POLAR, WATERLINES AND ALCHEMIZE – 1ST DECEMBER 2024: GULIVERS MANCHESTER

It’s very rare that in my time as a music journalist that I’ve left a gig with a really weird feeling of “what the fuck was that?” but tonight I’ll tell you something that was my leaving thought. Before I divulge into my absolute usual waffle of my experience I want to make it very clear all three bands that played this evening smashed it. The energy was at peak, and attempts to get the crowd going were there but honestly, the crowd gave maybe 0.01% back I shit you not when I say I’ve seen more energy in a morgue. I felt for the guys who played tonight so much.

Do we start with the negatives or the positives in regard to the evening? Let’s start with the negatives – so we can leave this on a high.

Let’s start with the venue – now I understand times are tough and venues are struggling especially with ‘smaller’ bands and in general the whole “go to a show and support your local scene” being something that needs to be shouted from the rooftops (Like, guys come on, please – you need to do this not just preach it to seem like you have an edgy outlook to your local music scene!) but tonight’s venue I felt fell short for a good choice for the bands that were being showcased.

Gulivers located on Oldham Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter has been the host to a lot of bands throughout its years and has a 110 capacity but tonight unfortunately, I think I counted a turn-up of around 32 people at peak which was such a shame. Before the gig, I thought I’d check on ticket sales and it was honestly a surprise that the sales had not even hit “low availability” as the lineup for the evening was great in my opinion and the price of the tickets was reasonably priced at (from memory) around £13 to put that into perspective that’s not even £4 per band! Bargain.

The venue itself accommodates shows with a raised stage however the stage is very very small. When you place high-energy bands with more than three members maybe four at a push things get difficult due to the limited space. As a photographer, it was an absolute nightmare as the lighting also didn’t accommodate the fact that some members would have to be off stage and in what was more or less pitched black. I know this is off-topic from the music and the bands but hey! I think it’s definitely something that should be noted and especially for any photographers who may be reading this – see this as a forewarning if doing shoots at Gulivers. The lighting reflected the aesthetic of a vivarium, in fact, no – I think maybe a vivarium would have had a slightly better setup, that said “This is an absolutely great show” more than flooded red lights with no depth or backlighting. We love to see it… We love to see it.

The sound mix for the evening was really off – I thought to myself, maybe it’s where I’m stood or maybe my hearing is gone at the ripe age of 33 years old? I tottered around the venue and stayed in multiple places with both ear plugs in and out to see if it was maybe acoustics or another factor that may contribute to this but it seemed to be a blanked overall sound that was just really off. One band had guitars that were super loud with vocals being very under-mixed, and another had near to no kick drum audible it was a surreal and weird experience. I did check in with one of the bands near the end of the show to question whether was this an in-house sound tech or if was this someone who had come with the bands on their tour. It was confirmed that the sound tech was in-house so can maybe give marginal discrepancy for maybe unfamiliarity to the band’s sounds but to get some of the mixes THAT far off was questionable at best.

I’d honestly say – if you had not heard these bands before and this was your first time experiencing them live it would have possibly been off-putting for future enjoyment of the bands that were featured tonight which I’m sure that no bands want to happen to them.

Although I’ve noted a few things about the venue here, I want to say the venue itself is not a bad venue it has a classic charm to it even if the floor of the venue is like an ice rink (Hey, It’s almost Christmas right?) and it does have a nice grassroots feel however I feel that it was a bad choice for this line up for these bands in particular, it would be very interesting to see how these bands did and performed in another venue in Manchester such as Rebellion or Club Academy or in fact any other venue that is not Gulivers.

I’ve touched on the crowd above but noted that some people only came for certain bands and didn’t seem to show other bands on the lineup the same support they showed to the bands they were clearly coming to support. I mean that’s your own prerogative and you can’t blame someone for that but it was a shame to see and left an inconsistent head count for the gig as a whole throughout with the crowd dwindling down by the time the headliner was due on.

Checking my word count at this point as I know I’m rambling and just wait the positives are coming – but we’re already up to 900 words just explaining the issues that ensued for the evening or things that I feel are relevant to be noted. I like to be able to voice an opinion where maybe if a band had said this they may get some negative feedback but honestly; the bands tonight were highly let down.

MOVING ON however, let’s talk about the thing that I’m actually supposed to be writing about the music and the positives. The lineup for the evening was Polar, Waterlines, and Alchemize out of the three bands the only one that I was unfamiliar with was Alchemize but they nailed it.

Opening for the evening was Alchemize, which self-proclaimed the genre of UK pop metal hailing from the North West of England. I’d never actually heard of these guys beforehand but was pleasantly surprised – the vocal range on all vocalists was insane – I say vocalists plural as these guys run three vocalists throughout their set which is not that common these days was a very interesting composition. Musically everything sounded tight and I have no negative feedback to give about their performance. If you have the chance to check these guys out, I’d highly recommend doing so as they do have a lot of potential, and would love to see how their energy would be on a stage where they could actually have that movement freedom there were times when watching when you felt they were dying to move around like a little itch that needed to be scratched.

Following on from Alchemize’s great opening set was Waterlines. Waterlines have always been a band I’ve been interested in seeing and the energy they bring is phenomenal. Waterlines previously evolving from former band Sertraline know how to work up a crowd (well, I believe they would if the crowd was reciprocating of their energy the potential is there, and from previously viewed shows, there is considerably usually more movement).

I’d like to give a notable mention to Ben Mars for attempting so hard to get people to be involved with their performance and the endless attempts to get people to give some energy just I feel the phrase “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink” comes into play. I’m super excited that I’ll be able to catch Waterlines at Radar Festival 2025 (4th July) again hopefully in a more fruitful environment to be able to witness what these guys can REALLY do.  I want to feel the energy that these guys deserve!

The highlight of the set was the performance of two songs that I adore from these guys which was “Pretty Green Eyes / Elysium” (cover) and “Brace” seeing these live was absolutely phenomenal. I’m a sucker for a good cover song from any band especially when it breeches into the realms of metalcore/deathcore and this one was a great take on a clubland classic. The official video for their “Pretty Green Eyes / Elysium” (cover)

Finishing the evening and headlining act, Polar finished the evening off perfectly. The energy was high but as noted before when your band is more than four people and you’re playing on this stage unfortunately their vocalist got relegated to the floor in pitch black which was a shame as I would have loved to see their energy in a visible place.

Instrumentally they were sound from what can be made out but I found that for Polar they were the band on the night that felt the most negative impacts of the show. I felt that their sound was mixed the worst of the evening with a lot of stuff at times being very hard to hear or make out. I felt that throughout their set I spent more time walking around the venue trying to work out if it was the sound tech doing a naff job or if it was the venue or if it was actually some sort of technical issue. I was very happy at the fact they played “Swimming with Sharks” as part of their set as that is a song I absolutely adore from these guys and it was fantastic to hear it live. I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘hardcore’ as a genre and often find the nostalgia of watching these sorts of bands a happy place giving that throwback feeling to watching bands such as CDC, Bun Dem Out, Your Demise, Comeback Kid, Cancer Bats, Casey Jones and many more to name it was a great feeling to feel (even if not necessarily influences to the band) these sort of vibes coming through in their sound.

Overall, the lineup had so much potential to be great and was a solid lineup of talented musicians who have bright futures ahead just unfortunately I feel the venue and the reasons given above made this show feel really awkward and at times a bit forced leaving a bit of a weird atmosphere at times. This also was visible in ALL the bands’ performances throughout the evening which was a real shame and as noted, left me leaving the gig feeling actually really sorry for them. Once again, this is no reflection of the bands’ performances, talent,t or what they bring to the stage just it was unfortunate to witness these bands in such a lackluster environment. The only positive of the low energy in the room was the fact there was no ‘for the night’ ninjas flying around spin kicking everything – this was honestly the only positive of the energy in the room however I would love to see all of the bands that were on this show independently and retrospectively in a different venue with a different crowd. (Hit me u,p guys! I’ll happily come along and would love to hype all of you up in happier circumstances in 2025!)

 

FOR ALL THINGS ALCHEMIZE VISIT >> HERE << 

FOR ALL THINGS WATERLINES VISIT >> HERE << 

FOR ALL THINGS POLAR VISIT >> HERE << 

For more photography from the evening visit my INSTAGRAM >> HERE <<