The show had a long wait between doors and Primus hitting the stage. The band performed two sets with no support, which sounds amazing in theory but we’ll circle back to that. The first set was filled with a menagerie of wacky weirdness and immensely powerful musicianship as Primus played classics like ‘American Life’, ‘The Antipop’ and the legendary ‘Frizzle Fry’ as well as some deeper cuts like ‘Dirty Drowning Man’.

Everything was played beautifully and the sound matched that level of professionalism as you could feel the bass rattle through your bones without drowning out the absolutely bizarre guitar work of Ler LaLonde. Formerly unemployed drummer, John Hoffman, also established himself as a powerhouse as he introduced himself to the people of Manchester, with Les Claypool declaring to the audience “you’re not here to see him, he’s here to see you”.

The second set was full of weird and wacky deep cuts like ‘Over the Electric Grapevine’ and ‘Duchess and the Proverbial Mindspread’ but there were still appearances from all time classics like the creepy darkness of ‘My Name Is Mud’ and the NASCAR national anthem, ‘Jerry Was a Race Car Driver’. While there were still a wealth of legendary Primus tracks, there were a few disappointing omissions including ‘Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver’, ‘Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers’, ‘Mr. Krinkle’, ‘John the Fisherman’ and ‘Southbound Pachyderm’, but the die hard Primus fans could still be entertained by deeper cuts like ‘Dirty Drowning Man’ and ‘Bob’s Party Time Lounge’ and one of my personal favourites, ‘Shake Hands with Beef’.

The big dividing point between people is based on how much you can tolerate jamming. The majority of these songs contained long sections where the band trailed off into improvised jam sessions which showed off amazing musicianship with everyone having a time to shine. If you’re here for a band playing songs exactly like the record, then this isn’t the show for you. Les Claypool has called this tour a showcase for “a rejuvenated Primus” and you can definitely pick up on the newfound chemistry between the band, but I can’t help but think you could have squeezed a few more songs in if you didn’t go on the giant Grateful Dead-style odysseys, but that’s personal preference.

The strange and atonal guitar work from Larry ‘Ler’ LaLonde is unmistakable and he’s given plenty of opportunities to show off in between songs. It makes sense that he’s considered “The Godfather of Death Metal” as Les says. His style of borderline noise and unconventional scales during his time in Possessed helped pave the way for guitarists like Trey Azagthoth of Morbid Angel, so it’s good to hear that he still retains some of his extreme metal roots while playing some of the goofiest music around. Ler seems genuinely thrilled to be Lerring Manchester once again and we’re thrilled to be Lerred by him.

The set ended with ‘Too Many Puppies’, a certified jumping classic full of metal energy and groove that got an absolutely rammed audience moving and grooving to the tasty licks for one last time before being serenaded by ‘World of Pure Imagination’ and making their way out of Primus’ whimsical world and back into our hellish dystopia once again.

This is a very different Primus to the one that appeared in Manchester back in 2015. The songs are just as tight but the band feel more laid back and able to jam and show off their immense talents, and you can tell the band is in a much better space in terms of musical chemistry and on stage banter. You’re in for a treat if you ever cross paths with Primus nowadays. There’s genuine talent on stage paired with the silliness, and the die hard audience that filled the room seemed to have a brilliant time despite the heat and crowding.

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First up was Return to Dust, a lesser known band to the citizens of Manchester, which meant they stood to gain more as there were no expectations. Even though no one had any real expectations, the crowd were massively impressed by Return to Dust‘s collection of chugs inspired by Alice in Chains and dual vocal duty from Matty Bielawski and Graham Stanush. Despite the obvious comparisons to AIC, Return to Dust sounded fresh and interesting without coming off derivative. This is a band that has done their homework and changed it up just enough.

The bass was absolutely punishing at the very start of the show and drowned out the rest of the mix, but this was quickly rectified as a pummelling collection of grungy riffs were unleashed, like the bouncy ‘Belly Up’ and the bleak ‘Sweet Escape’. There was even a dour cover of Outkast‘s ‘Hey Ya’ to really capture the millennial attention that infested this space. Highly recommended if you like the heavier side of grunge, like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, but with a bit of a modern spin.

Next up was Chevelle, another band that hadn’t played Manchester for a while and, for some, were the main reason to attend this absolutely packed show. Chevelle are a cornerstone of early 2000s extreme sports video game soundtracks and screaming “you’re not my real dad” before slamming the door and chugging a Mountain Dew, but you’d never be able to tell with how subtle and understated their stage presence was. The band were still active and engaging, but they really let the music speak for itself as the crowd went absolutely mental for eternal classics like ‘The Red’ and the beatdown intensity of ‘Face to the Floor’.

There was a solid mixture of high-octane ragers and Deftones-esque vibe songs like ‘Send the Pain Below’, which was a surprise considering my understanding of Chevelle was that they made nu-metal style fight music. Chevelle has been a blind spot in my music taste, and this show has shown me the error of my ways.

Finally, Breaking Benjamin hit the stage with the grand and sweeping declaration “I WILL NOT BOW, I WILL NOT BREAK” as the crowd lost its collective mind, getting to scream these words together for the first time in nine years. The band was on fire, and Ben Burnley sounded just as good as he did 20 years ago when Phobia dropped, while the backing vocals from his son, Ben Jr, filled out the higher register and gave it some extra depth. Even though he’s only ten years old, he’s already learned some of his old man’s tricks as he grasped the mic with the professionalism that some people spend years developing.

Breaking Benjamin‘s set wasn’t mired by the need to play many brand new tracks and stuck mainly to fan favourites like the anthemic sing-alongs of ‘Failure’, ‘Breath’ and the glorious declaration of anguish that is ‘Dear Agony’, a track that has been prominent in my life for many years. You’d be hard pressed to find many bona fide classics that were missed in this set, with the icy tones of ‘So Cold’ cooling down the absolutely boiling Warehouse we were all wedged into together. The set continued with most of the energy coming from the audience as the band stayed mostly static and low-key, letting the music speak for itself. The audience sang every word, and wild, unhinged screams could be heard at the start of every single song, with ‘Until the End’, ‘Dance with the Devil’, ‘Evil Angel’ and ‘Fallen’ showing just how dedicated Manchester truly could be.

The highlight for so many gamers in the audience was ‘Blow Me Away’, a song that helped solidify Master Chief himself as a legendary figure in gaming, with the help of Breaking Benjamin‘s bombastic riffing and wailing declaration that “ONLY THE STRONGEST WILL SURVIVE”, a fact that anyone who has attempted to beat any of the Halo games on Legendary will be all too familiar with.

The show ended with the eternal classic of sorrowful yearning, ‘The Diary of Jane’. It’s now a masterpiece that has earned its place in the pantheon, and the crowd came to terms with the fact that they had witnessed history as Breaking Benjamin once again found their place in the Diary of Manchester.

Breaking Benjamin don’t play the UK often, so it’s a rare treat to experience a band of this calibre performing to an adoring audience of such dedicated and passionate fans who sang almost every word. With any luck, they’ll be back soon in an even bigger venue, because it was made abundantly clear by the instant sell out after an upgrade that the demand is there and can only be fulfilled by a full arena tour.

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First up was Employed to Serve and it may have taken a few minutes to get acclimated with the sound but once the sound was balanced, they were incredible and sounded flawless. Having very little knowledge of Employed to Serve beforehand, it was really unexpected to hear some of the most disgusting breakdowns in recent memory. 

Employed to Serve feel vaguely reminiscent of Sikth with their strange atonal leads that add dissonance and give this unhinged feeling that is largely associated with hardcore. The most effective moments of Employed to Serve’s set are definitely the breakdowns on tracks like ‘Dull Ache Behind my Eye’. While the breakdowns have the reputation the guitar solo had in the 80s in that they are often overused and lazy, these serve the song really well and the sound in the venue gave it that extra gut punch the audience needed. 

Vocalist Justine Jones has an absolutely ferocious stage presence and her vocal style matches that intensity perfectly as she screeches and roars her way through songs that are really technically demanding from a vocal point in terms of screaming technique and she just became more unhinged as the set went on culminating in the end track, ‘Mark of the Grave’ which caused absolute unbridled chaos in the centre of the room. 

Alien Weaponry were next and they’re a one-of-a-kind band with a sound that is absolutely unique. Alien Weaponry are from New Zealand and they are really in tune with the Maori culture going so far as to sing the majority of their songs in Maori. 

Alien Weaponry may be some people’s first experience of Maori culture and they give a really rich and vivid depiction of the culture despite largely speaking a different language. A lot of the historical context will be lost on a British audience but the music transcends language and invokes pure hostility in the best way possible. 

All their music feels primal and life-affirming in a way that a lot of bands work for years to accomplish, ‘Raupatu’ just oozes aggression and energy and their entire set maintains this throughout with tracks like ‘Kai Tangata’ and a rare English track ‘Holding my Breath’. ‘Rū Ana Te Whenua‘ tells the story of their ancestors who fought at the battle of Pukehinahina and while many don’t speak the language, it may well inspire so many to research Maori culture as well as their own. 

After a rather dramatic and atmospheric countdown, Gojira revealed themselves from behind a giant curtain with the harmonic riffs of ‘Born for One Thing’ culminating in some absolutely huge stomping riffs. It should be unsurprising that Gojira have access to ‘The Heaviest Matter of the Universe’ and Manchester felt it in full force, even with some bizarre rhythms it became second nature to just cut loose and flail wildly to whatever devastating riff was playing at the time. 

‘Stranded’ the song that sold a million Digitech Whammy pedals made an appearance, the weird octave-shifting riff is now iconic – even the other segments of the song have this aggressive illusion of simplicity while still maintaining this rhythmic complexity that shifts enough to keep engaging but not enough to lose people. 

Gojira are not a band that feature Christian lyricism but Jesus was in the audience and could be seen crowd-surfing and distributing blow-up killer whales during the slow ambient part of ‘Flying Whales’. He got lost in the shuffle once the riff kicked in and the crowd kicked off during the immensely powerful riffs that followed, even the quietest and dignified people in the room felt compelled to two-step. 

‘Fortitude’ has been somewhat divisive amongst fans, perhaps due to its more atmospheric nature but the songs from the album that were played all went down extremely well. The rhythmic weirdness of ‘Grind’ and percussive signature pick scrapes provided a lot of the same aggression the band is known for as well as the more melodic moments acted as a  break. Gojira has admitted they may have channelled Mastodon without knowing and ‘Another World’ may be the most telling example – if this song is a good barometer of quality then we can only hope for a collaboration between the two. 

‘L’enfant Sauvage’ is an underrated modern prog metal masterpiece, it has so much depth and seething aggression just baked into it at every sharp turn and the weird variation in the main riff gives that extra bit of texture. The buildup has so much and builds tension in awe-inspiring form and the eventual breakdown feels like a dam bursting as the entire room goes absolutely feral. 

Gojira ended their set with the monolithic riffing of ‘Silvera’ and the Digitech Whammy-driven weirdness of ‘New Found’ before diving into the highly progressive and occasionally beautiful atmosphere of ‘The Gift of Guilt’, a song that will probably stay on the setlist till the band calls it a day. With all that, everyone leaves and spends the following day (a Monday) in pain. 

Gojira have always been a unique band with a lot of emphasis on caring for the planet and preaching messages of being eco friendly but their music best embodies the folly of man and its carelessness, much like Godzilla himself, they are a force of nature from a musical standpoint and they bring a noble yet cautionary message to the public while creating some of the best music in death metal history. 

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