its reputation as the Rainy City, a title it continues to live up to. After playing a few more tracks from their latest release, with a few deeper cuts mixed in, around the midpoint of their set vocalist Matt McAndrew informed the crowd that they had something “very special” planned.
This was none other than a live rendition of their hit song, ‘Medicate Me,’ with dayseeker’s Rory Rodriguez joining them on stage to perform his feature. It was easily the standout moment of the night, as hearing two extremely talented vocalists bounce off each other left concertgoers struck with a sense of wonder, re-energizing the room for the final few songs of Rain City Drive’s set.
After one last changeover, it was time for the night’s headliner, dayseeker, to make their way to the stage, and they did so in spectacular fashion. The large LCD panel that had been lining the back of the Albert Hall began to glow blue, and an ominous voice started narrating the story of dayseeker’s latest album, ‘Dark Sun’. After a ten-second countdown, the four-piece kicked off with the record’s opener, ‘Dreamstate.’ Given how relaxed the evening had felt up until this point, it was quite a shock to hear Rory deliver a powerful false chord scream for the track’s breakdown, which saw the first mosh pit of the night erupt. Better late than never, right?
Bringing some calmness back to the room were the two tracks that followed, ‘Crooked Soul’ and ‘Burial Plot,’ which thanks to the lyrics being displayed alongside some psychedelic visuals, allowed even those who were less familiar with the words to sing along to each of dayseeker’s massive choruses. This was one of the aspects of their set design that I appreciated the most. The background visuals typically featured a central flower or raindrop moving through an environment, and the seamless transitions between each slide helped maintain a cohesive feel throughout the set, despite featuring songs from multiple records.
After ripping through a few more fan favourite tracks, including ‘Midnight Eternal’ and ‘Gates of Ivory,’ Rory Rodriguez invited Rain City Drive’s Matt McAndrew back to the stage to deliver a few verses alongside him on their song ‘Paper Heart.’ The crowd relished the opportunity to hear the two perform together once more, especially on one of dayseeker’s most emotional and evocative tracks. One sensitive moment after another, dayseeker also treated the crowd to a cover of one of the songs that helped several of its members In their early life, My Immortal, by Evanescence.
After what had been a night full of surprises, regrettably, the time had come for dayseeker to bring their stellar live performance to a close. Their setlist officially ended with the titular track from their most-streamed album, ‘Sleeptalk,’ and this alone would have made for a fitting conclusion to their show. However, taking it one step further, they returned to the stage one final time to play ‘Neon Grave’ as their encore. Its immense final breakdown gave the crowd one last chance to release any energy they had left in the pit, before heading out for a rainy drive back home.
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