We’re barely four songs into tonight’s show and the sweat is already blinding us. The venue has been an oven even before three men took to the stage and rattled their way through a litany of songs which are ten years (or more!) old. Indeed, having conquered Macclesfield’s Cinemac last year for their semi-traditional Christmas show, The Virginmarys are back on its stage once more, but for two nights only, back in their power trio format.
ten year anniversary of King of Conflict, ex-bassist Matt Rose is on-stage for the hottest ticket the band have sold in many years. With people from every corner of the UK and various countries across the world making their way to Macclesfield for the trio play through the entire of the album. And selling out the Saturday date in twelve hours saw them add a Friday date, such is the love and demand the concept of these shows had.
But before we even got there, guitarist and vocalist Ally Dickaty played a couple of guerrilla acoustic performances in Macclesfield with Button Warehouse Café Bar hosting Friday’s and The Swan With Two Necks as Saturday’s venue. Unfortunately, missing Friday’s acoustic set (but not the full show, thankfully), meant there was even more excitement for Ally’s acoustic run. Running through some numbers from the King of Conflict acoustic companion album, Stripped, as well as the more recent (and apt), “Veteran Soldiers”, it’s beautifully moving and you can hear a pin drop in the place.
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Now, for such a special evening, you need a worthy . Enter The Perps. Hailing from Macclesfield and inspired by the album itself, they hammer through an incredibly energetic performance which gets the audience involved for the duration. Bleeding with authenticity and genuine love for the band, they draw from the likes of Kasabian, IDLES’ tamer moments, the sound of Manchester itself and of course, tonight’s headliners. Seb Smith is the poster boy for the difference between a singer and a frontman for he is very much the latter – a fluorescent pink ball of energy on stage, giddy with excitement of ing one of his favourite bands and playing to such a large audience. There’s also tinges of hip hop sensibility found within to bring a more unique sound and prevent them from becoming pastiche. Affable, humility and backed by excellent songs, they win over a whole host of us to the ranks of Anchor Lane, MuddiBrooke, The Hyena Kill, and Between Thorns to be one of the best s The Virginmarys have ever had.
2021 Manchester Academy show, the Rocky theme kicks off the reason we’re all assembled tonight as the venue plunges into darkness and Messrs Dickaty, Dolan and Rose appear to the cacophony of cheers and applause. They take their respective places and jump straight into “Dead Man’s Shoes” and before it’s even finished, they’ve already topped the previous night. There’s a great energy emanating from them, as always, but this time it feels just a little bit different. Ally is all business, allowing the material to do the work for him, allowing people to be swept along in the moment or be lost in their memories of some of the band’s oldest songs. Likewise, Danny Dolan puts in a benchmark performance, hitting his drums harder than he ever has, intent to send people away with a night to .
And as for the prodigal son? Matt hasn’t changed a bit, dressed like he’s been taken right from 2016 and looks like he hasn’t aged a day in the interim. His performance is the best it’s ever been as if he only played with them last week. He’s more relaxed, clearly enjoying himself and lost in the music whilst also exchanging grins at several points with Ally and locked in perfectly with Danny. He hits his backing vocals with aplomb, filling out the sound which simply can’t be done as a duo. His grungy bass tone is as filthy and gnarly as ever, not missing a note and is a beefy monster that can tangle with Danny’s drums and Ally’s fretwork and vocals.
In this line-up, they’re the best they’ve ever been and deliver an incendiary performance, determined and following through on the promise of how special this night was always destined to be. Serving the songs as best as they possibly can, Ally straps on his long-missing Les Paul and whilst his Jetstar has a fat sound to it, this just looks and sounds right (and let’s be real, a Les Paul through a Marshall is the closest thing in this life to magic). Danny’s even brought back the gong for that moment but with the pair of them, they play the songs like they do in 2023, not 2013. Between that and peppering in older material rather than running through the twelve (thirteen if you want to split hairs), it allows this to be a performance, not a recital.
There’s nothing past King of Conflict played tonight, even if this line-up did record a second album. Instead, the rest of the night is dedicated to songs which sometimes still feature like “Thousand Times” and “Off to Another Land”. Then there’s ones that have been played here and there or at acoustic sets like “Looking For Love” and “Cast the First Stone”, their plugged-in versions full of ion and grit. Meanwhile “Nothing to Lose” is given a rare airing alongside “In the City”, the latter of which is dedicated to Ross Massey, Matt’s successor and back on tech duties for him. Some of the King of Conflict songs may be staples like “Just a Ride”, “Portrait of Red” and “Lost Weekend” but it doesn’t stop them from being any less thrilling and the chance to hear some which have been shelved over the years makes for a welcome treat for the ear drums (or in one case hearing “My Little Girl” live for the first time ever).
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Typical set closer “Bang Bang Bang” sees Danny battering his rarely seen gong and whilst it’s a bit discombobulating to put in such an early appearance in the live setting, they maintain the faithfulness to the album. Instead, the night is ended with the blues-fuelled intense “Ends Don’t Mend”. Danny and Matt’s moment comes at the start as every bit of the kit is utilised whilst Ally is riveting to watch in his guitar work as he pours his entire being into the solo, anguish baked into his vocals for a thrilling and appropriate end to the night.
With so much love and respect for the band and album given by the audience and reciprocated by the trio, it’s a night which manages to exceed the lofty expectations put upon it. Whether you waited years for this album, stumbled across it when it came out or only discovered the band this year when they ed Massive Wagons, everyone in the room is welcome and equal. For a band that has always looked to the horizon, it’s not so much catharsis for them to look back but to acknowledge everything the album gave them before resuming their forward march whilst the family gets to reunite for another night.
Peace. Love. Truth. Music.
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