Miracle Of Sound, Colm McGuinness 21.03.2025 Manchester Academy 2 Live Review
24th March 2025WOAH-OOH-OH! VALHALLA CALLING ME! VALHALLA CALLING ME!”
The usually lifeless steel and brick shell that is Manchester Academy 2 was filled with the spirits of the old ale houses, such was the rate of the beer flowing and the singing in joyful unison.
We’ve seen the TikTok lip-syncs. We’ve all sung the songs together, just not in a live setting…up until now. This was the first live tour and debut showing for Miracle Of Sound. One which founder and lead vocalist Gavin Dunne admitted to being emotionally overwhelmed by and was clearly taken aback by the crowd’s reaction to the output of his creative genius. A crowd comprised of old, young, big, short, all genders; all walks of life. Though they all fell into one of two categories; those who had waited several years to finally get the chance to sing these wonderful ballads with Gavin live and in the flesh. Or those unfamiliar with the music but absorbing this infectious energy and wholesome vibes. Whether it was songs about drinking in Valhalla, road rage, or soundtracks to video games, it was impossible not to just go along with the flow and sing along in some kind of vague drunken semblance of what you might think the words could possibly be.
Though we shouldn’t discount the contributions of opening act Colm McGuiness. A naturally born performer from Ireland, his humour and natural charm made the show feel more like standup comedy at times, and one where audience interaction was not only encouraged but impossible to not feel involved with. Genuinely, it’s been a long long time since I’ve seen an audience so easily locked in in this way. Which was remarkable given his illness resulting in a performance being “held together by Lempsip”. The music and songs felt secondary at times! Talk about warming up the stage!
Gavin spoke of what had unfortunately grown to be a dislike of arguably his greatest known song ‘Valhalla Calling’ due to those covering it poorly and falsely imitating to. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery though, right ? Though to recreate this many moments of magic on this evening is not something that can be artificially recreated nor imitated. This was the crown jewel and highlight of the evening no doubt.
