Aiden - Manchester Academy 2 - 2nd April 2008
Support: Brigade, Kill Hannah

Within the first few minutes of Brigade's set, it becomes clear that the sound quality is a little off. For some reason, it remains off throughout the night, meaning that once the guitars get heavy it all begins to blur into a wall of noise, and it's almost impossible to distinguish what is being sung unless you already know the lyrics word-for-word. Brigade really suffer because of this, their post-hardcore racket reduced to a sludge of distortion that makes every song of their half an hour set sound very similar. It is only when the wall of noise breaks for a few masterful guitar solos that you realise Brigade are playing note-perfect, innovative rock, and not just making noise. These moments are all the more arresting as they seem to come out of nowhere, but for the most part, Brigade's set is marred by the poor sound quality.

When second support Kill Hannah take to the stage, it's to such a rapturous reception that it's hard to believe they aren't tonight's headliners. Stepping out to an ice-cool rendition of beautiful instrumental track 'Life in the Arctic,' it instantly becomes clear that their pop-meets-darkwave is going to fare much better with the dodgy speakers than Brigade's straight-up rock did. Crowd enthusiasm starts off at a high and remains there, as Kill Hannah deliver a headliner-worthy set and the crowd treat them like headliners: screaming the lyrics back at them, breaking into mass clap-alongs and bouncing until the floor shakes for fan-favourite 'Crazy Angel.' It seems everyone here knows who Kill Hannah are, and are excited to see them. It seems likely that next time they grace these shores, Kill Hannah won't be in support slots for gigs of this size: they'll be headlining them. They seem on the verge of getting very big very quickly - catch them in smaller venues while you still can!

It's a tough act to follow, but as soon as wiL Francis steps out onstage, it becomes clear that although Kill Hannah may have wowed the crowd, it's Aiden we're all really here to see. Lead Singer wiL certainly has stage presence, mixing genuine charisma with a slight demonic edge as he stalks the stage, revelling in the role of unhinged front man. Their set is gimmick-free, devoid of gushing speeches about their great fans and how they're living their dreams, as Aiden instead concentrate on pouring all their energies into burning note-perfect through their set. The one bit of spectacle they do indulge in is WiL Francis clamouring up onto the speakers to perform a death-defying leap into the crowd that has the entire audience craning their necks to check whether he survived the fall in one piece. Thankfully, he climbs back onstage a few moments later.

Tonight's setlist draws mostly on material from their latest album 'Conviction' This is met with circle pits and raised voices aplenty, but it's the older material such as 'Die Romantic' and 'The Last Sunrise' which receive the truly fanatical reception, with circle pits swelling to fill almost the entire room. When wiL calls for a wall of death during oldie 'The Suffering' it ends up being the length and, amazingly, very nearly the breadth of the room. It appears that, for tonight's crowd at least, Aiden moving away from their roots and into the more grown-up sound of 'Conviction' wasn't necessarily a good thing, and the screamo of 'Nightmare Anatomy' is still firm favourite with the fans.

The thing that makes Aiden such an exhilarating band to watch, is that element of danger and genuine bile and bitterness that My Chemical Romance did so well before The Black Parade whisked them away from smaller venues and into the arenas. Seen live, Aiden are focused and furious, and seem intent on getting the crowd to hurt one another. Tonight, they delivered a set bursting with demonic energy and fierce conviction in their music, and this enthusiasm rubbed off on the crowd, who refused to stop moving until the very last note of the night had faded away. As the band file offstage and the crowd streams from the venue, there are smiles all around, and much excited talk of wiL Francis' onstage promise of returning to the UK in the autumn.


Review by Jessica Thornsby


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