SET IT OFF — MANCHESTER, UK.
Set It Off at the O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK.
with support from TSS, Call Me Amour and Point North!
I first discovered Set It Off back when I was a teen, and I am no stranger to their shows having seen them seven times over the years. Every single time they come back over to the UK, they always put on a great show with a stacked lineup of supports every time, and this tour is no exception! This time support came from TSS (The Sunday Sadness), Call Me Amour and Point North.
Opening the night were french band TSS. They were the only band on this lineup I wasn’t familiar with but I’ll definitely be giving them more of a listen. The set started with a short intro before going straight into ‘Would you be my therapy?’. Throughout the set there was constant crowd interaction from all three members, encouraging the crowd to jump, clap, wave their arms etc. They did an amazing job of warming the crowd up ready for the rest of the show and in my opinion were a perfect fit for the Set It Off crowd. I hope to see them on more tours over here soon!
Call Me Amour took to the stage next to perform a short but energetic four song set. ‘Happy Hell’ from their latest EP was the perfect opener to the set, bringing the energy right from the start. Vocalist Harry Radford’s aggressive screams as he confidently moves around the stage shows that Call Me Amour didn’t come to mess around! Radford is such a talented frontman and it always shows. During ‘Chasing Bugs’ Radford came down into the crowd to encourage everyone to get moving, whilst the rest of the band encouraged everyone to clap along and bang their heads. Danny Hall’s drums on ‘Bloom’ always stand out to me every single time I see Call Me Amour live, they are so powerful and hit so hard, it is always one of my favourite songs to hear them play live! Finally they closed out the set with ‘Girl On The Wall’. You can’t help but dance to this song as it is always so much fun. Bassist Arran Lomax’s dance moves and infectious energy always encourage the crowd to enjoy themselves and have fun. Call Me Amour’s sets are always so well put together, and I have no doubt we will be seeing them on much bigger shows soon!
Main support came from Point North, a band I’ve been wanting to see for far too long but always seem to have missed until now. They opened with ‘WORLD vs PEACE’ and Josh Parra’s drums make this the perfect set opener, this was followed by ‘Like a Weapon’ and ‘Into The Dark’ keeping the energy high, vocalist Jon Lundin was constantly interacting with the crowd, encouraging them to wave their arms and keep moving and jumping, all whilst delivering incredible vocals on every single track. The lighting in Point North’s set was gorgeous too, I was constantly finding myself getting lost in the pink, purple and red lights which definitely added to an already amazing set. We even got a guest appearance from Set It Off’s Cody Carson for his feature on ‘Below The Belt’ which had the crowd cheering even louder than they already were. Both Lundin and Carson were encouraging people to open the pit and they delivered! During the set Point North also mentioned that they had been a band for seven years, and this was their first full UK and Europe tour. It was clear they had many fans in the crowd already and I have no doubt they’ve gained many more since this run of shows! They closed out their set with my personal favourites ‘Stitch Me Up’ and ‘Safe and Sound’ which I was so happy to finally hear live! Point North absolutely killed it and I already can’t wait to catch them again at Slam Dunk in a few months!
Before Set It Off had even come on stage the crowd were loudly chanting their name. They had a 60 second countdown to the start of the show, building anticipation and getting the crowd even more excited. The cheers as each member took to the stage were easily some of the loudest I have ever heard! The band wasted no time at all going straight into the ‘Reborn’ version of their hit ‘Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing’. It felt so strange hearing this as an opener rather than a closer yet at the same time it worked so well. The new version is heavier, angrier and more powerful, really starting the night as they meant to go on. Throughout the set they were playing a mix of old and new tracks, there was something for everyone, I’ll admit there were a few songs I was sad to not see this time around as a longtime fan but hearing newer tracks such as ‘Fake Ass Friends’ and ‘Evil People’ live for the first time more than made up for that! Frontman Cody Carson said “It’s gonna be a party tonight!” And he wasn’t wrong! He had everybody jumping, clapping along, waving their arms, even getting the crowd to repeat certain parts of songs after him to get everybody involved whether you knew the band well or not. All of Set It Off always do an amazing job of interacting with their fans in the crowd and tonight was no exception to that!
The lighting throughout their set was also stunning, but in all honesty I was so caught up in the music and singing along to some of my favourite songs that it was rare I was looking at the lights! Fan favourites such as ‘Lonely Dance’ and ‘Hypnotised’ went down really well with the crowd. We also got to see Carson swap places with drummer Maxx Danziger for ‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’, showing the versatility and talent of all members rather than them just sticking to their usual places! They do this for at least one song on every tour and it is always a highlight of the set for me personally! This was the point where the pit was probably the biggest I’d seen the entire night and there were more crowd surfers in one song than I’ve probably seen at every other Set It Off show I’ve been to combined! It was so cool to see how well slightly deeper cuts such as this one went down with the crowd!
The final few songs were just banger after banger, every single person in the room singing and dancing along. ‘Killer In The Mirror’ is a song you can’t help but dance to and ‘Why Worry’ is just the ultimate feel good track to end the main set on! As Set It Off left the stage before the encore there were once again loud cheers and chants asking for one more song. It was so refreshing to see such an enthusiastic crowd given that a lot of crowds will just stand and wait for encores now! Set It Off took their places once more to end with ‘Punching Bag’ before playing ‘You’re Welcome’ from Moana over the sound system as they spent some time engaging with fans at the end of the set. Every single Set It Off tour I attend is always one of my shows of the year, but it also leaves me wanting more every single time! I’m already hoping they come back for more shows soon!
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