GIG REVIEW: Millie Manders and the Shut Up + Air Drawn Dagger,
The Cluny 2, Newcastle, Thursday 9 February 2023
I first happened upon Millie Manders and the Shut Up at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool back in 2019.
They were neither punk nor ska, post-hardcore nor rap, but a bit of all the above, and I was immediately taken by their energy, attitude and the sheer joyfulness of their music.
Fast-forward three and a half years and I’m in a basement venue with 100 or so others who are already converts to MMATSU, or very soon will be.
This show is a leftover from their Life Is A Rollercoaster tour at the back end of last year, when they had to cancel a handful of dates after Millie lost her voice.
The Cluny 2 is a third bigger than the original venue, and it’s within a whisker of being sold out.
Those here are present to witness one of the brightest talents in the UK’s alternative scene today, a talent whose star can only continue to rise if MMATSU can maintain their current trajectory.
Rising stars
Originally a five-piece, they’re now a tight quartet, with Millie on vocals, Joe Quigley on guitar, Pete Wright on drums and Georgina Boreham on bass.
You can almost taste the anticipation as they take to the small stage, and kick off their set with two oldies, Bacchus and the title track from 2017’s Obsession Trangression EP.
They hit their stride immediately, with Joe firing out riffs and Georgina looking like the happiest woman in the world as she lays down the groove with Pete.
But the real star of the show is Millie, who has a voice TV talent show wannabes would die for. Her vocal range truly is astonishing, alternately soaring to the heavens and plumbing the depths, becoming a guttural roar which starts somewhere near the earth’s core.
Another oldie, One That Got Away, from 2018’s Shutup EP, is tossed in as another tasty appetiser before the main course arrives, the bulk of the set coming from 2020’s excellent debut album Telling Truths, Breaking Ties (reviewed here).
You wouldn’t guess from the largely upbeat nature of their songs that they’re about subjects as weighty as mental health, social inequality, environmental issues and drug addiction.
Burnout addresses the part-time musician’s lot of burning the candle at both ends, juggling full-time jobs with trying to achieve your dreams of ‘making it’.
Broken Record is about not being able to let go of a toxic relationship, while Silent Screams is about feeling unable to ask for help when you’re struggling with your demons.
New single
There’s a new single too; Rebound, which comes out on Valentine’s Day, is easily as good as anything in their back catalogue and suggests there’s plenty more to come from this most likeable of bands.
A cover of girl group Little Mix’s Sweet Melody might seem an unlikely choice for the first of three ‘non-encores’, but, in the parlance of those aforementioned TV talent shows, MMATSU have ‘made it their own’.
Not OK and Bitter bring the show to a tremendous close, but the standout moment for me, as ever, is the climax of Your Story, when Millie hits and then holds a note that doesn’t seem possible. Gobsmacking doesn’t even begin to describe it.
MMATSU show once again over their hour-long set just why once seen, they can’t be forgotten, but will become an itch you’ll want to scratch over and again.
Hitting the road
They’re hitting the road again for a new tour in April, as well as playing the likes of Manchester Punk Festival, Bearded Theory, Slam Dunk and Rebellion.
Check out Millie Manders and the Shut Up’s music on their Bandcamp page HERE and forthcoming tour dates on their website HERE.
Tonight’s support was another hard-to-pigeonhole band, Sheffield trio Air Drawn Dagger, who also have a versatile vocalist in frontwoman Maisie.
I hadn’t heard them before, but their set, which leans towards post-hardcore, was so enjoyable that I bought their debut album, The Seance Season Mixtape, from the merch stand afterwards.
Originally a four-piece, they’re now a trio, operating without a bassist, but Lewis on guitar and Ross on drums make it work musically while Maisie works the crowd, encouraging them to join their band of outsiders.
Air Drawn Dagger are well worth checking out on their Bandcamp page HERE and on their website HERE.
