Against the Current, Five Years Away, Two Days Back and Manchester Academy Gets Blown Away
Manchester Academy – 1st November 2026
WORDS / IMAGES LUKE STOREY
Manchester had spent the weekend doing what Manchester does best: celebrating Halloween with a reckless disregard for Sunday morning consequences. So, nursing the remains of a hangover, there was only one sensible place to be: Manchester Academy, where New York pop-rockers Against the Current were preparing to blow the cobwebs out of the room. And, judging by the noise coming from the crowd, nobody was particularly interested in taking it easy.
DayDreamers
First up were London indie outfit DayDreamers, whose arrival brought the room down a few notches before the main event had even got started. Their sound was slow-burning, decidedly restrained and, at times, seemed to be operating at an entirely different speed to the band everyone had come to see.
There was nothing particularly offensive about it, but when you're warming up a crowd for a band whose entire existence seems built around explosive choruses and full-throttle energy, a little more urgency wouldn't have gone amiss. Vocalist Riley occasionally gave the impression that he'd rather be somewhere else, possibly at home with his cat, but the band eventually found a little traction with Call Me Up. The crowd finally began to move, offering a decent sway-along to close the set. Not exactly an explosion, but at least the fuse had been lit.
Against the Current
Five years is a long time in music. Long enough for fashions to change, scenes to disappear and bands to wonder whether anyone is still listening. Against the Current have spent that time away from the album cycle, but with Till Death and Back arriving just two days before this show, they have returned with something to say. And they certainly weren't going to whisper it.
Chrissy Costanza came charging onto the stage and straight into Fortune Favour the Brave, a statement of intent that wasted absolutely no time getting down to business. This was not going to be a night of standing around politely admiring the lighting. The band were here to make a racket, and the audience were more than happy to oblige.
The new album dominated much of the evening, as you'd expect from a tour celebrating its release. There is something almost cinematic about these songs, packed with dramatic builds, towering vocals and choruses seemingly designed to bring an arena to its knees. Ashes to Glory and Protege were particular highlights, although the most impressive thing was watching fans already singing along to material that had barely been available for 48 hours. That's commitment, or possibly an unhealthy amount of time spent refreshing streaming services.
Thankfully, the older material wasn't forgotten. Talk, arriving early in the set, brought a welcome shot of pop-punk adrenaline, with a distinctly Avril Lavigne-esque flavour. It was an infectious little monster of a song, the sort of number that gets lodged in your head whether you like it or not.
But there's more to Against the Current than big choruses and polished hooks. The chemistry between the band members gives the performance its personality. There's plenty of back-and-forth banter, and Costanza is clearly comfortable commanding the room. Between songs, she jokes about not drinking or smoking while on tour, yet somehow still managing to destroy her voice. Her solution? Drinking water, despite apparently hating every second of it. It's these little exchanges that make the difference between a band simply playing a set and actually entertaining an audience.
Manchester, naturally, gets a healthy dose of affection. Costanza makes it clear how much the band love the city, before taking the opportunity to point out that Manchester is considerably better than Leeds. The reaction is immediate. You don't need to tell this particular audience twice. There's a reason bands keep coming back here, and tonight is another reminder.
As the main set draws to a close, the crowd aren't ready to call it a night. The encore delivers Legends Never Die, the band's soundtrack contribution to League of Legends. It's gloriously overblown, dramatic enough to soundtrack the end of civilisation and delivered with the sort of vocal firepower that makes you forget you're standing in a relatively intimate Manchester venue. Subtlety isn't invited, and nobody seems particularly bothered.
Paralyzed follows, before the band bring proceedings to a close with a personal favourite, Weapon. It's a fitting finale, leaving the room with one last blast of energy before the lights come up.
Against the Current have returned with a new record, a renewed sense of purpose and a live show that knows exactly what it wants to be. The new songs already sound at home alongside the older favourites, while Costanza's vocals and the band's obvious enjoyment of being on stage give the whole thing a genuine sense of occasion.
By the end of the night, the hangover had taken a back seat. Manchester had been given its Sunday-night fix of noise, melody and theatrical excess. And if that's what the morning after Halloween looks like, perhaps the weekend wasn't such a bad idea after all.
SET LIST
Fortune Favors the Brave
Dead Man Walking
Talk
again&again
Blood Like Gasoline
Always You & I
Voices
Wildfire
that won't save us
lullaby
Heavenly
blindfolded
Ashes to Glory
Gravity
Protégé
Legends Never Die (League of Legends feat. Against the Current)
Paralyzed
weapon
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