LIVE FROM THE PIT: Rain City Drive, Honey Revenge, Belmont

It was a weekend-eve party in Club Academy last Thursday as Rain City Drive and Honey Revenge played the Manchester leg of their joint European tour, bringing Belmont along for the ride. Every set was high energy and full of personality

To open was hard emo outfit Belmont, who brought the initial energy as their front man Taz Johnson 'white girl danced' his way along the stage to Day by Day. Despite the circle pit opening up he went for the “is that all you can do?” approach to getting the room moving. Musically, they focused on a fusion of Midwest emo and emo rock sounds, complete with pretty guitar runs and an odd foray into trap beats and rap that just about landed with the rest of the set. The main thing to note was the ease of which Johnson took the frontman role, whether that was getting the whole crowd to put their fingers up before Liminal or reminding the crowd this was their last chance to get moving before they closed with Overstepping; Johnson crouched to sing with those at the front there to see them then the long final outro finished their portion of the evening.

Rain City Drive opened their set with Frozen, then was met with an enthusiastic response when Matt McAndrew asked Club Academy who in the crowd had heard of them before. McAndrew was an effortlessly comfortable frontman, smiling into the microphone as he walked around the stage and pointing at individuals to ask if they specifically were ready for Concrete Closure, where he got the crowd into a clap along to warm up their interaction muscles.

For Rain City Drive this was a return to the quartet’s birthplace and namesake, the latter point referenced by McAndrew before giving a song to the OG fans in the form of Prayers Rain City Drive’s sound is primarily alternative rock with a whisper of pop punk in their emotionally charged and relationship based lyrics. As McAndrew introduced the band's first song Heavier with “let’s see if you know it” was indicative of a grating habit of the frontman where he expected Club Academy to know what they were playing without introducing a song name; this strategy would be satisfying for Rain City Drive fans on a single headline tour, but one that would make it difficult for Honey Revenge fans to find their favourite songs of their co-headliners after the tour.

Nevertheless, Rain City Drive were great performers with good energy and control of it, especially as they danced along to a more hip hop influenced new song called Ride or Die, or McAndrew’s coaxing for members of the crowd to admit that they were going through a breakup so he could dedicate Wish You The Best to them. It was not just McAndrew bringing the energy, as the guitarists riffed off each other and bassist Colin Viera mouthed almost every word of the setlist to the crowd. McAndrew took a quiet moment in the middle of the set to perform Neverbloom, a weighted track dedicated to McAndrew’s late father that speaks on the destructive habits Rain City Drive’s frontman picked up in his grief and without a father figure to stop him, as well as the eternal wish for his father to see the successes he has achieved in the last few years.

Being able to control the energy refers to McAndrew being able to move the room into the quiet moment needed for Neverbloom then easily bring the energy back for their set’s final section, first asking the back how they were and getting Club Academy to get loud whereafter they played Cutting It Close featuring a solid drum solo from touring drummer Zachary Baker. Rain City Drive closed out with Medicate me, which originally features Dayseeker, but Club Academy filled the gaps by getting the loudest they’d been so far. Rain City Drive oozed confidence throughout their whole set and had the musical quality to back it up, getting Club Academy warmed up for Honey Revenge without tiring them out before the party to come.

The first thing to note about Honey Revenge is the commitment to style for the duo, as they both bounced onto the stage in co-ordinated sheer purple tops, with Donny Lloyd donned in sparkly trousers and hair glitter to match their pink glittery guitar, while Devin Papadol sported a ruffle skirt that gave the two were headed straight to G-A-Y after the show. Their set opened with Risk, where the two shimmied with each other between Papadol singing to the crowd. They followed with Seeing Negative and executed the first of many synced-up kicks, spurring Lloyd to play so hard their glasses fell off and they spent the last verse and chorus trying to see down them without them hitting the floor.

Honey Revenge is best described as bubblegum rock in sound and energy, with their heavy but high tempo rock instrumentals blended into electric elements and topped with Papadol’s pop princess style vocals. Their energy is infectious too - by Sensitive a room that had seemed flat had burst into jumping and dancing; the party was underway. Papadol began her requests at Favourite Song - a conga line, which snaked its way around the middle of Club Academy for about half the runtime, then a request to turn the room into the club for an unreleased track about being a hot commodity that got the hips shaking and the countdown for its release starting.

At this point Papadol addresses those who are new to the Honey Revenge show by using the first line of Habitual’s chorus as a call and response, coaxing the crowd to sing it to her preferred volume then hitting the macarena as the first notes played. It’s only now that the pit opened, with Papadol standing in the eye while she sang Worst apology, then asking for the tough guys in the crowd to get it moving with a flirtatious air; they obliged immediately and even hit a small wall of death towards the end of Poison Apple Baby.

The final section of Honey Revenge was reserved for the more passionate tracks in their discography, which lent itself to the harder soundscapes and an accompanying circle pit during Distracted. This said, the boogieing between Lloyd and their touring bassist was constant:be it the synced kicks from earlier or small dances and movements indicative of tour-long jokes they threw at each other while grinning from ear to ear the whole time. Papadol for her part was mostly on the barrier, though an attempt to get back onto stage during Are You Impressed? had her and Papadol bumping into each other punctuated with Lloyd’s involuntary scream into the microphone.

To finish, Papadol had everyone on the floor for Airhead, closing out the set with a long breakdown and final guitar solo from Lloyd. Having stated earlier they’d be no encore, a chunk of Club Academy filed out of the basement room when they came back on stage to do their current bit: a rendition of half of Knocked Loose’s Counting Worms where Lloyd did a scream so solid they should incorporate it into Honey Revenge songs.

Honey Revenge and Rain City Drive’s joint tour was a party that was a joy to attend. Belmont and Rain City Drive were put together and warmed the crowd up perfectly for the headliners, Rain City Drive served a classically quality alternative rock performance, while Honey Revenge’s energy was so infectious it left the crowd electrified as Club Academy disappeared into the sharp Manchester night.

Words: Julia Brunton

Photos: Anna Goley