Keyside

Band on the Wall, Manchester - 27th Nov 2025

Story by Matthew Murray

01/12/2025

There’s a particular crackle to a packed Band on the Wall — the kind of anticipatory buzz that comes from a crowd who already know they’re in for a good night. Keyside clearly felt it too, even if they kept us waiting. But more on that in a moment.

The evening kicked off with Courrds, a curious and surprisingly tight outfit featuring a pirate-esque bassist, a singer wielding a Telecaster like it owed him money, and a drummer shunted off to the side as though he’d misbehaved. The frontman’s shirt, unbuttoned to the navel, did most of the early heavy lifting in terms of stage presence. They rattled through their set with a sort of stumbling charm — rough around the edges but impossible not to warm to. The second support act, by contrast, was entirely missed — not out of malice, but because the bar in the next room was doing a roaring trade and the queue was more compelling than whatever was happening onstage. Sometimes that’s just how support acts go. Keyside eventually surfaced at 9:30. To their credit, they’d warned us, which softened the blow, but with trains to catch and work in the morning, the late start added a faint sense of jeopardy to the night. Still, once they arrived, they made the wait worthwhile. With the bassist doubling as a backing vocalist and the band looking sharper and more self-assured than ever, they tore into their set: Nikita, the breezy summer Anthem ‘Down My Way’, the debut single ‘Lights Out’, the newer Michael (What’s your call?)’ from their second EP, and crowd favourites ‘Turn Back the Time’, for which we were taught how to make effective beer lanterns by Dani-Lee, and ’Paris to Marseille’. “If You Don’t Try” landed with particular weight — the kind of song that feels both intimate and wide-open at once (.....Cleopatra runs the show, call me a taxi to Cairo…… ) — before “Rock My Love” turned into a full-blown audience participation moment. Frontman Dan, full of energy, had the room eating out of his hand. There were nods to their influences too: a surprise cover of “Sally Cinnamon” slid in effortlessly - a tribute to recently departed Manchester and Stone Roses legend Mani, and “Angeline” followed with a warmth that suited the room. Things wobbled slightly with a strange break in the set — a pause that felt more accidental than artistic — but they regained their stride with TikTok fan favorite “Runaway”. Sadly, the clock won. We had to slip out before the real finale to chase the last train home — a very British ending to a very British gig. But Keyside, even truncated, proved once again they’re a band growing into something bigger. Next time, hopefully, they’ll start on time — so the rest of us don’t have to run for it.