Lake Malice

There are some gigs where you walk out thinking that was a good show, and then there are nights where you’re still buzzing about it on the way home. LAKE MALICE’S Manchester Academy 3 date was firmly in the latter category. With EVILLE and CHAOS BAY setting the bar early, the room was already full of energy before LAKE MALICE even walked on stage. By the end of the night, it was clear this was a band hitting a serious stride.

Opening the night were EVILLE, and they certainly weren’t interested in easing anyone into the evening. From the first note, the energy was through the roof, with the band throwing themselves into the set and the Manchester crowd responding in kind.

Things really kicked off when the circle pit opened up, eventually turning into a full-on wall of death. Add in a crowd surfer and you had exactly the sort of chaos you want from an opening band on a night like this.

The final song took things even further, with both Eva & Jude making their way into the pit and performing amongst the crowd. It was the sort of moment that summed EVILLE up perfectly: high energy, high performance and absolutely no fear of getting involved.

For an opener, they were exactly what the night needed.

Next up were CHAOS BAY a band I’ll admit I hadn’t heard before today. That, however, is very much something that’s going to be changing.

They were immense.

There was a real sense that CHAOS BAY understood exactly what a support slot is supposed to do. They got the crowd moving, got people involved and steadily turned the atmosphere up another notch. The energy coming from the stage was infectious, and by the time they finished, Manchester was more than ready for the main event.

It’s always great discovering a band unexpectedly at a gig, and CHAOS BAY were definitely one of those discoveries. If this was my first experience of them, it certainly won’t be my last.

Then came LAKE MALICE…

With I Wanna Know If It’s Real having made such an impact, this tour feels like an important moment for the band. Tonight, they looked like a band completely comfortable with the attention.

The set opened with Chrome Red, before rolling through Scatterbrain, Magic Square and Ghost In A Hell, immediately showing just how well the newer material translates to a live environment. There’s plenty going on in LAKE MALICE’S sound, but live it all comes together in a way that feels enormous without losing the personality of the songs.

Alice had apparently been dealing with some vocal issues before the show, but you genuinely wouldn’t have known it from watching her perform. Her vocals were superb throughout, handling the heavier moments just as well as the more melodic sections. Nobody Wants To Be You and 90’s Btch were particular highlights, while Main Character Energy brought another huge burst of energy from both band and crowd.

And then there was Blake.

Blake spent the night bouncing around the stage like a man who had absolutely no intention of standing still. Every inch of the Academy 3 stage was used, adding another layer of chaos and excitement to an already energetic performance.

One of the funniest moments came during rly ok, when two members of the crowd were brought onto the stage to play inflatable saxophones. It sounds ridiculous on paper — and, to be fair, it was — but it worked perfectly. It was exactly the kind of weird, fun moment that makes a LAKE MALICE show feel like more than simply watching a band play through an album.

The latter part of the set kept the momentum going, with Mitsuko, Blossom, New Religion and Bloodbath helping bring the night towards its finish. There was no sense of the band running out of steam; if anything, they seemed to get more fired up as the set went on.

For a band with an album that has already gone down so well, this felt like a proper celebration of it. LAKE MALICE has managed to build something that is heavy, unpredictable and genuinely fun, and tonight all of those elements came together.

Manchester gave them plenty back, too. From the pits during EVILLE’S set to the crowd involvement during LAKE MALICE, Academy 3 felt alive from start to finish.

Three bands, one ridiculously energetic night, and a reminder that sometimes the best gigs are the ones where you leave with a new band to listen to. LAKE MALICE was everything you could want from a headline show — and Manchester clearly wasn’t ready to let them leave.