ORIGAMI ANGEL — MANCHESTER, UK.
Origami Angel at the Gorilla, Manchester, UK.
with support from Saturdays At Your Place!
Back in September of last year, Origami Angel released an album under the name of Feeling Not Found. They had initially started working on it back in 2020, but all of the material was set aside to work on their previous album Gami Gang. It turns out that they never thought the album felt truly complete until revisiting it in 2023 with producer Will Yip. Feeling Not Found (the title being a wordplay on the phrase ‘File Not Found’), has an overall underlying theme of society’s overconsumption of technology and social media, which seems all too fitting since the lockdowns of 2020, but there was an odd comfort that came with hearing these songs in a room filled of people not glued to their phones.
The atmosphere at emo shows is always my favourite, especially at smaller venues like Gorilla (I get such a warm feeling that feels so comforting, like home or seeing friends I haven’t seen in a while), so naturally, I was pretty hyped for this one. Saturdays At Your Place were the singular support act of the night; I had their song ‘Tarot Cards’ downloaded prior to the show but I hadn’t really gotten into them much aside from that. However, as soon as my eyes were met with their backdrop referencing their hometown of Kalamazoo, MI, and their guitarist wearing the headline bands merch, I had the feeling that I was in for a great midwest emo set (and I wasn’t mistaken). Their music reminded me of a more upbeat version of Slaughter Beach, Dog (who I absolutely love) and their interactions with the crowd were a lot of fun too. “I like it here a lot - I like Spoons”, they joked before making everyone lower themselves to the ground and then jump back up in time with their song, ‘it’s always cloudy in kalamazoo’. They closed with ‘Tarot Cards’, which had almost the entire crowd singing along with them - a great end to an absolutely solid opening set.
Origami Angel initiated their set with the opening song from ‘Feeling Not Found’, ‘Lost Signal’, which gradually opened the stage back up just like it gradually opens the album up. The lyrics, “I leave the lights on in every room when you’re not home/The TV autoplaying YouTube videos”, sounded as a projected video of a Pokémon Platinum speedrun became the backdrop. I love that Origami Angel clearly know their audience; What I also loved was the way that the show not only linked to the new album’s theme, but simultaneously spread a good amount of wholesome nostalgia around the room. ‘Dirty Mirror Selfie’’s metal-influenced riffs were next, and the speedrun in the back started to make the music seem like it was actually made for the videogame.
The band then dove into some of their earlier discography, starting with ‘24 Hour Drive-Thru’, and the crowd felt as if it was trying to be heard - the energy was electric. The opening interlude to their 2021 album, ‘Gami Gang’, followed, teasing the next couple of songs that they were about to play from it. ‘Self-Destruct’ and ‘Bossa Nova Corps’ are probably my two favourite songs by the band, so this part of the set was a highlight for me. I was also just genuinely really impressed by the vocalist/guitarist, Ryland Heagy, improvising new math rock guitar parts over ‘Bossa Nova Corps’, at the same time as he sang and engaged with the crowd. The show that these guys put on despite there being only two of them is insane; They know how to fill a room in a way that doesn’t make it obvious at all that there aren’t more people on the stage.
The rest of the set consisted of a back and forth between older songs and newer songs; The band ensured there was something in there for everyone. Another thing I love about the shows in this scene is that when the band talks about ‘back home’, it isn’t just in a homesick way, it’s in a way that makes you feel like you’re welcome to visit anytime. “So far from home, but so many beautiful faces, this is what we do it for”, Heagy expressed between songs. The whole show, from the Pokémon gameplay to the ultra-specific references to Danny Phantom and Happy Meals in their song, ‘Doctor Whomst’, felt like a really great night hanging with friends at their house, but with Origami Angel’s trademark heavier riffs and charged energy, somehow concurrently, like you’d been dropped into a video game you’d been playing with them.
As the night was coming to a close, the band gave the crowd the choice of leaving the stage and coming back with an encore of two more songs, or just playing through and ending with three more. The crowd chose the latter (and correctly so). A short audio clip of a Six Flags commercial led into their closing track - ‘666 Flags’. The lyrics “And I’m trying not to feel so bad for myself/And I’m trying not to bring down everyone else” accompanied by an array of blast beats brought the show to a close without bringing the energy down, and I was left wishing it wasn’t ending. This was my first time seeing Origami Angel live, and it definitely won’t be my last.
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