Pendulum with Alt Blk Era at Manchester Mayfield Depot.

Pendulum have made their return to the city of Manchester for the final date of the Inertia Tour, with support from alternative act Alt Blk Era. Mayfield Depot is a fairly new venue in the city centre with a walking distance from Manchester Piccadilly, recently hosting Turnstile on their recent tour the venue hasn’t been given the best of reviews by concert goers, with the venue actually going viral on social media or its poor management and safety issues. Gigs like Pendulum have left concert goers feeling apprehensive about the show due to its recent reputation, getting into the venue is straight forward if you have a ticket to the show, however if you’re working the gig and conducting a review like myself, getting into the venue you might have more of a struggle with, being sent to multiple entrances with staff not being aware of your arrival and having to pay a charity fee as a mandatory contribution to the venue in exchange for your guest ticket did not leave the best first impression, as I almost didn’t get into the venue in time for Alt Blk Era.

From walking into the venue and going on a wild goose chase to find the entrance to the photo pit, I spotted various safety violations and I’m not an inspector but having electrical equipment placed near a leaky ceiling left me on edge the entire show.

Alt Blk Era were the only supports for Pendulum on this tour, with a simple DJ to keep the audience entertained just beforehand, the girls came on sporting corsets and flowy skirts one wearing black and the other in all white making them individuals but also a team even by their colours. The crowd immediately responded well to them the second their band started to take to the stage with such positivity, they merged with the crowd so well the entire venue was already getting in the spirit of the gig even during the first song.

Their sound gave you a mix of alternative rock and electronic fitting well as a support act for Pendulum, they kind of gave me the same vibes as Nova Twins but with a more electronic edge. Their crowd interaction was incredible and the vocals from both of them were so perfect for the sound they had created as a band, at times with some lyrics they even made me go back to Rage Against The Machine with the messages they were carrying in some of their lyrics.

You could instantly tell from being in the photo pit that a lot of the people who were gathered at the barrier who had waited for hours for that spot were there for both acts on the bill, throughout the performance they were practically hanging over the barrier as if they could get even more closer the further we went into the set. Middle fingers were raised in the air bringing in the edge that was a perfect start to the night with the crowd jumping and getting on the floor to make the roof blow off this place!

Alt Blk Era were the perfect addition to this tour and they are someone I would highly recommend watching in future at any festival or any tour if it’s their own or supporting another act they are worth the watch and are so fun to be involved with. The band has a lot of time for their fans as during the switch over between themselves and Pendulum they took the time to go into the pit area and climb on the barrier to take selfies and speak to the fans, they covered the entire barrier which you could tell was appreciated so much by the people who waited so long for that kind of moment.

Setlist:

Come Fight Me For It
Rave Immortal
Run Rabbit
Okay (Cyber Racing)
Upstairs Neighbours
Tissues
My Drummer’s Girlfriend
I’m Normally Like this

Pendulum did what they do best, the dramatic build up for their set with the screen behind them showing the visuals that work for each and every song that’s on their set list with the lights dotted around for strobes. The band came out dressed in all black formal wear, the black really making Rob’s bleach blonde hair stand out like a sore thumb. Last time I photographed Pendulum at Victoria Warehouse the crowd was a 50/50 from electronic fans to metal heads, whereas this time around the place felt like it was full of metal fans, it felt like one of their sets at Download Festival.

The set opened with Napalm which was an interesting choice for a first song but it made the room erupt! Stadium sized visuals flashed across the LED wall behind them. The band’s trademark mixture of live instrumentation and electronic precision surged through the venue, the drums hit with an intense force, while Rob’s vocals and guitar playing brought everything together. What an insane and incredible start to a show.

One of the biggest eruptions came from Witchcraft, the crowds’ voices filled the room instantly. Pendulum’s ability to command a room is almost uncanny, they don’t even have to say anything they just get on the stage, play the setlist and let chaos take over from the crowd, and it’s just amazing how these guys manage to bring a crowd in, in such a way. These guys are the top ones right now in their genre and honestly they keep getting better and better each time.

Like every band though you can’t have a show especially like this without encores, or as i like to call them “Artist peekaboo”, except Pendulum loved the idea of doing this twice, always stay to the very end when the lights come on and ruin the vibe never leave while the lights are still off, number one rule of shows especially like this one when you think its over but it’s not quite there yet.

First encore of the night featured Watercolour which was classed as a fake encore because they clearly loved messing with the crowd after giving them an insane 14 to what would be a 16 song setlist. Before jumping right into the final song of the night and the song every single person in that room was waiting for, it might not be your all-time favourite Pendulum song don’t get me wrong but its the one you would HATE to see be removed from the setlist, Tarantula.

I’ve caught Pendulum live twice now and I don’t think you could see a room go more insane than when the intro to this song drops, cheers from all over the place from front to back and even up in VIP where those who don’t like pits live, the place went nuts wouldn’t shock me if VIP made their own mini pit to this because if you aren’t jumping like a lunatic you’re not doing this song justice.

This Manchester date was a hell of a way to end a successful album tour for sure, Manchester once again proving why it’s one of the top cities for gigs and why your favourite artist chooses to play here. The crowds are unmatched and I’m pretty sure the Manchester crowd brings out a better performance in these artists, then again saying that Pendulum can’t play a bad gig can they? Inside venues and outside venues they kill it each and every time. If you want to see Pendulum say you like bands like The Prodigy then they’re doing the festival circuit next year so get to that set or regret it for the rest of your life, I made that once stupid decision.

Setlist: