From Hushed Beginnings To Joyful Roars - Kim Deal At New Century Hall
- Paul Evans
- Jun 21
- 3 min read
New Century Hall, Manchester – 17th June 2025.
IMAGES / WORDS PAUL EVANS
It’s been an evening of quiet revelation and an electric return for Kim Deal at New Century Hall in Manchester tonight. Known primarily as co‑founder of the Pixies and frontwoman of the Breeders, Deal has spent the past decade crafting a serene yet emotionally potent solo voice, moving seamlessly between hushed lyrical intimacy and alternative rock bravado. Tonight, she demonstrated the full range of her musical artistry navigating a setlist that ushered the audience from introspective balladry from her latest album “Nobody Loves You More” to full‑throttle anthems from the Pixies and the Breeders, all performed with a smile and a confidence born of decades on stage.
By early evening the atmosphere was intimate, warm and expectant in New Century Hall’s refurbished auditorium. There’s a hush, a cheer and lights dim. Flanked by her tight-knit band, cello, violin and a brass section Kim opens with the gently tender, almost lullaby‑like Nobody Loves You More. Her voice is warm and deceptively fragile, unveiling multiple layers of vulnerability. As the audience lean in; every breath, every syllable feels personal as it softly echoes around the room and when she sings “nobody loves you more than I do,” it’s delivered in a voice as warm as a whispered secret, immediately commanded attention.
Coast shifts the tempo, with a rhythm that feels restrained yet propulsive as though the coast was never fa, but always just out of reach. Guitar lines glide across the space, stretching languidly, evoking horizons and longing. while Kim’s vocals retain their previous intimacy. It’s a dreamy, almost hypnotic early set moment before the sparse clarity of Disobedience is articulated with purpose. The crowd responding with steady applause that pulse in time with the beat.
Nestled between songs, Kim engages in quiet rapport. “It’s good to be back in Manchester, we’ve never played here” she remarked with gentle gravitas. These interludes were brief yet potent and fostered an atmosphere of intimacy rare in halls of this size, reminding the audience that this was not just a spectacle but also a connection. Emotionally, the audience rides waves from silence-packed reflective songs to anarchic singing and during quieter moments, the hall is nearly silent, listeners hung on every note.
The Breeders No Aloha is filled with subtle exoticism layered in guitar chord voicings and minor-key intonation. It sweeps through mood shifts of shadow and reflection.
The cover of Drivin’ on 9 is beautiful, familiar yet still fresh. Deal’s voice dips low, hushed and haunting. drifting in as mystery reigned for a few minutes.
Throughout the night Kim’s voice remains the emotional anchor. She shifts fluidly from gentle intimacy to commanding rock presence. Songs like Wish I Was and Beautiful Moon showcase the subtlety of her interpretive range, while Gigantic and Cannonball demonstrate her ability to wield vocal power without sacrificing nuance. Gigantic, a Pixies classic, with that unmistakable opening bass run lands like a national anthem for an indie-rock safe haven. The crowd roar, Kim’s vocals soar softly in the verses, then ramp into full power for the chorus “Gigantic, a big big love…” as the audience sing every lyric. Gigantic, in Kim’s hands tonight, is both a homage and a declaration of enduring resonance.
There’s no announcement, just those vocals and the unmistakable opening bass of Cannonball. The hall erupts into a shimmering wash of feedback and drum rolls. Voices in the crowd rise and the energy coalesces into a roiling wave: guitar, bass, drums work in perfect tension. The performance feels equal parts invitation and command to leap up, to scream, to join, but also an invitation to stay before the final explosion of sound is met with thunderous applause.
In 2025, Kim Deal stands as a living bridge between alt‑rock history and contemporary introspection. It's not simply been nostalgia that forged the evening’s impact; it’s Deal’s insistence on presenting her ongoing creative identity. The revisitation of classic songs Gigantic and Cannonball found renewed breath in her hands tonight, not just as relics but as living statements. Meanwhile, new pieces like Crystal Breath insinuated that her creative well remains generative, intentional and emotionally potent. The evening has felt like a living memoir, not staid, not stale, but curious, expressive, open‑hearted and above all purely magical and magnificent.
Setlist
1/ Nobody Loves You More
2/ Coast
3/ Are You Mine?
4/ Disobedience
5/ Wish I Was
6/ Big Ben Beat
7/ Summerland
8/ Come Running
9/ A Good Time Pushed
10/ Beautiful Moon
11/ Safari
12/ Off You
13/ Biker Gone
14/ No Aloha
15/ Drivin' on 9
16/ Gigantic
17/ Do You Love Me Now?
18/ Cannonball
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