Manchester Orchestra Celebrates 10 Years of Album “Cope” W/ Militarie Gun at Starland Ballroom September 8th, 2024

Photos and Review by Genevieve Cai

Published on September 13, 2024

Last week, Atlanta indie rock five-piece Manchester Orchestra kicked off their U.S. tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of “COPE,” their fourth studio album. Joined on tour by Militarie Gun, Thrice, Lunar Vacation and The Stuffing (varying by city), the band invited its audiences into a night of heavy chords and raw angst. However, the set did not go without its fair share of slower acoustic breaks and mellow intro mashups between songs as well.

On September 8, Manchester Orchestra and Militarie Gun graced Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ. It was my first time experiencing the infamous venue, and it was a memorable one for sure. I immediately noticed that the crowd was mostly made up of older couples in their late thirties to early forties, and this made sense as Manchester Orchestra’s members are all thirty-something dads themselves and “COPE” tells the story of marriage (and its hardships).

Militarie Gun started the night off with a percussive-heavy set of satisfying alt-rock mixed with post-hardcore punk. Frontman Ian Shelton was extremely energetic and (literally) bouncy, maintaining consistent emotion-driven vocals the whole time. As a first time-listener, I was pleasantly surprised by how Militarie Gun was able to create anthemic, soulful lyrics about general longing and isolation while still using heavy, clashing chords. The exact halfway song of their set, “Dislocate Me,” which I can say is a new favorite, especially captured this blend. 

Manchester Orchestra mixed the vibe of their sound too. There were wistful, almost folk-rock-esque vocals during “All that I Really Wanted” and “The Maze,” which would immediately transition into piercing riffs with blinding light effects, like during “Girl Harbor” and “Bed Head”. I literally found myself squinting for minutes. The way the motion rippled throughout the crowd as everyone screamed along was remarkable. Any break between two songs, there were–without fail–ten different “WOO”s or “YEAH ANDY”s from every corner of the room. 

For me, lead guitarist/keyboardist Robert McDowell stole the show being closer to my side of the stage. Not only were his guitar chords certified head-bangers, but I loved his haunting vocals during cinematic closer “The Silence,” the one song he moved to the keyboard for. Manchester Orchestra also played four fan favorites in a grand encore.

The fun relationship between the band members, and with the audience was apparent. Andy Hull would continuously tease bassist Andy Prince by cutting him off whenever he tried to talk, much to everyone’s amusement. At Starland, it is also an unspoken tradition to clap and cheer every time the IHOP advertisement appears on screen. As such, an audience member later shouted, “Are you going to IHOP after this?” at the band, to which Hull replied: “Am I going to IHOP? No, we’re Waffle House people. We like our coffee to taste like cigarettes.” It is now my favorite quote heard from an onstage artist.

Manchester Orchestra will be continuing their tour until the end of November, where they will be  playing two hometown shows in Atlanta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manchester Orchestra Setlist: (via setlist.fm)

 

Top Notch

Choose You

Girl Harbor

The Mansion

The Ocean

Every Stone

All That I Really Wanted (acoustic)

Trees

Indentions

See It Again

Cope (with “The River” intro)

After the Scripture

The Silence

The Maze

The Gold

Bed Head

Shake It Out

 

Featured image by Genevieve Cai