by Abbie Moore
All female Irish indie rock band Florence Road have brought their latest headline tour, celebrating their latest EP Spring Forward to the UK. After playing a four show run in Europe the girls have brought their show to Manchester’s Academy 2. Having seen them just 6 months ago on their previous headline tour, which played venues of just 200 capacities, I knew I was in for an exciting gig as they were now playing to a sold out crowd of 1000 people.
The Gig Begins
After an opening set from another Irish artist MOIO, Florence Road take the stage and kick off their set with a song which is yet to be released. ‘7563’ features heavy building drums you can feel in your chest as lead singer Lily Aron belts out the lyrics “calling and it’s calling and it’s 7563” before the beat drops into a memorable outro completed with clashing cymbals and brutal guitar chords.
The quartet carry on their set with the ballad ‘Rabbits can swim’ featured on their latest EP. Aron encouraged the crowd to hug one another before the song began and fans swayed to the gorgeous piano notes that rang out in the venue.
While the girls themselves held incredible vocals and instruments no show can be perfect. The gig had some unfortunate technical issues which were handled expertly by guitarist Emma by playing rock paper scissors with fans in the front row. In the chaos of it all the crowd began chanting for the girls to play the song ‘Another seventeen’ a fan favourite that is rarely featured on any setlist. After sharing a hesitant yet excited look with one another the girls obliged. The fans screams of excitement shook the venue as the catchy snaps of drummer Hannah’s snare began.
Florence Road closed the show with another fan favourite and arguably their most well-known song ‘Break the girl’, a great choice that gave the crowd one last burst of excitement before braving the cold and heading home for the night, although I think their song named ‘Goodnight’ may have been more fitting to end with.
Florence Road performing ‘Break the Girl’ at Manchester Academy 2
After the show I was lucky enough to catch the band and speak with them briefly. Having played a set full of unreleased songs including ‘White smile’, ‘None the wiser’ and ‘7563’ which fans already know every lyric to, I just had to know when they’d be releasing them. “We really want to release 7563!” guitarist Emma Brandon told me, “We don’t know when, we’re working on it but soon, soon! Lily Aron added, seeming thrilled that fans had already taken such a liking to the song
From playing requests and unreleased songs, to playing rock paper scissors its clear this band adore their fans and performing for them, so their gig is one I hope I’ll be lucky enough to attend again soon. If you haven’t experienced the indie rock sensation that is Florence Road yet, the girls are on tour until May 27th, ending the tour at home in Dublin, Ireland.
The chorus of “Rabbits can swim’ by Florence Road, live from Manchester Academy 2.
