Live Review: Set It off – O2 Ritz, Manchester 08/11/22

Well tonight is a full night with not one, not two but three supports for the headline act Set It Off, meaning it’s an early start at the O2 Ritz Manchester this evening. This tour has been almost four years in the making, so the fans are raring to go!

First up is singer/songwriter Lizzy Farrall who blends her own unique alternative sound with pop and synth highlights. She’s energetic and delivers a pitch perfect vocal and engages the crowd well, encouraging them to join in. A highlight during this set was during the last song ‘Addict’ where Lizzy encouraged the whole crowd to crouch and jump during the final chorus of the song.

The next support to take to the stage is Californian band, Cemetery Sun. Emerging onto the scene back in 2003, the Sacramento band consists of Josh Doty (Vocals), Elliot Polokoff (Guitar), Matt Scarpelli (Guitar) and Steven Curiel (Drums). Their genre combines a mix of pop punk, alt rock and electro R&B. ‘Piece Of Shit’ was a crowd pleaser encouraging full participation.

The last support of the night is American Rock band, Weathers. Forming in 2015, the band includes Cameron Boyer (Vocals), Cameron Olsen (Guitar), Brennen Bates (Bass) and Cole Carson (Drums). The band kick the night off with ‘I’m Not Ok’ from their 2018 album, ‘Kids In The Night’, not to be confused with a similar title by My Chemical Romance. However they do (to fan’s delight), cover My Chemical Romance’s ‘Famous Last Words’ during their set. The band end their slot with ‘C’est la Vie’ from their most recent album ‘Pillows & Therapy’.

A common theme tonight is that after all their sets (Lizzy Farrall/Cemetery Sun/Weathers) all greet fans at the merch stand to take pictures and sign merch. A few days after the gig, the news broke that Cemetery Sun unfortunately had their tour van stolen whilst in Manchester, which contained all of their kit. In true testament to the camaraderie of touring bands, the other acts on the tour came together to lend their kit to ensure that the band could continue on the tour.

So finally, we have headliners Set It Off coming on to stage. The tour is called ‘Welcome to Elsewhere’ promoting the title of their new album and the set reflects the styling of the album as it is punctuated with neon whether through lighting, clothes or even hair colour!

The American Pop Punk band, formed in 2008, consists of Cody Carson (Vocals), Zach DeWall (Guitar) and Maxx Danziger (Drums). While they are originally considered Pop Punk, over the years the band have tried to blend more musical influences into their music such as emo and more recently hip hop which was seen their 2019 album ‘Midnight’.

Launching into the set with one of their newer songs ‘Skeleton’ off of their most recent album ‘Elsewhere’, the crowd happily sing and dance along to the song.

Early into the set, Cody ends up going to the barrier and does his ‘trademark’ of standing up in the crowd with support from people holding him up. After posing in the crowd like this, which is actually rather impressive, Cody then continues to crowd surf among the crowd before heading back to the stage to finish the rest of the song.

During the set, the band play a nine song medley consisting of songs spanning all of their albums. During this mash up, there were parts where the band danced in sync. During ‘Bad Guy’, the drummer, Maxx, comes to the front of the stage to sing with his ukulele while Cody replaces him on drums. When playing ‘Loose Cannon’, as well as singing, Cody plays the saxophone proving to the crowd he does more than sing.

During ‘Unopened Windows’ which is a more sentimental track for Cody specifically, he opens up to the crowd about how his father passed away in 2008 to cancer with ‘Danny Boy’ playing over the speakers and then he closes the song playing a few notes of ‘Danny Boy’ on clarinet. Throughout the song the crowd put their torches on and light up the room in support of Cody.

The night is ended with fan favourite and most streamed song, ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ from their 2014 album ‘Duality’. All in all a great night and it’s no surprise to see the band have recently been announced as acts at next years Download Festival – if you missed them this time around, make sure to catch them next year!

Set List

Skeleton

Projector

Killer in the Mirror

Why Do I

Ancient History

Lonely Dance

Who’s In Control

Unopened Windows

The Haunting

Nightmare

Loose Canon