LIVE REIVEW: Stand Atlantic @ New Century Hall, Manchester
A night full to the brim of pop-punk goodness awaits a sold out New Century Hall. It’s a Saturday and everyone is here to let loose to tonight’s headliners, Sydney’s STAND ATLANTIC. Currently touring their latest excellent album, WAS HERE, STAND ATLANTIC continue to prove that they’re one of pop-punk’s best exports currently going. A stacked line up added to the excitement that filtered through the crowd throughout the show.
Opening the show were fellow Australian compatriots SLOWLY SLOWLY, hailing from Melbourne brought their highly energetic and super bouncy performance to the difficult opening support slot. They instantly won the crowd over with their nostalgic combination of pop-punk meets indie music that went down a treat with the Mancunian crowd. The transitions between each track were seamless and held the attention of the crowd throughout. All of their songs were upbeat that featured punchy riffs and catchy hooks that carried echoes of the likes of YELLOWCARD and WITH CONFIDENCE. They were the perfect opener for STAND ATLANTIC. Their stand out track Blue Print was simply about “having a good fucking time”, which judging by the reaction of the crowd was incredibly apparent. Their set was short but sweet and left many fans eager to check them out after the show. With their new album Forgiving Spree due out in early 2025, now is the perfect time to join their hype train.
Rating: 8/10
Not long afterwards, our second support act of the night, HONEY REVENGE took to the stage. From the off, their infectious and high energy pop punk tunes got the crowd moving almost instantly. They put on a great show that radiated high energy, passion and excitement, even if at times some of the songs fell into the age-old trap of sounding the same. The aesthetics of the band matched their energy which was full of colour, bold and stood out visually adding to the well nature atmosphere of their set, it was just like watching a bunch of mates on stage just having a great time. Throughout the short set there were multiple mosh pits and crowd surfing which is always impressive to see during a support act. They saved their biggest hits until last, treating the crowd to rousing renditions of their hits Are You Impressed? and Airhead that were met with delight within the crowd. A solid support act all round that always guarantees a good time all round.
Rating: 7/10
Just after half nine, the lights went down with a voiceover delivering an Alan Watts quote “A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So, he loses touch with reality and lives in a world of illusions” before frontwoman Bonnie Fraser took to the stage with the rest of the band opening with the atmospheric WAKE UP-SIT DOWN-SHUT UP which instantly set the tone for the rest of the night. From then on, they barrelled through their high octane set without missing a beat. Enormous pits and crowd surfing was elicited during the one-two punch of tracks KISSIN’ KILLER COBRAS and WARZ0NE which were also stand out tracks from the new album, it was great to see they were just as good live, if not better than they were on the album. The band’s presence, particularly Fraser’s was magnetic throughout, effortlessly commanding the audience from start to finish as they demonstrated their ability to switch between heavier, breakdown-filled songs and more pop-punk, melodic tracks showed impressive versatility throughout the entire show.
The whole show was a celebration of all things STAND ATLANTIC. The combination of old and new was just right. Sex On The Beach had fun call and response moments with Fraser conducting the audience in getting a “HELL YEAH” with which there were many. Older hits such as Lavender Bones and hate me sometimes were brought out much to the delight of the crowd, the passion amongst both band and crowd was apparent and only added to the good vibes that were spread throughout the night. A well needed moment of respite came around as the band treated the audience to a sweet performance of Toothpick that was mashed up with Drops of Jupiter by TRAIN that created a lovely, poignant moment in the show, resulting in the crowd holding their phone torches and lighters up in the air.
From then on, it was bangers only until the end of the set. Songs like LOVE U ANYWAY, NOSEBLEED and dumb were met with the same amount of enthusiasm that earlier songs in the set did before bringing the main set to a close with a wonderful rendition of deathwish. The obligatory encore saw STAND ATLANTIC return to the stage leaving no stone unturned. Coffee At Midnight and GIRL$ brought the nights proceedings to a triumphant close and even saw HONEY REVENGE returning to the stage to sing along with GIRL$, when the show came to an end, the crowd left entertained and immensely satisfied by the showcase put on by STAND ATLANTIC.
The show itself proved that STAND ATLANTIC are stronger and hungrier than ever, they’re a band that are clearly at the top of their game currently and are only going to get better from here on out. It was a dynamic, unpredictable set that balanced heavy, energetic moments with emotional, crowd-connecting ones. It’s going to be great to see what they do next, if their live show is anything to go by, then bigger venues and even bigger stages at the likes of Slam Dunk and 2000trees will come a calling for them, and the best part about all that? It will be completely and utterly deserved.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from El Dawson here:
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