Forget your O2 Academies and your O2 anything for that matter, the real heads know it’s better to catch a band live in an educational building, a library or somewhere that normally hosts ‘An Evening With…’ events with ex-football pundits. At the start of the week, ahead of releasing seventh album ‘Mountainhead’, Everything Everything would gift us the opportunity to visit the magnificent Stockport Plaza for the first time to see them live in concert for the album’s launch – bringing along Dutch Uncles to sweeten the deal!
I can still remember the excitement of first seeing Everything Everything live almost a decade ago at the O2 Apollo in Manchester, then not long after being packed in like sardines at the much more intimate (and equally sold out) Deaf Institute for said venues eighth birthday shenanigans. They were joined on that night by Dutch Uncles too. Having caught both outfits at Low Four when it was based at Old Granada Studios (Corrie!) and at many other venues throughout the North (particular highlights being Dutch Uncles at The Dancehouse Theatre off Oxford Road and Everything Everything at The Piece Hall in Halifax supporting The Cribs), It was a real treat to venture out to Stockport and the unexpected (but no less exciting) Stockport Plaza!
It was a trip walking up to the brightly lit facade, visually more suited to the Miami beachfront strip than a venue that’s a stones throw from a Greggs and a McDonald’s (though maybe they have Greggs in Miami now too?) Inside, the theatre staff looked so fetching in their penguin suits. The cans of Carling being near enough the only beer available at the bar was less chic mind, but you have to take the rough with the smooth when the door staff look so elegant.
Discussing the merits of a seated show and what a relief such a thing can be for a young male in their mid-30s, we were soon interrupted by BBC 6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins arriving on stage, bigging up the headliners for what promised to be a “naughty Monday night”. Before too long, Hawkins introduced Dutch Uncles, highlighting that, despite being based just up the road, they’d not played live in Stockport for 15 years! On arrival, vocalist Duncan Wallis noted that 15 years ago it was hard enough picking eight songs to play, but they’ve since had six albums during the in-between period, so now it’s even more tough.
An absolute greatest hits followed from Dutch Uncles, the outfit dipping collective toes into cuts from their plentiful back catalogue and operating like a well oiled machine. Very much looking the part in such a set up, there wasn’t much space on stage, but Wallis found the room to bust out his trademark frantic dance moves on opener ‘True Entertainment’, bassist Robin Richards too getting a real groove on as he swayed his hips.
“Always wanted to play here.” Said Wallis, fondly recalling seeing ‘Oklahoma’ in the very same room back in 2002. “It was great!” He announced as he lead the others into ‘Cadenza’. The ice cold chill of ‘Decided Knowledge’ came to life whilst the walkie talkies of the staff crackled behind us (suggested by our Ben as being “very post-rock”). On ‘Fester’, Richards went back to back with live guitarist Neil Wright like they were in Status Quo, as Wallis hammered the keys.
Given the theatrical nature of the venue, it was no surprise to have guitarist ‘Panto’ Pete Broadhead on fine form, pointing out to the crowd and shielding his eyes from the lights to see who was in attendance, before taking in the applause. “…Everyone looking forward to Everything Everything?” Asked Wallis of the packed crowd, acknowledging that it had been 10 years since they had last said such a thing.
Full disclosure – we’d been sat on new album ‘Mountainhead’ for a good few days before the Stockport show, so had pretty much rinsed it front to back in anticipation (and you can read our full album review here). A few numbers in, frontman Jonathan Higgs acknowledged that it was the first time they’d played a number of these songs live and It soon became apparent to these ears how massive everything from the new record sounded live.
Like having the test results before taking the exam, we were vibing from the comfort of our seats, bang on album tracks like ‘Wild Guess’, ‘R U Happy?’, ‘Enter the Mirror’, ‘Dagger’s Edge’ and ‘Canary’, the latter in particular a total jam that must’ve taken some in the audience by surprise. I’d be interested to know what it was like for a punter experiencing it all for the first time (particularly given how hard it was to gauge the reception with everyone sat down), but even still, I can see a number of the deep cuts from ‘Mountainhead’ soon becoming live favourites.
There were of course the big singles from the new record, with a sea of phones popping up on big hitter ‘Cold Reactor’ (at its end, someone in the crowd immediately shouted out “Again!”). ‘The Mad Stone’ was actually the first of the evening and following an ominous build that brought the band out on stage, made for a big intro as the quintet belted it out under blue lights, Higgs going full on word soup on the rapid-fire verse. As the lights came up on ‘The End of the Contender’, the incredible artwork on the walls came into view, whilst the thump of the drums hit us right in the chest as Jonathan hollered before they were plunged into darkness, lit only by lightsaber style beams from the stage floor.
In their matching worker uniforms, Higgs suggested their appearance was more like that of five dentists. Our favourite live artist, Peter Sené – Everything Everything’s fifth member, the man behind the keyboards and percussion – made his presence known as he so usually does, one minute feeling his way around a synth, the next vibing away on two keyboards at once, banging his head back and forth as he got fully stuck in (later Higgs would climb up to Sené’s level and sing away in his smiling face).
If Dutch Uncles found it difficult whittling down a set for the evening, it must’ve been even harder for the headliners! What we got however was similarly a greatest hits style run of all hits, no misses, kicking off on the unexpected ’Night of the Long Knives’, the opener from their 2017 album ‘A Fever Dream’, which had shoulders shuffling in the seats as people boogied (as much as one can from such a position). ‘Pizza Boy’ too was unexpected, but a more than welcome cut from their last album, ‘Raw Data Feel’.
To cap it all off though, the euphoric ‘No Reptiles’ from their stunning 2015 album ‘Get To Heaven’. With the rapt crowd clapping along like mad as Higgs again revisited that word soup rapid-fire vocal style he’s so known for, we were transported back to that unforgettable night at the O2 Apollo in 2015 and all the other times we’ve been lucky enough to catch them live. Seven albums in and they’re still revitalising on and off stage – here’s to many more live outings with Everything Everything (and Dutch Uncles if we’re lucky!)
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