Porridge Radio, Manchester Academy 2. 29th October 2022

I’m not quite sure how to describe Porridge Radio. They’re kinda indie, not particularly punk, post-punk, goth, but there’s definitely a dark edge to them. This is a good thing of course. They take the four piece with jangly guitars thing and have made it into something all their own. It’s easy to pin some of this on singer Dana whose deep and devastating  delivery packs bucket loads of raw emotion. Maybe that’s a good descriptor, emotion. For as great as the tunes are, it’s the power of the vocals and the lyrics that make this lot such a brilliant listen. Live too they’re an even more energetic prospect. Some of these songs have got some serious clout and border on anthemic. Dana again is at the centre, bouncing around the stage with her guitar feeding off the crowd. Take nothing away from the rest of the band though, they’re  effortlessly solid. I’ve watched them play a shorter festival set before, but when they’ve more time to play with they really come alive and even the slowly mournful sounding songs lift the crowd. This is a band to be obsessed by. I think I might be a little too old and set in my ways for some of it to resonate, but I’m surrounded by kids down the front singing every word back. When Dana screams “I just want to feel like other people” it’s like a sonic boom detonates from the stage and etches a knowing smile on every face in the room. ‘Birthday Party’ works up a sweat, before we get told we can move a bit more and everyone sings happy birthday to Georgie whose keyboards add a warm hugging feeling to Porridge Radio’s sound. We’ve been told to move and Manchester is always happy to accommodate. It’s one of those gigs that I think I came to with the view that, yeah they’re okay, I wanna see them play again. I don’t remember them being this good though. Those are sometimes some of the best gigs, the surprise takes you and throws you round the room in a whirl of utter delight. By the time we get to ‘Lilac’ with it’s refrain of “I don’t want to get bitter, I want us to get better, I want us to be kinder to ourselves and to each other.” Well it’s not only good advice, but it sounds magnificent filling the Academy’s walls. It’s so ferocious Georgie fries her keyboards, which sees Dana ad-lib with a round of jokes from the crowd. Some of which are pretty good, but you maybe had to be here. It seems to invigorate the band who tear into ‘The Rip’ and fucking let loose with an infectious confidence. ‘Long’ is one of my favourites. It’s an absolute banger disguised as a snarling monster. It’s followed by ‘Back to the Radio’ with the girl behind me screaming every word down my ear. I don’t care, she’s word perfect and this is what great live music is about, unadulterated wild abandon, bloody brilliant! How do you end a set like this? Well ‘Sweet’ is a pretty good way. It’s a total release as the pit Dana’s requested bounces around and everyone’s left in a daze. So how would I describe Porridge Radio? Brilliant. Fucking brilliant.