Black Veil Brides & Lilith Czar & Cemetery Sun
Manchester Academy
22nd February 2023
Manchester Academy on a cold wet Wednesday in February and a bustling line of heavy black eyeliner clad fans that carries away from the venue can only mean one thing – Black Veil Brides have swung into town after almost five years away and we are ready!
Cemetery Sun are tasked with opening tonight’s anticipated proceedings and launch into an animated performance. The crowd respond positively to their alt/indie/rock hybrid sound. They used the time that they had on stage to their advantage with a full throttle performance to really get the room nice and toasty. It’s not an enviable task as the opening act but these guys took it and made it count. A great start and definitely a band to keep on the radar.
Lilith Czar was a name that many, including myself were extremely eager to see added to tonight’s line-up and wow – did she deliver! Even before Czar took to the stage there was an electricity in the air and when she appeared through the smoke, the magic emanated from her. The crowd were hypnotised and it’s easy to see why, with powerful and beautiful vocals filling the air Czar’s presence commands attention. Bursting into opener ‘Feed my Chaos’ and her hold on the room remains throughout. It is an awe inspiring performance, truly hypnotic to watch and the crowd are completely swept away, taken in by the sheer brilliance of it all.
There is a message of strength mid set ‘crowning’ every woman in the room as Kings encouraging solidarity and power. Finishing the set with the first single released under this incarnation ‘King’ perfectly encapsulating her message and ending this electrifying performance on a high. Heading down to the barrier and taking the time to connect with every fan along the entire front row shows a mutual respect and is a beautiful moment shared with the singer and fans. If you have the chance to see Lilith perform live do not pass up the opportunity.
Celebrating the release of latest album ‘The Phantom Tomorrow’ Black Veil Brides choose arguably one of the BEST intro tracks to signal their imminent arrival on stage tonight. As the platform is flooded red and the dramatic overture of Phantom of the Opera fills the air the crowd absolutely explodes.
This is a room full of hard-core and dedicated fans who have waited a long time for tonight and the air is palpable with screams erupting all around as Andy Biersack and co. kick into opener ‘Crimson Skies’. This is a band that knows their audience, and they rip through a wonderful setlist full of fan favourites and even though the ratio of old to new seem a little unbalanced, nonetheless it is an absolutely triumphant show.
Andy is a fantastic frontman and owns the stage interacting with his band and his crowd in equal amounts as they sing along in complete unison. The whole room is absolutely alive. The playful antics of Guitarists Jinxx and Jake Pitts and base player Lonny Eagleton are great to watch as it’s clear they are a close knit band who gel well which makes for a pleasing performance to watch and their joy is infectious. It’s hard to pick stand out moments as every song was absolutely devoured morsel by morsel but of course ‘Knives and Pens’ took the fever pitch up a notch as did first single from ‘The Phantom Tomorrow’ ‘Scarlet Cross’. It’s a testament to their career that their body of work has stood the test of time and that new material is as well-loved as old faithful classics. A very sweaty, happy crowd disbanded from Manchester Academy hoping that it won’t be such a long wait before the bands next return.
Review & Photographs By Rebecca Bush
https://www.instagram.com/beckybphoto/
