The Devil Wears Prada, Kingdom of Giants, Ocean Grove and Senna – Club Academy Manchester; 18TH FEBRUARY 2025.

Where to even start with this one… What a show.

Tonight, the line up features The Devil Wears Prada, Kingdom of Giants, Ocean Grove and Senna presented by Tapestry Promotions and arrangement with Kingstar Music at Manchester Club Academy. Manchester Club Academy is located at Manchester University Students Union, Oxford Rd, Manchester and is known for putting on bands in an intimate setting. This is not my first time at this venue and although I’ve had a possible negative outlook on it in the past, it’s honestly really growing on me. It’s started to become a venue I can appreciate and enjoy the atmosphere it provides for shows… I’d still like to complain that the cider tastes horrid like. Just saying…

Anyway, on an actual musical and on track note…. first up on this high energy packed line up was Senna. I’ve not heard much from these guys before the evening but my god did they bring an ecstatic performance with a sound that shook the venue, literally…

 

Senna are a band hailing from Mannheim, Germany and honestly were such a good opener for the evening. The bar was set high and the crowd by the end of the set were definitely warmed up and rearing to go for the rest of the acts to follow. As mentioned at the start of my experience with Senna I’d never really heard much but I left being a fan, they are for sure a band that you should check out if you have the time and even more so get to see live if you get the opportunity.

Following on from Senna’s performance and the bar already set high were Ocean Grove. On the drive to the venue I managed to check these out on the journey up and thought “these will be one to look out for” and boy, I was not wrong. Bringing a metalcore nu-metal fusion they graced the stage with an energy of that of a golden retriever on speed. As a photographer I love energetic bands and my lord, energy? Hell yes. I’ve never seen someone jump and leap around the stage as a group in unison like these guys (albeit maybe another band on this line up yet to be mentioned, so maybe this is a small lie but you get the idea!).

I did feel that the band did have a kind of limp bizkit vibe in both energy and sounds maybe so much as even to say aesthetic to a degree however I didn’t think this effected my enjoyment of the bands performance. It still felt unique and brought it’s own shine to the stage even though there was an underlying heavy influence (or felt like) from other predominant artists of the same or similar genre.

Next on tonight’s line up was Kingdom of Giants, previously known as Hello Sailor up until 2011. These guys have easily slid in to my top 20 bands of 2025 (will they remain there, only time will tell).

 

Kingdom of Giants come from Sacramento, CA, United States and brought with them a solid set that resonated throughout the venue. With them requesting a lot of crowd participation, the crowd replicated the energy given in tenfold. It was an experience to be a part of and be in the midst of.

Finally the band that everyone has been waiting for and a nostalgic blast from the past, The Devil Wears Prada. Entering on to the stage with a theatrical build up you could tell from the start ‘this is going to be a hell of a show’ and indeed it was. Kicking their set off with ‘Mammoth’ from their 2011 album ‘Dead Throne‘ was a phenomenal start.

I have never been bamboozled of where to look on stage as much as tonight. Every single member of the band gave it their fucking all and when I say all I mean… their all. The crowd ate up every single morsel they were serving. The energy in the venue was electric with the crowd cheering from the moment they got on stage and getting more intense as their set went on throughout the evening.

 

 

My personal highlight from their set was getting to witness ‘Salt‘ live and in person, it’s one of my favourite songs by The Devil Wears Prada and I loved every single minute. I was one of the crowd absolutely eating up what they were serving. I was one happy lady and was living in the moment enjoying the show. The energy remained high throughout the full set with crowd surfing, pits and the usual metalcore concert spiel. What an experience.. Honestly; if you can catch this showcase on their remaining shows, do it (that’s if it’s not sold out already!), you will NOT be dissapointed.

Overall, what a show. Each single band on this line up gave it 100% and the crowd absolutely loved it. There is a reason this show sold out and it was evident from what was witnessed this evening WHY it was a complete hit. Manchester was well and truly graced with raw, unfiltered talent from multiple countries on this fantastic showcase. All I can say is I’m actually honored that I had the privilege of attending tonight and this will not be a show I will forget anytime soon.

FOR EVERYTHING SENNA VISIT >> HERE <<

FOR EVERYTHING OCEAN GROVE VISIT >> HERE <<

FOR EVERYTHING KINGDOM OF GIANTS VISIT >> HERE <<

FOR EVERYTHING THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA VISIT >> HERE <<

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