Role Model at Manchester O2 Ritz – ‘No Place Like Tour’

Mia Stapleton on 19 December 2024

On November 13, Role Model (Tucker Pillsbury) took to Manchester O2 Ritz, bringing a splash of the US over to the UK, for the third appearance of his world tour, No Place Like Tour.

Self admittedly, before the gig I had only heard bits of Tucker’s music, the odd song here and there whenever they made appearances on my Spotify shuffle. With ‘forever&more’ and ‘Oh, Gemini’, being just a couple of notable mentions as some of his most well-known tracks, I wouldn’t have exactly called his music style ‘my kind of thing.’ Excited but unexpecting, I set off on the hour-long drive from Leeds, travelling to the background hum of the night’s support act, Matilda Mann, and getting myself ready for the night ahead with Role Model. 

Matilda Mann opened up the evening, setting the tone with her stripped-back vocals, conveying delicate and raw emotions throughout several one-of-a-kind acoustic tracks. Mann treated the audience to several unreleased tracks from her upcoming album release, Roxwell, with audience favourites including ‘Say It Back,’ and ‘Dazed & Confused.’  With anticipation for the evening already building, Matilda’s performance was the foundation for what was gearing up to be one extremely magnificent live experience.

On this cold, rainy Manchester night, Role Model set the room ablaze with what can only be described as an unexpectedly confounding stage presence, surpassing all expectations. The energy from his bouncy, countrified pop tracks (and an abundance of heartbreak-induced ballads) perfectly reflected his most recent 2024 album release, Kansas Anymore. A fun take on The Wizard of Oz, the tour radiated nostalgia and comfort, creating a space and an environment that is unique to any live performance that I had previously experienced. If there’s one thing that he knows how to do well, it’s making the audience feel valued, present, and completely indulged in the intimacies of the performance.

His well-known live performance-bit of announcing himself as numerous different artists garnered amused laughs from the audience, from The 1975, to an unexpected (and very random) Ed Sheeran, with an especially loud outcry following a ‘hey, we’re Ross Lynch,’ if you know, you know.  With a little pinch of all-American flair, the evening’s energy was palpable, seen in a sea of cowboy hats, bows, and a happy-go-lucky attitude from the crowd. You felt grateful to be there, and lucky to be in the moment of such a beautiful, magical experience.  The evening’s energy was palpable, and gave Role Model’s music a whole entirely different meaning, tied to an evening that surpassed all expectations.

In fact, if the gig had been one month earlier, I can almost guarantee that ‘a little more time,’ would have made it into my Wrapped Top 50. Right there, standing in a room with hundreds of other strangers, Role Model found a fan in me.

Role Model is set to continue his tour February 2025, in Australia. Matilda Mann is also set for an exciting month, as her new album, Roxwell, is due to release on February 28, with pre-save now available.

Words by Mia Stapleton

Make some noise for Maruja: they won’t hear you over their tambourine.

Cassia Bennett on 10 December 2024

Twirling onto stage with flailing arms in such a way that I can only describe as resembling an inflatable man, lead singer Harry Wilkinson makes his way to the microphone while beckoning for applause that the audience readily gives. Joe Carroll on the saxophone (and later tambourine), Matt Buonaccorsi on bass and Jacob Hayes on drums make up the rest of the unique Mancunian band, Maruja. Previously described as ‘jazz punk’, I’d say this categorisation of their music is probably the most accurate label they could be given. With elements of heavy rock, soulful instrumentals and subtly political lyrics, this genre defying band is difficult to describe. 

In an interview with Craig Charles on BBC Radio 6 Music last Friday, saxophonist Joe Carroll describes their live shows as having “moments that are complete carnage” and sections of “free-formy, emotional stuff”. They start with ‘The Invisible Man’, which seemingly has both these elements within the same song, with repeating saxophone phrases that become earworms and lyrics that start at an almost-whisper building to a passionate shout.

Having heard of the frequency of stage dives the band commits to, I decided to stick to lurking more towards the back of Brudenell Social Club. Even though I am a sucker for a mosh pit, I feared I would not even survive the splash zone of a stage dive and refused to spend Wednesday night in A&E after being squashed by a fully grown man. Instead, I observed as the oscillating bodies were sent into an explosive, energetic frenzy. All Wilkinson must do is flick his wrist and the crowd responds spectacularly as he laments into the microphone.

Towards the climax of their lively performance of ‘One Hand Behind The Devil’, Carroll swaps his saxophone for a tambourine and proceeds to carry out the most vigorous tambourine shaking I have ever witnessed. As the drums accelerate, Carroll dives into the audience, tambourine still in hand, and glides atop the fluid crowd beneath him. 

Following that intense performance, the band announces that they will now perform some improvised instrumental. A couple of audience members around me sigh and claim it as a bathroom break or excuse to get a drink, but the rest of us stay and absorb the new noises drifting off the stage. There is something peaceful in letting sound wash over you. I could try and focus on the music, but my mind wanders only for it to then be drawn back to the repetitive intricacies that each musician brings to the stage.

After this moment of calm, the band launches back into ‘Look Down On Us’, before Carroll yet again finds himself within the crowd. However, this time he parts the crowd down the middle and during the opening of ‘Thunder’, confrontationally plays his sax at members of the crowd as he paces up and down the centre of the room. Once he has made his way back onto the stage, the moshing begins once again.

Before their final song, the band comments on the current state of our world and leads a resounding chant of “Free, Free, Palestine!” before launching into my personal favourite, ‘Resisting Resistance’. Fully instrumental, it’s incredible how much can be said without any lyrics. From the underlying drums gradually becoming increasingly more urgent throughout the track, to the mournful sax. It sounds dramatic, but there is such a contradictory sense of despair and hope that descends over the crowd making it hard not feel an ache in your chest, especially given the clearly intended humanitarian and political context.

While we impatiently await the arrival of their first album, I highly recommend you experience them live if you ever get the chance.

Words by Cassia Bennett

Neck Deep: A Headliner Elect

Rishi Shah on 20 February 2022

This would prove to be their self-proclaimed ‘best ever Leeds show’, yet something tells me that will certainly be topped when they take to Slam Dunk Festival.

Frazey Ford plays Brudenell: cool country for an icy evening

GryphonEditorAdm on 3 December 2021

As she strides on-stage, Frazey Ford nonchalantly places her glass of red wine on the speaker positioned next to her and leans over her guitar into the mic. “We’re gonna play some songs,” she says. “That’s how this goes.”

It’s a cool start to an icy night. Many of the crowd, as Ford acknowledges, have faced treacherous roads and slippery pavement to get to the thrice-rearranged gig tonight. After an 18-month wait, both anticipation and expectations are high. Just as well then that the country singer more than exceeds the bar set for her.

The Canadian songstress first garnered acclaim as a founding member of the alt-folk band The Be Good Tanyas  and saw much success throughout the noughties (including headlining the Royal Albert Hall in 2006) before striking out on her own in 2010. Since then, much of her solo work has paired confessional storytelling with soul-tinged Americana to create a catalog that is laidback, comforting yet somehow melancholic.  

Ambling through her setlist, Ford creates a space that feels relaxed and intimate, although there is still a sense that each song is born from a considered place of raw emotion. Switching out her acoustic to sit at her keyboard, her vocals simmer over the soulful grooves of her back band during ‘Azad’, a song dedicated to and named after Ford’s sister. What’s interesting though is that new tracks like these pack as much of a punch as old favourites like empowering breakup anthem ‘Done’ and ‘September Fields’, a lament on life’s purpose marinated in a bouncy swing of interplaying guitars.

The show draws to a close as Ford returns to the keyboard for ‘U Kin B The Sun’, the title track of her most recent album. Through both her honeyed vocals and sweet repartie with the crowd, the singer crafts story after story to begin to weave a picture of her innermost thoughts and feelings. However, Frazey Ford’s biggest strength is being warm enough to draw her audience in while retaining a coolness that keeps us gasping for more.