Every Time I Die (w/ Comeback Kid, Knocked Loose, Higher Power) @ Academy 2 (Manchester, UK) on November 28, 2017 [Photos & Review]

July saw the announcement of an early Christmas present for metalcore fans on the right hand side of the Atlantic: An 18-date UK and European co-headline tour featuring Buffalo bruisers Every Time I Die and Manitoba monsters Comeback Kid.

Comeback Kid have a host of new songs to play as their latest album, Outsider, was just released this past September while ETID are still riding high after the release of 2016’s critically acclaimed Low Teens. And if these two heavyweights weren’t enough of a draw, support for the tour comes from the purveyors of fine breakdowns and riffs, Higher Power and Knocked Loose.

With such a quality line up it was no surprise when tonight’s show at Manchester’s Academy 2 sold out well in advance, and it was good to see the crowd piling in early for Higher Power’s set. Knocked Loose, or Jay and (not so) Silent Band as I’ve now christened them, managed to find some secret extra gears for their performance and had the audience in the palm of their hands for the entirety of their short but very sweet set. Definitely a band you’ll want to check out if they come to your area.

Comeback Kid provided less of a groove and more of a pulsating punk feel with their set. Frontman Andrew Neufeld spent equal amounts of time on the barrier shoving the mic into the crowd as he did prowling the stage while Jeremy Hiebert and the rest of the band bounded about like march hares. One would have thought that this would be peak performance energy for the evening….

….but then Every Time I Die came on. ETID shows have become synonymous with barely controlled mayhem and even though tonight was their 13th show in 13 nights, there was no sign of slowing down from Buffalo’s finest. Testament to this is the fact that guitarist Jordan Buckley is playing with a broken foot encased in a giant moon boot and instead of resting up, Dave Grohl style, he has decided that a steady regimen of crowd surfing and jump kicks should help the healing process. But it’s not just the band making things interesting; from the very first song there is a steady stream of crowd surfers pouring over the barrier and pits breaking out all over the floor. It’s an unrelenting performance, but that’s what the 900+ people crammed into the venue were expecting when they came out tonight.