By Jase Walker
So every once in a while there comes a gig lineup where rather than one particular band I’m interested in, I am massively into every single band on the lineup and this is one of them.
Danish/Swedish prog outfit VOLA brings along Aussie prog rave quintet Voyager (repping their merch tonight) and bizarre American prog three-piece, Four Stroke Baron. To say I’ve been excited about this particular show is a bit of an understatement!
After saying hello to more people I know in one spot than I genuinely thought possible, it’s time for Four Stroke Baron! Admittedly it’s probably the first time I’ve seen a bass player use a floating speaker to fret his bass for him but these aren’t exactly a straightforward act. If you’re not familiar with these, they use really odd rhythms, sweeping effects that create spacey sounds and vocals that sound similar to a lot of ’80s new-wave and goth.
And looking around I think there’s probably a solid chance I’m the only person who actually listens to these. The singer makes a couple of remarks about his voice being a bit off tonight but you wouldn’t really notice it much from the way it’s sounding though! Something also needs to be said for how good the sound mixing is here tonight, the drum kit and bass are working great in tandem with each other and allowing the guitar to do its thing and punch right through.
Sadly it seems they’ve had to make a mid-set choice to cut most of the vocals out completely as I suppose he’s having some real difficulty with them which is a shame because of how much of their identity comes from them! In spite of this the set progresses well and I hope that it won’t be too long before I get to see these live again soon to get more Four Stroke Baron in my ears – hope the voice recovery is swift! Admittedly the instrumental version of ‘Cyborg Pt. 2 – The City’ was pretty cool either way!
Next up is Voyager, and I’m curious if they’ll do a smash cut to Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’ part way through their set like the last few times I saw them or if they’ll mix it up a bit? Kicking off the set with ‘Colours’ and their custom lightning setup flashes along all sorts of various pastel colours similar to their latest album art. Danny gets his signature keytar out for their newest single ‘Submarine’, what a look though! It’s not just for show though, what a sick keyboard solo as well in the middle of the guitarists going mad as well! Yet another banger with ‘Brightstar’! A favourite of mine off the last album.
Whoever is doing the lights is really leaning into their colour scheme as well because it’s not just the custom lights doing all the bright RGB colours, it’s pretty much every light in the venue! Not going to lie to you, I am fully caught up in this set now. I bloody love Voyager and despite them having a short set, they’re mixing in bangers with their newer solos.
Did you also know they tried to get in for the Australian Eurovision song contest too? Well, they’re playing that song tonight! They’ve even got what looks like a properly choreographed dance for it as well! Looking around they’ve got a pretty good response from the audience too, some fans who are singing along as much as I am and clearly new people enjoying what they’re doing! I love what Voyager does, the pursuit of a good pop song never lets them get too distracted from having a real solid hook and groove. Finishing off with ‘Ascension’, the opener from the ‘Ghost Mile’ album, wraps up a short but sweet set and warms everyone up (literally) for VOLA.
Ever the band with atmospheric intros, VOLA starts off with Rebellion absolutely heaving at capacity. Starting with ’24 Light Years’ from their ‘Witness’ album, we’re off to a strong start. It’s clear right from the start that VOLA have developed their live show immensely since their last outing in the ÜK, the sound, the confidence that people know their words, the lighting rig they’ve got with them, everything is so much more now. ‘Alien Shivers’ sees the entire audience shouting out every single lyric of the song as well and Asgeir (vocals/guitar) is clearly overjoyed at this, it’s so evident in his face when he pulls away from the mic to hear the roar of the crowd. It would also appear that ‘Stray The Skies’ is no longer a set closer; it had to happen sooner or later but I’m pretty OK with it being mid-set now!
One thing that’s actually surprised me a lot about this show is how absolutely mad the mosh pit has been at the front center of the crowd as well. I mean don’t get me wrong, VOLA’s got plenty of heavy riffs that go hard but these guys have been trying to kill each other for half the show, even at the start of ‘We Are Thin Air’! VOLA definitely know they’ve got a lively audience here in Manchester so they’ve decided now is the time to absolutely bait them into going mad and it’s working! I’ve seen VOLA many times now and they’ve always been sublime live but I feel with the release of ‘Witness’ and its subsequent tours that are pushing out much further afield, it’s pretty evident that they’ve become confident in themselves and the fans they’ve built over the years.
I’m having to constantly keep an eye on the band and one on the crowd. ‘Black Claws’ sees the pit get ever more fierce and has grown to nearly half the immediate floor area in front of the stage, mental. Afterwards Asgeir says “Ok, that was crazy, let’s be calm.. for a moment” and, in true Manchester style, the immediate response is “Fuck off! No!”. Standard. The moment the initial synth starts for ‘Ghosts’, the entire audience suddenly started screaming and is hanging off every word, another fine example of VOLA’s songwriting being so easy to catch onto. I can’t take my eyes off the amazing pillars of light they have behind the band that follows every ebb and flow of each song and adds to its identity, flourishes of bright primary colours, TV static, pulses to specific passages, it’s genuinely a fantastic display! This is made even more evident with its use on ‘Smartfriend’ and I had to stop and make sure I caught a video of it because it’s incredible how they’ve used it to really drive home its main grinding riff.
As we get to the end of the set, ‘Straight Lines’ is like pouring petrol on an already burning bonfire and by now it’s just wild to me how fierce the pit is! And finally to finish, ‘Whaler’, easily one of the meatiest riffs that VOLA’s ever wrote and the finale to their second album, and a fantastic song to help finish off their headline set. Not only that, a curve ball of ‘Inside Her Fur’ to be the absolute finale, my cup runneth over, what an incredible set. I was still kind of hoping for ‘The Avalanche’ in there somewhere but that’s just another reason to keep coming back, other than the absolutely brilliant live show of course.
What a brilliant night, it’ll be a while before I see a lineup this good again!