We joined Mason Hill in Manchester as they embarked on their first full UK tour in 2 years, with support from Defences. The 470-cap venue was the perfect intimate environment for the first show of their comeback tour. This tour marked a pivotal moment for the band as it was their first tour with the addition of vocalist Tom Ward, after the official announcement of his joining late last year. This followed a year of him working with the band behind the scenes on music new and old.
Defences
Hailing from Hertfordshire, metal band Defences were the perfect choice of band to start the night off with a bang. At this point in the night, about half of the room was filled, with a portion of the crowd who had primarily come for the opening act and stayed for Mason Hill. Vocalist Cherry Duesberry performs with ease and power behind every word, punctuated with smiles and signature hair flips. This is complemented by backing screams from William Young.
They performed new hits, including the empowering ‘Metamorphosis‘ and impactful ‘Lithium Kiss‘, alongside primarily songs from their latest album ‘Shadowlight’. This included the title track of the album, which the crowd loved, and held phone lights in the air at the request of Cherry. This band is definitely one to watch in rock and metal as they continue to grow their fanbase with every new release, and will definitely have left an overwhelmingly positive impression on the audience from their performance.
Mason Hill
Mason Hill were nearly ready to call it a day after ex-frontman Scott Taylor left the band due to health concerns. However, with Tom Ward filling in for him, new life has been breathed into the band, and the opening night of this tour was a testament to that. The band started their set with high energy and huge riffs from the get-go, the new singer even standing on the barrier to get up close and personal with the fans who had been eagerly awaiting his first Manchester performance with the band.
After some thanks from the band for Tom joining, they leap straight into their newest release, ‘Twisted‘, the first of several new songs the band would play on tour from their upcoming album. The band has great banter between the members despite the lineup change. One ongoing joke between Matt Ward on bass and James Bird on guitar was that James doesn’t like performing the new songs because they’re new, and Matt said to boo him next time he talked, in which the crowd erupted in boos. The joke carried on when James started playing one of the songs in the wrong key, whether by accident or deliberate, it got laughs from both the band and the audience.
Amongst the newer and existing Mason Hill songs, the band also performed a cover of Muse’s Hysteria, which went down extremely well with the audience, despite being an older crowd. Along with this, they dedicated a heartwarming instrumental version of ‘Where I Belong’ to a fan who was in attendance at the show. They had reached out to the band after their father had passed, as they and their father were big fans of the band and had gone to their shows together previously. The band sounded incredibly tight and was on top form; they also announced their new album, which is in the works, for fans to look forward to.