M2TM Semi Final 1 Rebellion Manchester 04/05/2025

It’s that time of year. The early May bank holiday has arrived, and we’re at the business end of the competition. The lure of having a drink on a Sunday night with no work in the morning and the chance to spend it with some quality live underground bands was too tempting, which was reflected in the large crowd numbers. Once again, four would become two tonight, with the prospect of missing out on the final being surely even more painful for those unfortunate enough to make the cut tonight.

Leader

The opening act for the evening and one of the biggest gigs for the young thrash metal act. Would the nerves get to them? Perhaps so, the band seemed a little static on stage. Still, this didn’t have an adverse effect on the crowd as they waited for frontman Joey’s signal to open up the circle to hell! It’s no wonder, given the sheer pace and energy of their music. Whilst we eventually saw our first crowd surfers of the evening, I was happier to stand back and appreciate some quality progressive and melodic thrash metal. A strong opener.

VMBRA

The progressive rockers had been here before and were looking to reach the final this time round. It felt that the energy from the crowd had been sapped during the first few songs. Though in reality, this was more of a slow burner as the roars of approval and adoration became deafening, a fine metric to gauge crowd engagement. The band recently released ‘Money Tree’, a single that has seemingly captured the hearts of many, especially given how many were singing along to the instantly memorable chorus. They’ll never be one to start a pit after all…until a pit DID start during the final moments of the set! A wild surprise indeed, and one that came about after the crowd was warned of this being their final chance to be in a pit for their set tonight. Would this spontaneous moment be enough to allow them to advance to the final?

Dwingle

Given the band’s immense popularity, we expected a big crowd. We perhaps didn’t expect Dwingle to assemble a small army in support of their campaign to reach Bloodstock this summer! Look anywhere and you could see a Dwingle shirt, fans donning the band’s trademark shades, and just sheer overarching chaos as the band started the circle pits literally seconds into their first song! The whole of Rebellion was bouncing with an energy that could power a small city. At this stage, it would be almost impossible to imagine a final without Dwingle.

Phallic Rage

Picture the scene. Inflatable cows and balloons are being tossed around Rebellion. A guy dressed in a cow onesie crowd surfing. Another on stage in a novelty oversized inflatable cow suit. People’s sword fighting with oversized inflatable phalluses. Sounds like I’m making it up? Certainly not. It was udder chaos and moo-ving at times (pun INTENDED). It had only been a week since the band’s quarter-final triumph, yet the crowd’s appetite for Phallic Rage was still apparent, even if there was a risk of some tiring themselves out during Dwingle’s powerhouse of a set. It’s always a party with Phallic Rage, though, which started to make you wonder what antics they would unleash if they advanced to the final.

Dacara

Wanna see what it takes to play a major festival? Having recently been announced to play Download Festival, Dacara had some insights into this. It seemed as though some either forgot there was a headlining band, or they were having a breather from the unrelenting energy from the evening thus far. Soon enough, though, we saw a sea of green shirts filling the venue. I had seen something similar a few months ago as the band opened for Skarlett Riot and Phoenix Lake. This time, Dacara was taking their more than rightful place as headliners for the evening, though. They’re filling a gap in the scene we didn’t know we needed with their consistently stunning live performances built on a punishing yet melodic brand of alternative industrial metal. Last night was no exception, and you genuinely wonder when they’ll appear at Bloodstock Open Air, not when.

 

The Verdict:

Crowd: Dwingle

Judges: VMBRA

 

A fair result on balance. There was no way Dwingle wasn’t going to advance. This left a realistic toss-up between VMBRA and Phallic Rage. I’d hate to be judging this, as the margins surely would have been razor thin.

 

Photo credits to Rich Price (@richpricephotography), who kindly gave permission for them to be used