Live Review: You Me At Six, Waterparks, The Maine and Bears In Trees – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester 06/02/23

Tonight, at O2 Victoria Warehouse, sees You Me At Six on their Truth Decay tour with support from Waterparks, The Maine and Bears In Trees.

Opening the night was self-proclaimed ‘dirtbag boyband’ Bears In Trees, hailing from South London with the band playing a 7 song set. Starting the set with 2021 track ‘Cut Corners on Short Walks’ the night is off to a good start with fans singing along to the track.

Early in the set, Callum tells the crowd how he first saw You Me At Six on their ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ Tour (the original not the anniversary!) when he was around 15 so he is happy to be now supporting them on this current tour.

Roughly half of the set consists of the bands latest EP ‘Every Moonbeam Every Feverdream’ (released November 2022). Tracks include ‘Kind Love’, ‘Feel So Empty’ and ‘Doing This Again!’.

The last song of the set was 2021 track ‘Fresh Concrete’ with Callum saying “This is our last song, so this is our last chance to dance” before encouraging the crowd to jump.

Set List

Cut Corners on Short Walks

Kind Love +

Heaven Sent is a Coffee Cup

Feel So Empty +

Doing This Again! +

I’m Doing Push Ups

Fresh Concrete

Next up is American rock band, The Maine. The 5 piece band from Arizona take to stage in matching white outfits while Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ plays across the speakers before launching into 2021 track ‘Sticky’.

Before playing ‘Numb Without You’, the band briefly cover Smash Mouth’s ‘Allstar’ with John then saying to the crowd that the band are going to play their own music but want that “same ‘All Star’ energy” from the crowd.

John takes the time to thank You Me At Six for bringing them out on tour, adding that the band are some of the nicest people they’ve met.

The band end their set with fan favourite ‘Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu’ with a member of the crowd joining them on stage to sing the last section of the song.

Set List

Sticky

Am I Pretty?

Loved You a Little

Dirty, Pretty, Beautiful

Bad Behaviour

Numb Without You

Black Butterflies and Déjà Vu

Gallery: Bears In Trees/The Maine

The last support of the night is American Pop Punk band, Waterparks and before the band take to stage, red inflatable balls are placed on stage (to resemble the ‘FUNERAL GREY’ single art).

The three-piece band consisting of Awsten Knight (Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Geoff Wigington (Lead Guitar) and Otto Wood (Drums) open with 2018 track ‘Blonde’ before launching into recent release ‘FUNERAL GREY’ from their upcoming album ‘Intellectual Property’ (out 14^th April).

Before playing ‘Dream Boy’, Awsten asks the crowd a couple of questions – how many people have never heard of Waterparks? (he counts 6 people) and then asks if the crowd know Geoff and Otto’s names (joking that more people in the crowd knew Otto then Geoff).

Prior playing 2018 acoustic track ‘Lucky People’, Awsten asks how many people are here tonight with a special someone or platonic friend – asks for stage lights to be turned off and the crowd to put phone lights on and then encourages people to sit on each other’s shoulders – a quick head count shows 20+.

Crowd participation is a key part of any Waterparks set and tonight is no exception, from cheering through recent release ‘FUCK ABOUT IT’, ( if you don’t fuck with us (cheer), if you fuck with us heavily (cheer)) to forming a circle pit and jumping during fan favourite track ‘Turbulent’ from their 2019 album ‘FANDOM’.

The band end the set on the most recent release from their new album ‘Real Super Dark’ (title track off of their new EP), proving to already be popular with fans as they sang along throughout.

Set List

Blonde

FUNERAL GREY

Dream Boy

Brainwashed

You’d Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out to Get You)

[Reboot]

Lucky People

I Miss Having Sex but at Least I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore

FUCK ABOUT IT

Turbulent

Real Super Dark

Headlining the night on their ‘Truth Decay’ tour is English Rock Band, You Me At Six. Originating from Surrey, the 5 piece band including Josh Franceschi (Vocals), Max Helyer (Rhythm Guitar), Chris Miller (Lead Guitar), Matt Barnes (Bass) and Dan Flint (Drums) follow a similar pattern to The Maine and appear on stage in matching outfits – this time being black suits.

Their new album ‘TRUTH DECAY’ is out now – click here for more information.

With the production and stage layout adapting for this set, Matt and Dan are placed on a runway/platform at the back of the stage with Max and Chris playing either side of Josh.

Matt and Dan take to the stage first, running up to their platforms with Josh emerging last.

Opening with their 2022 single ‘Deep Cuts’ (also on their new EP ‘God Bless the 90s Kids), You Me At Six instantly match the energy of previous support, Waterparks, with Josh moving around the stage jumping and kicking.

With a sixteen-song setlist (not including the encore), there’s a mix of unreleased tracks from the new album Truth Decay interspersed with their more recognisable tracks from their discography.

Towards the end of their set, the band play their most recent release from their new EP, the title track ‘God Bless the 90s Kids’ before ending their set with an exquisite acoustic version of track ‘No One Does It Better’.

The band end the night with an impressive 5 song encore starting with popular track ‘Take on the World’ and ending with 2021 track ‘Beautiful Way’, while including dance track ‘SUCKAPUNCH’ and fan favourite ‘Underdog’.

YMAS are seasoned performers with an impressive back catalogue ensuring there is something to suit everyone in the sold out crowd at the warehouse tonight.

Set List

Deep Cuts

Fresh Start Fever

Straight to My Head

Liquid Confidence

Too Young to Feel This Old

heartLESS

Cold Night

Bite My Tongue

What’s It Like

No Future? Yeah Right

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