IST IST, Manchester Academy 2, 11th November 2021

I think this is my sixth time with IST IST and they just keep getting better. Tonight feels like a step up. Manchester Academy 2 is the biggest stage I’ve seen them on and they ease onto it with… well, ease. The new album has been out a few weeks now and this hometown show feels like a bit of a celebration. Especially when their concluding the tour here too. There’s a great mix of the two albums, but we kick off with the haunting ‘Wolves’, those menacing synths that build as the guitars unleash and the drums detonate. They sound fucking huge in here. Adam’s baritone bouncing off the walls. ‘Nights Arm’ sounds monumental and as it rolls into ‘Discipline’ I’m getting thoughts along the lines that this is the best I’ve ever seen them. The early shows in smaller rooms now feel more special than they did at the time, but there’s no denying they sound bigger, more solid, tighter, deadlier than ever. It’s never been a shy sound, but right now you’ll struggle to find many other bands capable of such an epic performance with songs that can flatten your soul… in a good way of course. It’s not long in before we get ‘Emily’, rippling through us ardent followers, one holding his walking stick aloft. Not an old fellas stick I must clarify, just someone with a broken leg who quite rightly didn’t want to miss this. ‘A New Love Song’ with its euphoric synths sounds like it could soundtrack a classic 80s teen drama. It always feels like the lightest song in a brutal set, but it’s no less impactful. Followed by ‘Preachers Warning’ that I’ve not heard live for a bit, they’re pulling out the stops. I’ll be honest, I usually just write whatever I feel, stuff that comes to mind, but I feel like I really need to try harder with IST IST to convey just how great a live band they are. I don’t have the words though. I could list a bunch of superlatives and bonkers metaphors but I’m not sure I can do them justice. They’ve got to be one of the best if not the best bands with this post punk laced with synths sound around at the moment. The new album should quite rightly lift them to bigger and bigger rooms, even if I did enjoy watching them in tiny packed clubs and churches. They’re ready. “You might not be able to tell from me face, but I’m having a really good time” says Adam. We all are fella, we all are. Extreme Greed’ kicks off the encore, my favourite off ‘The Art of Lying’. Mat ditching the keys to cut in on guitar for the finale, it sounds like a stadium filler. For 90 minutes they deftly sore and come lights up I’m left breathless. Magnificent.