After seeing the band at an early afternoon slot on the Woods stage at End of the Road festival in 2011, Dry The River released their eagerly awaited, magnificent debut album 'Shallow Bed' in early 2012. After what seems like forever, their second full length album 'Alarms in the Heart' was released this August so the band are on tour to support it.
Saturday night saw a busy, expectant crowd at the moderately sized Manchester Academy 2, awaiting their heroes after a couple of year's gap. They kicked off with Hidden Hand and Med School from the new album, and even though the audience has only had a couple of months to digest the new tunes, most lyrics are already memorised, and a mass sing-along begun.
First older song played was third song in, in the shape of New Ceremony, and now the party had really started. Probably in part to it being Saturday night and clearly everyone present was already a fan, the atmosphere was fantastic. It was also noted that the band attract a large female fan base, including this reviewer's wife, and an almost obsessive following.
This is a band that looks like Biffy Clyro, all long lanky hair and tattoos, but in Peter Liddle they have a be-fringed frontman with the voice of an angel. His almost falsetto tone really gives this band a sound like no other out there at the moment, and the musicianship of the rest of the band create the anthemic backdrop over which he soars.
New single Gethsemane, already sounding like it's going to be a firm live favourite, again had the crowd singing and dancing as the temperature inside the venue increased. The band seems genuinely appreciative of everyone's support, especially considering the gap where nothing was heard from them, and they thank us frequently for coming to see them.
The main set closed with Vessel, again another favourite from the new album, and finally No Rest from Shallow Bed……the crowd certainly does love them in the best way possible..
The encores began quietly, with an acoustic version of History Book, but we all knew (and hoped) what was coming, and that was Weights & Measures. It’s fair to say that I could barely hear the band as everyone was belting this out at the top of their voices….a real uplifting, emotional experience.
So with Goosebumps all over, sweat dripping off us, and virtually everyone grinning like buffoons, the show was over. The band came over to the merch stand for after show selfies and autographs, and we all left hoping it isn’t going to be another 2 years before we see them again.
Keith @kjsmith4082
