Avatar at Academy Manchester 15-02-26

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We joined Avatar in Manchester for their “In The Airwaves” tour with support from none other than Norwegian black metal Witch Club Satan and three-piece Te Reo metal Alien Weaponry, joining forces to create a night of theatre, culture, and chaos.

Witch Club Satan

From the haze emerged Witch Club Satan, with matching outfits and corpse paint, ready to start their ritual. Their harsh yet hypnotic vocals convey their empowering and politically driven lyrics. In the absence of Victoria, Hedda Gray Lægreid joins members Nikoline Spjelkavik and Johanna Holt Kleive on bass, an instrument which, despite being new to her as mentioned in a pre-tour Instagram post, she played faultlessly.

Their set, while short, was intense, and it was clear that every move was purposeful and planned to create a slightly unsettling yet lasting impression on the audience. The crowd watched on with varied reactions, ranging from fear to amazement, but overall, their performance definitely resonated with the crowd, whether it was from a political standpoint or a love of black metal.

Alien Weaponry

Alien Weaponry proudly share their Māori culture with the eagerly waiting audience, entering the stage with the Haka. This New Zealand trio blends Te Reo Māori and English for a powerful fusion of metal that shifts from harsh to melodic, each member playing with fine-tuned precision. With another shorter set, the band closed out with the soaring yet explosive ‘Kai Tangata’.

The audience was mosh pits and crowd surfers galore by the end of Alien Weaponry’s set, whilst it was clear some members of the crowd came specifically for this band, there would definitely be members of the audience leaving as fans after this set.

Avatar

The theatrics were only just getting started, the drum kit parted, and amongst the intense blue lighting and the fog, out stepped the members of Avatar, led by a cloaked Johannes Eckerström holding a lantern in the air, as the band started the first song of the night, ‘Captain Goat’. This sea shanty-esque song was the first of a good handful of songs from their latest release, ‘Don’t Go In The Forest’.

The band made sure to deliver not just a show, but a production, with stunning lighting that changed for each song, props, of course the drum kit in two parts which would part frequently throughout the set and even a piano segment from the frontman himself. Eckerström frequently interacts with the audience with charisma and dramatic flair, waving his hands to encourage cheering from different sections of the audience. They played clear fan favourites including ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ and ‘The Dirt I’m Buried In’, overall a sight to behold not just from the band but the fans who even dress for the occasion recreating the singers iconic clown makeup.

As the band prepares to leave the stage, the audience chants for one more song, this encourages Eckerström to jokingly announce the band will only play one song for their encore out of respect for the audience. They then played the final three songs of the night, the title track of their latest album, ‘Smells Like a Freakshow’ and ‘Hail the Apocolypse’ which went down extremely well with the crowd after the teasing from the frontman.