Radar Festival (Day Two): TesseracT Mesmerize while Conjurer Maul in Manchester [Photos]

Sitting in the shadow of Manchester United’s gargantuan Old Trafford stadium is the O2 Victoria Warehouse, which, for three days last week, played host to a slew of bands as Radar Festival returned for its second event. (Check out Day 1 coverage here.) Still a relative newcomer to the UK festival circuit, the 2024 iteration of the event saw Caskets, The Midnight, Conjurer, Tesseract, Humanity’s Last Breath and Leprous head the line-up across the two stages.

Day Two sees things move into heavier waters, starting with the Neural DSP: Archtype Stage, where the acts, some still dipping into proggy waters, certainly cranked up the energy levels. The chaotic hardcore from one of our personal faves Ithaca, to the brutal tech-metal of Brit crew Heart of a Coward certainly brought more of an edge to proceedings while the experimental noisecore of Car Bomb smashed home their savage message with as much ferocity and metallic rage as they could muster in their short time on stage.

In contrast to that, Dirty Loops follows with a lighter, less abrasive performance experimenting with poppier, jazzier moments. Which all leads us to Radar’s Saturday night headliner, the mighty TesseracT who, as always, deliver a mind-bending performance blending prog-metal with hypnotic visuals to create a spellbinding experience.

Over on the Sneak Energy Stage, there was a blend of styles to keep fans happy. Highly rated chaps Seething Akira cranked up the energy with their rap, hip-hop and nu-metal-inspired sound. Hail The Sun took things back down a more atmospheric, progressive route before the Graphic Nature arrived in Manchester to deliver a savage nu-metal beatdown on the Radar audience.

Heading into the final two bands of the day, The Fall Of Troy brought their complex, thought-provoking sound to the early evening, delivering a set of intricate moments of musical brilliance before Irish outfit Conjurer came and conquered the Victoria Warehouse with a sound that could be heard rumbling across Manchester. Brutal and unrelenting, the Irish band lived up to their monstrous reputation with a performance that echoed around the room long after the band had vacated the stage.

We sent our photographer, Katie Probert Photography, down to cover Radar Festival 2024, and you can check out her awesome gallery below.

For more information on Radar and to get details of their 2025 event as soon as it is announced, head over to the Radar Festival’s official website.

Radar Festival (Day Two) @ Victoria Warehouse (Manchester, UK) on July 27th, 2024

59 photos