Millie Manders & The Shutup: Live In Manchester

Here at The Punk Site we’ve covered Millie Manders & The Shutup many times, I doubt tonight will be any different than our previous experiences, expect terms such as energising, heartfelt and inclusive to be bandied about with abandon. The reason we continue to support Millie Manders & The Shutup is simple, from the limited collective perspective of the regulars on the UK side of The Punk Site, they’re quite simply one of the best live bands about at the moment, they also have two killer albums under their belt, and that should be reason enough. However, the other factor (not the X Factor as that’s come to have a different meaning and Millie Manders & The Shutup have only, to the best of my knowledge, performed one cover version, which ironically was a song spawned by said tv show) is that Millie Manders & The Shutup are inclusive and they care. They seem to care about everything and continue to embrace the underdogs and the causes they believe in with a fervour that few bands attain, and even fewer maintain.

Tonight sees Millie and co gracing the Club Academy in the basement of Manchester University at the Southern end of the city, which is not just their biggest show in Manchester to date, it’s their biggest healdine show full stop. This is something that indicates that their message continues to gain ground as they steadily progress through venue sizes and crowds continue to grow, not to mention the unifying and heartfelt (I warned you) performance on the main stage at this years Rebellion Festival, that was one of the undisputed highlights of our annual jaunt to Blackpool. Millie Manders & The Shutup also tend to bring something new and unexpected on the road with them, which is a refreshing change in an age where old punk bands seem to be supporting old punk bands, of course there’s nothing inherently wrong with this but personally I’d rather be exposed to something or someone new.

For this tour they have brought Ramona’s Tea Party on the road with them, an unknown quantity to me prior to tonight and it almost remained that way thanks to the volume of traffic, as there are shows of every description being played right across the city, and the frankly baffling system of one way streets that now criss cross Manchester don’t help. Thankfully we do arrive in time to catch the end of their set, and I do mean the end, as we only witness the closing track, Goodness Gracious. My all too brief first impression gives the impression of a visual cross between Beetlejuice and Alice in Wonderland, that is accompanied by an offbeat indie punk soundtrack. Hopefully next time, and there will be a next time, I’ll get to catch more, or maybe even all, of their set.

Whilst we missed most of the support act we are thankfully up close and personal for Millie Manders & The Shutup who launch into their set with Angry Side, that is swiftly followed by Shut Your Mouth proving that confidence is not on short supply, and why should it be when your recent singles are this good. From here we’re off into a rollercoaster through their back catalogue with the emphasis quite rightly on their latest album, Wake Up, Shut Up, Work. However, their debut album, Telling Truths, Breaking Ties, is not neglected as they follow the opening brace with Broken Record and Panic.

The dark Me Too, that comes with a trigger warning, hits home, as ever you know that Millie Manders means every fucking every word she sings tonight. But it’s not just political diatribes and addressing societies ills, the glorious Fun Sponge brings a lighter note and the resulting bounce proves that none are present tonight, to add to the party feel the crowd are showered with bubbles from all sides. It’s always a good feeling to see a band who are the height of their powers. Whether it’s material from the new album or their debut album, it’s all good as far as the packed Club Academy is concerned. RIP, a personal highlight from the new album, brings their soulful rockier side to the fore, whilst Halloween follows brings a spellbinding moment to the Academy basement.

The bounce swiftly returns with Rebound that brings a singalong to its infectious chorus , which is followed by The One That Got Away back from 2018’s Shutup EP, or maybe it’s the AV Version from the new album, no matter it’s the song that introduced me to Millie Manders & The Shutup and for that reason it holds a special place for me, as the song that introduces you to a one of your favourite bands always should. The show ends with the triumphant trio of Your Story, Bitter and Not OK, well not quite. As the PA belts out the Time Warp as the lights come up the band dance along and clearly know the moves, along with a fair few in the crowd, indicting that Halloween doesn’t have to stop at the end of October.

We’ve been covering Millie Manders, both with and without The Shutup, for about the past 6 years, don’t expect anything to change anytime soon as no one is proudly claiming to prefer their early stuff, which is something of an ever present cliché of the punk scene. This is partly because two albums is their early stuff, but it’s worth saying that there has been a remarkable level of consistency since we first encountered them on 2018’s Shutup EP. Two albums, numerous singles and countless shows and festivals later they are not only getting brighter and bolder but playing to bigger crowds, not the crowds they deserve yet, but surely it’s only a matter of time as word spreads.

Tonight was everything you’d expect, at no point was I waiting for that song that gives me a chance to nip to the bar or wondering if I’d get the last tram home, that’s a problem for later. This was a set of end to end crowd pleasers that covered the majority of their material and was as energising and unifying as we’ve come to expect from one of the best live bands out there. By the time this is published the tour will almost be over with only Norwich Waterfront on the 16th November remaining, but expect the next tour to be announced shortly as they continue to trek relentlessly around the venues of the UK and Europe.

Wake Up, Shut Up, Work and Telling Truths, Breaking Ties are available on CD and vinyl direct from Millie Manders & The Shutup and digitally via Bandcamp and streaming platforms.

Live photography courtesy of Andi Callen