YOU ME AT SIX / WATERPARKS / THE MAINE / BEARS IN TREES
MANCHESTER APOLLO – 06/02/2023
2023 marks the 19th year of You Me At Six’s long run together and this don’t look to be slowing down any time soon. The Surrey rockers are on the verge of releasing their eighth studio album ‘Truth Decay’, their first album since 2021’s ‘Suckerpunch’ which reached number 1 in the UK charts, and they’ll be hoping to beat Paramore to the number one spot next week.
Tonight’s show in Manchester is one of their first in support of their new album ‘Truth Decay’ and should have given fans a chance to hear it in full prior to the tour, but due to production issues with vinyls the release date was delayed and this means we’re only familiar with the singles from their new album thus far. Non the less, tonight’s show hold an exciting amount of new music to hear live for the first time as well as many other YMAS classics from their hefty back catalogue for good measure.
Support for this tour falls to Bears in Trees, The Main (7), and Waterparks (8), who all do a fantastic job entertaining the ever-growing crowd from opening with fantastic performances all around. Waterparks particularly drew a huge turnout, and a short and sweet set was enough to get everyone warmed up nicely ready for You Me At Six (10) to take to the stage.
The stage glows deep red in keeping with the style of ‘Truth Decay’ as silhouettes emerge to deafening screams, and the beating of recent single ‘Deep Cuts’ fills the room as the guitar riff kicks in with frontman Josh Francheschi kicking the air as the spotlight hits him and leads us through the first dose of the new album straight off the blocks. It’s a perfect song for their live shows and the crowd erupts into mosh pits for its huge chorus.
‘Fresh Start Fever’, ‘Straight to My Head’ and ‘Liquid Confidence’ follow proving tonight’s setlist is going to be a rollercoaster through the years of YMAS’s huge back catalogue which goes down fantastically well with the Manchester crowd of fans both new and old.
The 21 strong set is crammed with huge tracks, and of those from their past albums, the obvious choices such as ‘Bite My Tongue’, ‘Stay With Me’ and the moving ‘Give’, are no surprise inclusions. However, there are a few curveballs and surprises mixed in there, in particularly a beautiful acoustic version of ‘No One Does It Better’ which sounded incredible stripped back.
Of the new material, ‘HeartLESS’, ‘No Future? Yeah Right’ and ‘Mixed Emotions’ all blow our socks off with their explosive choruses and sound brilliant live and it’s clear from the reaction of the crowd they’ve been dying to hear these songs live, probably as much as YMAS have been dying to play them live for the first time.
The only unfamiliar new track that features is ‘God Bless The 90’s Kids’, which the frontman walks us through with the lyrics before kicking into its catchy melody and chorus. It’s a little less rough than their other singles, but equally as emphatic live and it goes down a treat.
The encore features five tracks from their back catalogue, the first being the calm and beautiful ‘Take On The World’, before usual business is resumed for a moshing filled end to the show with ‘SUCKAPUNCH’, ‘Underdog’, and ‘Reckless’ closing the set in top form. ‘Beautiful Way’ concludes an incredible evening of live music perfectly, with the crowd singing back the lyrics just as loudly.
You Me At Six may only be kicking off their new chapter with ‘Truth Decay’ but one things for sure, they’ve not grown rusty over lockdown and they sound as good as they ever have live. 2023 is going to be a huge year for YMAS as the continue to take on the world.
Check out the live photos of You Me At Six HERE, and Waterparks HERE
(PLEASE DO NOT CROP OR EDIT PHOTOS)
Photo Credit: © Danny Peart Photography 2023
FB: Danny Peart Photography / Insta: @dpeart7 / Twitter: @peart7
