PREVIEW—Manchester Orchestra (two Central Florida shows in October!)

by Garrett East • September 15, 2021

Manchester Orchestra is coming to play two shows in central Florida (Friday, October 8 at House of Blues in Orlando, and Sunday, October 10 at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg), and we think you should go! Here’s why:

I’ve been lucky to see Andy Hull and Co live about 3 times in and around Orlando, and even once as Bad Books—Andy and Robert McDowell’s side project with fellow Georgian, Kevin Devine. Every show has always been just an absolute ethereal experience, with a combination of loud, brash layers of sounds crashing together and soft, thoughtful soul-searching experiences that can cause even the hardest person to take stock of themselves in a grander scheme.

Manchester Orchestra has never been a band to stick with one musical style. While what they play is considered “alternative,” they have stretched that genre definition to the max, incorporating folk, electronic/DnB, punk, and even gospel. Earlier albums had a straight rock band/low-fi kind of vibe, while their newer albums show the maturation, molding, and adding to the sound that they have perfected. The key with MO shows is that they are able to take the way the listener connects to the music, and then amps it up to 11, providing an even more bombastic crashing of sounds, while during the quieter parts, all you can hear is Andy’s croaked whisper, along with whatever guitar or piano they might be playing at the time. You just get swept away in the sound.

MO recently released a new album earlier this year, The Million Masks of God, and good god, this massaged my earholes with such sweet sounds and then just shoved me into an existential crisis in only 45 min and 58 secs. It is an album made just for my demographic, a 33-year old millennial who’s now fully an adult and really coming to grips with that knowledge and realizing any kind of preparations did not get me ready for this current life and landscape. Filled with words of hope, layers upon layers of sound, and probably the most experimental yet defined music MO has put out, this album quickly rose to one of my favorites of the year. I highly recommend “Bed Head,” “Annie,” and for a bit of a change up, “Dinosaur.”

Direct support comes from our friends, Foxing. Make sure you get there early to experience this:

If after all this, you’re still wondering if you should go to this show, let me just put it this way: DO IT! This is one of the best contemporary bands in existence today, and to get to see them play venues like the House of Blues or Jannus before they start movin’ on up to arenas and amphitheaters is a pretty fantastic time. They are a band where the intimacy of a smaller room (or outdoor venue, in Jannus’ case) really achieves that full connection with the audience, and that connection always will leave you wanting more. Myself, I’m going to leave you with a full performance that the band released earlier this year that I continue to throw on whenever I’m needing to feel that connection again. Happy trails, everyone, and I’ll see you down the line.