Four Year Strong, Koyo and Shoreline – Manchester Academy 2; 19TH FEBRUARY 2025

Venturing back out in the music scene of Manchester. Tonight I head off to spectate Four Year Strong, Koyo and Shoreline. Originally this show was set to be hosted at 02 Ritz Manchester however unfortunately got downgraded to Manchester Academy 2 which was a bit of a surprise after seeing the volume of the crowd tonight, the venue was packed right to the back of the room. The show was in clear high demand and only got busier throughout the evening. It’s great to see bands pulling in volumes at shows.

Opening for the evening were Shoreline hailing from Münster, Germany. I was honestly surprised at this as I was expecting Koyo to possibly open up but nevertheless they got the crowd warmed up and rearing to go for the evening. I would like to give a notable mention to vocalist Hansol Seung who during the early part of their set gave a motivating and heart warming speech about the music scene and vocalizing his passion for inclusiveness and kindness towards others, he was right about one thing when he stated “There will always be one asshole in a crowd, look after yourself and others” when looking over to the crowd from the side of the stage it was  touching seeing so many people applauding and clapping at the vocalists words. Musically Shoreline smashed their set with their blend of hardcore and pop punk, bringing fast pace and high energy to stage. I’ve never seen Shoreline live before but honestly after tonight’s performance I believe that I would without a doubt want to see them again if they ever toured locally.

Following on from Shorelines animated and zesty performance was Koyo.

Koyo is a band I have been familiar with in general although never had the opportunity to see. The band came into fruition in 2020 and have been taking the music scene by storm ever since. Bringing a dynamic and exuberant set to the stage throughout the evening the band really did leave a stamp on Manchester Academy 2 tonight. The bands stage presence was that of what you can compare to when your cat gets a bit hyperactive at 3am in the morning and zooms round the house, it was inclusive of a lot of jumping, spin kicking and prompts to the crowd to jump along and be involved in the moment. A comedic part of the set was a heckle from the crowd requesting “Play ‘Wonderwall’?”, this did give me a little giggle especially as the vibe from this band was far from that of Oasis. I did notice however when going through some footage through the night this may have been prompted by Harold Griffin‘s Oasis t-shirt which was revealed later on in the set. I feel their set highly resonated with the crowd and the return that the crowd gave this band could be felt whilst observing.

 

Closing the evening and headlining act Four Year Strong took to the stage and brought what I can only describe as the foggiest set that I’ve seen of 2025.

Now, although I understand reviews are to be about the music I would like to comment about their performances aesthetic as I feel it really let them down. Throughout the show there was heavy fog with a very sketchy light display, when viewing the show from the rear of the room it was very hard to see the band on the stage due to the thickness of the fog that was present on stage, a passing comment from an onlooker stating “Do they have a back drop there?” was a clear indicator of the thickness, their back drop was barely visible through the haze in fact, even the band were unable to be seen through the haze. Opening the set up with ‘Aftermath/Afterthought” kicked the evening off well, I was unsure for this tour if it would just be a play through of their recently released album ‘Analysis paralysis’ but was delighted when they featured some of their old discography such as “Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die” and “It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now“. As a whole their set was well polished and what you would expect from Four Year Strong, it was bold, it was energetic and most of all it was fun. I’d personally recommend catching in on one of their shows for the remainder on the tour if you have the time for it, if you are a lover of pop punk with hardcore elements infused this is the show for you without a doubt.

 

The full dates for this tour can be found below:

Feb 19 – Manchester, UK – Academy 2
Feb 20 – Leeds, UK – Project House
Feb 21 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Institute
Feb 22 – Glasgow, UK – The Garage
Feb 24 – Bristol, UK – SWX
Feb 25 – Southampton, UK – Engine Rooms
Feb 26 – London, UK – Koko
Feb 27 – Brighton, UK – Chalk

Tickets are available for this event >> HERE <<

 

 

FOR EVERYTHING SHORELINE CLICK >> HERE <<

FOR EVERYTHING KOYO CLICK >> HERE <<

FOR EVERYTHING FOUR YEAR STRONG CLICK >> HERE <<

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