poppedmusic

Hudson Taylor

Academy 2, Manchester, 7th February 2015

It’s actually the first time I’ve ever been to this venue and I was surprised to see that it filled up pretty quickly, not just a few people milling around but a full on excited audience piled straight on in. I watched the first act up, Jack Morris, mostly from the queue at the bar. He did a good job of keeping the busy crowd entertained though he wasn’t really my cup of tea. What more can you really ask from for your first act on?

Photo: Popped Music

Southern were the main support for this Singing For Strangers tour for Hudson Taylor. You might have noticed we have featured them a fair few times over the past year or so on Popped but this was the first time I had seen them live. Southern live reminded me at times of what it was like to watch The Subways in the early days, perhaps also a little like Band of Skulls, you know with the female/male lead shares and a rockier edge. Lucy here though definitely has the edge over her brother on the rock side of things. Perhaps this is why they left me disappointed by not playing their more up tempo indie pop track Where The Wild Are. My personal disappointment aside they were great and I’m certain they will have picked up loads of new fans from this tour for sure. I know I want to see them again soon.

On to the main event; Hudson Taylor. I did have some kind of idea that there might be some young girls at this show but what I wasn’t expecting was the super excitement from groups of guys too! They were crazy for the Irish siblings before they even stepped onto the stage. The show was sold out and the atmosphere was thriving for a Saturday night.

Photo: Popped Music

As the show went on it became clear that these guys have a serious fan base. Not just the screaming girls, or the bouncing lads. The crowd was pretty mixed age wise and regardless of the fact that people didn’t know most of the songs, they were really into it. I was a little surprised to hear such a big song as Weapons being thrown in right toward the start but it really made the crowd go wild.

Hudson Taylor are touring for their, as yet unreleased, debut album, Singing For Strangers. (out on 30th March).It was great to see that they really appreciated how much the crowd engaged with them despite not knowing so much of the set. They they took several moments to ask the lighting guy to turn the light up so they could take photos of the crowd.

A lovely treat for the Manchester crowd was the special guest appearance from Gabriella Alpin who came on stage to perform on the album track Beautiful Mistake, where she also features as a guest vocalist. The set list felt varied and they played a tight set but there was one point I thought I couldn’t take any more slow stuff. Just at that point they ramped it right back up, perfect timing. They also brought out the big guns with one of the best live treatments of Back In Black that I’ve ever heard – have you head it done with a violin before? Genius and a real set highlight.

Another highlight that needs mentioning is quite a brave move by the brother duo as they took to the centre of the stage sans microphones and tried to quieten a crazed audience so that they could sing totally off mic. “This is never going to work” I muttered to myself and I was almost right. But once they started singing you could almost hear a pin drop. No mean feat by anyone’s standards.

There was definitely moments when as much as I had been enjoying the show when I thought, this is going on a little bit. 20 songs, a bargain for £11 a ticket no doubt, and no wonder the shows are selling out all over. For me personally though, I found this set to be too long considering the album isn’t out. I also found it a little self indulgent at times also but having said that, as long as their fans enjoyed it, and they did, then it’s all good. I do wonder how long their sets will be when they’re on their fourth album though. Best book the next day off work then!