After waiting for about 2 hours outside the Manchester Apollo before doors opened. I slowly made my way through. Unsure if I was standing on people’s feet, a small child or puppy. Because my feet were so cold by that point I couldn’t feel them anymore. (I have no idea why a puppy would be there). The wait was well worth it though. Out of a 3000 strong crowd, I managed to get very close to the stage, only about 3 rows of people between me and the band.
Being felt up by a stranger in Manchester isn’t uncommon, but they could’ve at least bought me dinner first.
The first support act Little Hours began their set quickly after doors opened. Not even a full crowd in the venue. But maybe that had something to do with the bag search and the fact that we all had to have a body search before entering. Being felt up by a stranger in Manchester isn’t uncommon, but they could’ve at least bought me dinner first. Little Hours, a duo from Ireland, are the kind of act that need to be really listened to and not just put on in the background, as crowds try to gather their bearings as they enter. Even though I only heard of them for the first time at the Kodaline gig, I know I’m definitely going to want to see them again. With just a simple guitar, keyboard and beautiful voices. I had to follow them on twitter and watch ALL their videos on YouTube.
The second support act was All Tvvins, a band also from Ireland. They’re very different to Little Hours and Kodaline, having a much more unique sound of electro sounds and auto-tuned singing through each song. I really hope they didn’t think we wouldn’t notice, because, well… everyone did. Some people may like that kind of music, but it really wasn’t for me.
The moment we had all been waiting so eagerly for. It was only 10 mins before stage time when the band did a live video on Facebook that it dawned on me – I am actually going to see them, live, that night, in front of me. So maybe it was my over excitement or addiction to the Internet and wanted to upload pics and vids of the gig as soon as possible, to make everyone I know extremely jealous, that made me comment ‘what’s the Wi-Fi code to the Apollo’ on the video. Surprisingly… they didn’t answer.
When the lights went on and the band appeared from behind the curtains, the crowd cheered and clapped. Although I’d already seen the band at Rock City in March and I knew they were going to be doing the same set list, I was still excited, if not more so. This time I had heard the songs at least a hundred times each. They are my favourite band after all, and I haven’t had a favourite band since S Club 7 split up in 2003, but Kodaline are worth the title. They started things off with ‘Ready’. A nice upbeat song to get the crowd excited for the rest of the show. The guys played songs from their first album In A Perfect World and their latest album Coming Up For Air. The set design was pretty damn amazing; screens behind them, and all kinds of fancy lighting that changed colour depending on the mood of the song. You know you’ve really made it when you can have screens of you playing.
A sea of lights behind me lit up the room as he asked us to get our torches up.
When it was time for ‘The One’, most of the band left the stage, leaving just Steve there by himself, with his acoustic guitar. A sea of lights behind me lit up the room as he asked us to get our torches up. That was a great moment to see. Every one of their songs is a song you can sing along to, there aren’t just one or two crowds love to sing to, each one can hold its own. Although it probably was the slower songs that the 5th member of the band i.e. the audience put more into. The emotional songs, the ones that make you question everything about your life. Songs like ‘One Day’ and ‘High Hopes’ Love like this. A song that everyone loves, the only song that everyone shuts up for a few seconds, for ‘that line’ when Steve says ‘I don’t mind at all’ where we get to hear his Irish accent in all its glory. I’m not gonna deny I did squeal a little with all the girls, and quite a few guys for that matter.
Manchester, your amazing singing filled our Hearts.. Thank you xx — Kodaline (@Kodaline) December 5, 2015
They “ended” their set with ‘Love Will Set You Free’. But knowing from previous experience that the band were definitely going to come back on stage and give us a few more tunes, it didn’t stop me starting of the crowd shouting ‘encore, encore’. And of course they came back on, drinks in hands and smiles on faces. The encore consisted of ‘Everything Works Out In The End’ then a mashup of ‘Big Bad World/Talk/Perfect World’ which worked well and each led into the next pretty smoothly. The last song of the encore was fan favourite ‘All I Want’, which as you’d expect, the crowds were singing along to every single word.
I loved every single minute of the gig, they performed fantastic as always. I really hope I get the chance to see them again one day.
By Carys Kitchin
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