Walking into Manchester Academy 3 on Friday night, I had absolutely zero prior knowledge of any of the three acts on the bill. Safe to say, Swedish rock/metalcore group Solence were not what I was expecting, in the most delightful way. Within moments of taking the stage, their intro had set the tone entirely: “This isn’t a performance, this is controlled chaos. Welcome to the Solence experience.” It was a daring opening gambit, and one that the band spent the rest of the evening gleefully making good on.
New Zealand rock outfit Written by Wolves wasted no time in winning the room over, kicking into the explosive, metal-fused ‘GIVE ‘EM HELL’.
The catchy hooks of crooning pop-punk vocals backed by heavy riffs and blast beats can feel overdone in alt music, but Written by Wolves had a refreshingly distinctive take on it, highlighted especially in a rock reimagining of ‘End of Beginning’ by indie artist Djo. Their generosity extended beyond the music too, like shouting out the younger kids in the crowd as the next generation keeping the scene alive, and the band members spending their time post-set in the merch queue hugging fans and chatting away. This thoroughly set the tone for the evening’s warmth, perfect for such an intimate venue. For a band that had come all this way from the other side of the world, the reception they received was well deserved.
Dream State followed, with vocalist Jessie Powell proving herself an absolute powerhouse from the moment she stepped on stage. Her rapport with the crowd was immediate and effortless, joking that she was “Not allowed to ask for what I want right now,” when eyeing up the potential for a wall of death during their ferocious track ‘Words Unsaid’, and mock-chastising an audience member who had failed to get down on the floor when instructed during ‘Taunt Me’. Their energy was unrelenting and infectious, showing a clear love for the community and giving back to the full extent. By their closing song, ‘Primrose’, she had come down into the audience entirely, making the ending feel like less of a performance and more of a shared moment of kinship.
The combination of Dream State’s good humour and Written by Wolves’ warmth had between them constructed exactly the right atmosphere for what was to come.
If the openers had been about community and love, Solence were about that in turn whilst demonstrating without a shred of pretension that they were here to make sure everyone had the time of their lives. Their walk-out tune was ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA (a fun nod to their own heritage), which immediately told you everything you needed to know about the kind of night this was going to be. Opening with ‘Angels Calling’, the title track from their fifth album, they hit the ground running before launching straight into ‘Good F*cking Music’, which did precisely what it said on the tin. The entire room was jumping, even those who had stood their ground through the previous acts’ pit invitations.
Their encouragement for the crowd to participate in call and response was a recurring and effective device throughout the set. ‘Where Were You..?’ and the nu-metal-inflected ‘4 Good Reasons’ both leaned heavily into it, with a pre-song warning from frontman Markus Videsäter of “Are you guys ready for a maths lesson?” raising a solid laugh before the latter track kicked in. There’s something certainly special about a room full of strangers bellowing lyrics back at a band in unison that distils the whole point of live music into its purest form, and Solence understood that completely.
The rock ballad ‘Heaven’ offered a well-timed moment of respite from all the jumping and shouting, and ‘All of the Pain Must Go’ hit with genuine emotional weight. The band encouraged the crowd to sing it back to them, acknowledging that, within the walls of Academy 3, whatever you had brought in with you from the outside world could be left at the door. Looking around the room, it was clear that message had reached every single person within it.
What also stood out was how much Solence seemed to respect one another as musicians. A dedicated guitar solo, drum solo and keytar solo (each with the other members stepping back to let their bandmate take the spotlight) told everything wordlessly about a group of people who are genuinely proud of each other’s abilities and had no interest in hiding them nor attempting to one-up each other.
Their cover of ‘Warriors’ by Imagine Dragons was a highlight, a sincere homage that they made unmistakably their own. The false ending was, frankly, perfectly executed. “All good things must come to an end,” Markus announced solemnly. “Even the Solence experience,” before closing with the raucous ‘Animal in Me’.
And then, after a beat of silence following the applause from the crowd: “Did you guys really think we were finished?” Inevitably and brilliantly, ‘Who You Gonna Call? (Solence)’ kicked in, a song that exists almost entirely as an excuse to get a room full of people to scream ‘SOLENCE!’ at the top of their lungs in unison, which it achieved with remarkable efficiency.
But even that wasn’t the end. As the band departed and the house PA took over, ABBA drifted out over the speakers once more, and the band members, still visible, began orchestrating the remaining crowd into a full karaoke singalong to the tune ‘Mamma Mia’. It was absurd, wonderful, and entirely on brand for a band so set on giving everyone a thoroughly joyous Friday evening.
Having gone in completely blind, what I came away with was the impression of a band who had nothing to prove to anyone and knew it. Solence are clearly skilled, tight musicians; the solos and the live vocal work made that abundantly clear, but they wore it lightly, without a hint of the brooding self-seriousness that can so easily creep into rock shows of this kind. They were just determined, above all else, to make sure everyone had a brilliant time. On that count, they succeeded completely.
