When Hell Is For Heroes announced their hiatus in 2008, there was concern amongst their dedicated fanbase that they may not return again. However, we only had to endure four years of silence before the quintet headed back on the road again and much to the delight of many, they’ve been touring on and off for the past 12 years now! Tonight we are at the Academy 2 as part of a small headline run that comes hot off the heels of a new single, their third in two years! There’s also a reissue of the band’s self-titled third album, which has just been released on wax for the first time, all thanks to the good people at Big Scary Monsters.
The nerd in me immediately noticed some of the merch referencing the artwork from that album, so I was excited to hear some material from maybe an underrated moment in the band’s brief discography. Of course, it’s the band’s debut album, ‘The Neon Handshake‘, that is very highly regarded in the UK Brit Rock scene. HIFH have always been grateful for what that album did for them back in 2003 and have since honoured it with a few anniversary shows, playing it in full. Having seen those shows a little while back, I’m stoked to see a full strength Heroes set tonight!
Naturally, the set leans on the first record, but you can’t deny just how massive those songs are. The minute they open with ‘Five Kids Go’, the whole room goes into karaoke mode! The chorus is just gargantuan, and I can’t help but smile at the bloke next to me, who looks exactly like Taskmaster’s Alex Horne, singing along like his life depends on it! They then launch into second album smasher ‘Folded Paper Figures’, followed by MTV2 classic ‘Night Vision’ and the people of Manchester don’t know what’s hit them! It’s a huge opening to the set and a precedent of what is to come.
With a brief yet sincere hello, we get ‘I Should Never Have Been Here In the First Place’, a newer song which definitely has that, dare I say, more matured feel to it, but slots in perfectly amongst older material, frontman Justin getting the crowd involved in the call and response crescendo in which the audience happily oblige. It’s really lovely to see the room nice and full, and a crowd firmly over 30 reverting back to their teenage selves. A little later down the set, the band bang out ‘You Drove Me To It’ and a bunch of bros all stood at the back race into the pit, jumping on each other as they go.
Though the first record tunes get the biggest rise out of the crowd, I am delighted to hear tracks off the aforementioned S/T LP – the post-rock dynamics of ‘You’ve Got Hopes’ really hitting the spot. Then opening the encore with the mostly instrumental ’To Die For’, which sees frontman Justin surfing the crowd before standing up above the pit and screaming out the tracks climactic crescendo.
It kind of feels like no time has passed really, the energy between the band and the crowd is exactly how I remembered it all those years ago… It’s actually pretty heartwarming to see, especially when big hitter ‘I Can Climb Mountains’ closes up the set and the whole room explodes into one last sing-along. Tonight feels more than just nostalgic, this is a band that are playing because they love what they do and love the people that come to see them. It makes for a genuinely great live show and one I hope keeps going for as long as it can!
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