Last week, I managed to catch the band Divorce headlining Academy 2 in Manchester with openers Formal Speedwear and Curiosity Shop. For those who aren’t familiar with them, Divorce are a four-piece alternative country band formed in Nottingham, U.K. They consist of vocalist/bassist Tiger Cohen-Towell, co-vocalist and guitarist Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, drummer Kasper Sandstrom, and lead guitarist Adam Peter-Smith. The band released their first EP, Get Mean, back in 2022, kickstarting their endeavors in releasing music together. This was followed by a slightly lengthier EP in 2023, called Heady Metal, and two singles in 2024, leading up to the release of their debut album, Drive to Goldenhammer, in March this year. Only days before their Manchester show, they released their newest single, “Antarctica,” featuring Marcus Mumford, which is a remaster of their opening song from their debut album, but with the collaboration.
This tour was called the “Drive to Goldenhammer” tour, in celebration of their first-ever album released together. The performance Divorce put on that night in Manchester was absolutely brilliant; the vocals were beautiful, and all the instruments worked together magically in harmony. This show is definitely one I would recommend to someone who is looking for new music and a night to enjoy. The crowd was quite chill, as someone who is used to metal shows and everyone screaming and jumping around nonstop, I really enjoyed the different atmosphere at this show from my usual concerts!
You could really spot the dedicated fans all throughout the crowd, but especially at the front. Everyone was singing along to all of the songs played and swaying to the calming sounds of the band. Off the setlist, the majority of the songs played were from their debut album Drive to Goldenhammer, which makes complete sense as that was very much what the whole tour was for: the release of the album. The rest of the songs were from their previous EPs, singles, and some other work,s and curated quite a great setlist of an array of songs from all over their quite short yet powerful discography.
Overall, the show was great. The band sounded amazing, and the fans all seemed to really, really enjoy the interactions and the experience as a whole. This is definitely a show I would recommend to anyone who is looking for new music to divulge.
Leave a Reply