Gene at Manchester’s Albert Hall: rain-soaked queues, two encores, and a Britpop band still refusing to fade
- Luke Storey
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Albert Hall, Manchester - 26th March 2026
WORDS / IMAGES LUKE STOREY (ShotbyStorey)
Manchester does drizzle like nowhere else, and tonight it feels almost scripted. A long, stubborn queue snakes around the Albert Hall, damp coats clinging, cigarettes glowing in the grey, the low hum of anticipation cutting through the rain. This is gig-going as ritual. And then you step inside. The Albert Hall doesn’t just host gigs—it frames them. All vaulted ceilings and faded grandeur, it looms over the crowd like something between a cathedral and a forgotten theatre, every note destined to echo just a little longer, hit just a little harder. It’s the kind of room that demands occasion.
For Gene, legacy has always been a slightly complicated beast. Perpetually hovering just outside Britpop’s cartoonish centre, they traded laddish swagger for longing, melodrama, and sharp-edged romanticism. While others burned bright and fast, Gene built something slower, more enduring—songs that linger. And that’s the thing you’re reminded of tonigh
Kings and Bears kick things off with the kind of set that doesn’t ask for attention—it grabs it. Slick guitar lines glide over muscular, bass-heavy grooves, and within minutes the crowd is locked in, heads nodding in unison. Their frontman moves like someone very aware this is the moment, declaring it their biggest show to date with a grin that suggests he knows they’ve earned it. New material lands confidently. No passengers here—just a band making a case for themselves.
But tonight belongs to Gene.
They arrive not with a bang, but with a sense of inevitability. And then, slowly, they take over everything.
What follows is gloriously excessive: 24 songs stretched across two hours, capped with not one but two encores. It’s the kind of indulgence that would feel bloated in lesser hands. Here, it feels earned. Necessary, even. Because when a band has this many songs that still connect, why hold back?
Frontman Martin Rossiter is magnetic throughout—equal parts ringmaster and old mate—cracking jokes, soaking in the room, at one point comparing the Albert Hall to a Bond villain’s lair. He’s not wrong. There’s something deliciously theatrical about it all, the band silhouetted against that vast, looming interior.
And what a crowd.
By the time “Speak to Me Someone” rolls around, the place is in full voice. Up in the stalls, it’s a wall of bodies—everyone standing, arms raised, shouting every word like it’s been waiting years to get out. It’s messy, loud, a little bit euphoric. Exactly what you want.
There’s humour threaded throughout too—easy, unforced. A shoutout to Manchester Piccadilly during “Save Me, I’m Yours” lands perfectly, a small moment that sends a ripple of joy through the room. It’s that balance—between grandeur and familiarity—that makes the whole thing click.
And when they finally close with “Sleep Well Tonight”, it feels right. Not explosive, not overstated—just complete.
They might call themselves old now, throwaway lines about age and time passing—but there’s nothing tired about this. If anything, Gene sound sharper, looser.
Some gigs are good. Some are great. And then there are nights like this—rain-soaked, overlong, slightly indulgent, completely unforgettable.
Gene don’t just return.
They remind you.
SET LIST
You'll Never Walk Again
We Could Be Kings
Be My Light, Be My Guide
Sick, Sober & Sorry
This Is Not My Crime
Walking in the Shallows
Truth, Rest Your Head
Stop
Long Sleeves for the Summer
Where Are They Now?
Save Me, I'm Yours
Speak to Me Someone
Yours for the Taking
Who Said This Was the End
The British Disease
Haunted by You
Olympian
ENCORE 1
London, Can You Wait?
For the Dead
Fighting Fit
ENCORE 2
Drawn to the Deep End
(Martin Rossiter Solo Piano)
Is It Over?
Sleep Well Tonight
FOLLOW GENE
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