A review of how the K’s rocked their headlined show at Media City’s Beyond the Music festival on Thursday night (October 8).
After starting the summer performing in front of 8,000 people at Deansgate Castelfield, how would the band from Earlstone cater to a venue of just 800? Surprisingly well I must say.
Beyond the music launched in 2023, and has previously been held in the Northern quarter and central Manchester. The three day festival cleverly collaborates live performances, speeches, conferences, media advice and anything music into one.
The biggest night of the festival was here. The K’s headlined, whilst Tom A Smith, The Wran, Marie Franc and Bank Holiday followed.
Firstly, The K’s performed first (whilst also headlining) which seemed rather confusing to me and certainly different. My fear was the audience wouldn’t stick around for everybody else after The K’s. Not only this, but the headliners setlist was cut 15 minutes shorter thirty minutes before they took stage. With people paying good money and traveling afar, The K’s had to be on their A game.
Opening with the iconic Icarus, a ray of orange, black and green lights shone upon the 5 members on stage. Icarus was followed by Jamie, lead singer, laughing and wishing one of the die hard K’s fans at the barrier happy birthday, before transitioning into one of their biggest hits Chancer.
The only song for the night from their most recent album, Pretty on the Internet came soon, with the band choosing to play their single, Gravestone. This was sung behind bright pink flashy lights, and guitarist Ryan orchestrating fast paced clapping with the crowd. I’d noticed there was only a maximum of 400 people in attendance, but this only made the event more intimate.
The set was dominated by the K’s number one and first ever album, I wonder if the world knows (released in 2024) with Hoping Maybe and Glass Towns following shortly after.
It’s been a slow rise for the band, after starting up in 2017, but it seems they have nailed what is the most important thing for artists; pleasing their audience. Fan favourite Hoping Maybe was screamed back at them with gratitude by the mere 400 people in the crowd, with Jamie slowing down the set on his acoustic guitar.
The final couple of songs came around, and the effort from The K’s must not go unnoticed. The performances from all the band members were the same as when they did their biggest show at Deansgate all them months ago. The smaller crowd and lesser occasion did not seem to phase them.
This was highlighted in the song Helen oh I, with the song starting only with an acoustic guitar. By the final chorus the base and the drums hit the venue with passion and triumph. In my opinion, it was the best song of the night.
The K’s said goodbye to Media City by wishing guitarist Ryan happy birthday, which he replied “Where else would I rather f*cking be than Manchester.”
Jamie even gave everyone an exclusive, revealing they will be performing at Manchester Arena next year, leaving everyone’s minds blown.
The K’s biggest song Sarajevo ended the show, and I wanted more.
Chris Hawkins introduced The K’s as “the best live band around” and he wasn’t lying. Even with the 45 minute set (and slightly over priced tickets) myself and the die hard K’s fans were not disappointed, and the band left the other artists with a huge hole to fill.
After 45 minutes, Tom A Smith waltzed onto the stage. Tom, a singer from Sunderland, told me beforehand: ”
I’ve had such a great summer supporting artists like Yung Blood but this is a great opportunity to play in front of some great people” he jokingly laughed, “I’m looking forward to playing on there (the stage) , they’ve filmed countdown in there!”
Tom’s comedic persona was shown through his bright pink poker dot suit.
Although I had never heard of Tom A Smith before, he reminded me of a young Elvis Presley. His stage presence was incredibly lively, and he gave it his all in his short 30 minute set.
Along with this, he also danced around the stage and had more movement than The K’s did. Not only that but the crowd loved him, chanting and applauding throughout. A young lad giving his all on the stage simply enjoying himself.
Tom ended the night by performing his biggest song I don’t blame you, whilst ripping off his pink suit, standing on the barrier in a white vest high fiving the crowd beneath him.
Tom was certainly a performer and put on a show for the remaining audience.
After another half an hour of waiting, the crowd started to spew out. It was clear that on this day of the festival, most people were here for The K’s.
Next, an Irish band formed of four brothers, The Wran. Once again I had never heard of The Wran, but the point of this festival was to explore new music. The Wran also had a thirty minute set, and performed slower and country music type songs.
One thing that most likely did not help the band, was the lack of people in the audience. 15 minutes into the set, and there were no more than 40 people left watching. The choice to put the headliner first was definitely a mistake.
One member Tommy Dunford however, did thank the crowd for sticking around so late, a nice touch from the vocalist.
After finishing their slow and deep set, I decided it was my time to leave too.
Marie Franc was set to perform after, along with Manchester band Bank Holiday. I had already seen Bank Holiday in Blackburn 2 weeks ago, and my rush from the K’s had faded.
Altogether I enjoyed this day of Beyond the music with the K’s stealing the show and Tommy A Smith doing his part. The event was well organised, however it was probably underwhelmed with the ticket sales and decisions beforehand. Until next year, viva la K’s.
