American Football Live At The Gorilla, Manchester 16/05/2015 (Matinee performance)

After the long awaited reunion of 90's emo band, American Football, finally announced their very first uk tour with support from upcoming UK indie band TTNG, tickets for all 7 shows sold out within a matter of minutes! As the dates finally came around, social media blew up with people scrounging after spare tickets which brought home just how precious these shows were and my god what an experience it was to see them live!

As TTNG's performance came to an end and people had piled back in after cigarette breaks, the room was amass with eager fans staring at an empty stage waiting for what was possibly one of the most anticipated tours of 2015. When they eventually took to the stage applause met their entrance with open arms and as the first notes rang out of Five Silent Miles a wave of smiling faces swarmed the room. Instrumental tracks (including a trumpet solo by drummer Steve Lamos) soon followed and exposed the astounding musicianship of the members but it was when Mike Kinsella broke into the well known beginning solo of Honestly? the whole room really came alive. Bodies moved wildly with grace and heads bounced in time with their charming melodies. It's a very rare moment to see four men captivate an audience as strongly as they managed to do.

Note: This image is mine. Please do not steal it. 

As the afternoon rolled on we saw them play all their top hits including songs such as I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional and The Regrets Are Killing Me as well as renditions of lesser known tracks. American Football brought a refreshing element to the show with a perfect coalesce of both instrumental and vocal songs. As they finished up the end of the set with The One With The Wurlitzer they promptly left the stage leaving audiences waiting patiently while muffled claps and people pining for their return echoed around the room. After a solid 5 minutes of folk awkwardly filling time the band finally graced us with their presence once again for vocalist and guitarist Mike Kinsella to jokingly ask "Shall we just play these two songs then?". Met with a mixed reply of laughs a cheers, they promptly began the emotional descent into The Summer Ends which most likely lead to a few tears being shed. They finally came to the predictable end as the guys aligned to play their most well known song, Never Meant. Cheers ripped through the venue and arms punched the air as the guitars rung out. It seemed everyone had been saving their voices for this moment as a chorus of unlikely people imitated the lyrics nonchalantly. Almost too soon, the lights went down as the band unplugged their instruments and exited the stage for the final time.

The room was abuzz with excitement as people made their way out of the venue. Astounded discussions of the talent these four men possessed could be heard throughout and many of the crowd who attended finally content after they had awaited for this moment for so long. It was great to see them perform content less well known rather than just playing songs from their album back to back which was what i expected. Their performance cannot be praised highly enough!