Fu Manchu , Electric Citizen – Club Academy, Manchester – 27th September 2022

Swapping the sunshine of California for a rainy autumnal night in Manchester, stoner rock pioneers Fu Manchu visit Manchester Club Academy on their European tour.

In support tonight is Electric Citizen, who are supporting the headliners for the duration of the tour for the second time. They provide a lively set, filled with five songs from their debut album, Sateen. The heavy Sabbath-esque riffs are complimented by the movements and dancing of charismatic front-woman Laura Dolan, who is clearly in good spirit, as are the rest of the band. After a quip that their merchandise seller hasn’t managed to make the tour, Dolan announces that she and the band will be on the merchandise stall and available for photos and autographs. You can’t really get more down-to-earth or authentic than that.

In a similar ‘we aren’t up our own arses’ manner the band members of Fu Manchu are shortly on the stage with the roadies in preparation for their headline slot. Taking to the stage at 9:15, Fu Manchu open with the first track of their third album, Regal Begal, which has the front of the venue absolutely bouncing. With their signature hard rock and psychedelic blend Fu Manchu dip into their back catalogue, drawing on crowd pleasers Evil Eye, Mongoose and Hell On Wheels amongst others (which includes a cover of Working Man by Rush).

 Frontman Scott Hill temporarily leaves the stage towards the end of the set, leaving the remaining band members to jam out some psychedelic riffs until his return. It inevitably results in more moshing and crowd-surfing. The hard-core crowd down at the front gets continually and progressively more into the spirit, and the pit seems to climax for final song and encore, King Of The Road. 

In the words of the band, as noted on Instagram: “Very chaotic show. Mysterious stage blood / impromptu 3 piece Fu Manchu jam / couple concussions. Not bad for a Tuesday night.” Indeed. Couldn’t have put it better myself!

Electric Citizen online: Website / Facebook / Bandcamp / Twitter

Fu Manchu online: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Youtube

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