Kyle Falconer is a man who goes from strength to strength, a debut number one album with The View, a mercury nomination, King Tut’s 2024 Songwriter of the Year and a champion for upcoming artists with his songwriting camps in Spain. He has enjoyed success both with The View and his solo career. He is back with the latter as he gears up to release his fourth solo album. His latest tour in promotion of Lovely Night Of Terror (2026) has been a more intimate affair as his band played more grassroots spaces up and down the country. The Manchester leg of the tour brought Falconer and co. to the iconic beloved Night & Day Cafe and the people went mad for it.
Dean Wolf Bailey is a local singer songwriter from Stockport and a friend to Falconer who opened up the night. He played a soft solo acoustic set that relaxed everyone into the venue with deep engaging guitar tones and spoken word social commentary. A particularly fun track of his was ‘GSOH’ where his lyrics took the form of random tinder profile bios such as “single mother of 2 at 23 looking for some TLC”, this made for a very intriguing track. He commended Night & Day Cafe as a beautiful place to play, commenting “long may it live” which is a sentiment we can all get behind given the challenges the venue has had in the past.
Next up, local Wigan talents Casino Club brought their magic to the stage with a brilliant set. Frontman Marcus Grimshaw is another one to join the long line of distinct Wigan voices as his vocals soared with gritty determination across exciting guitar rhythms and booming drum lines. With each track, it felt like they were there to outdo themselves, if you thought the last bridge build up was great then the next one was even better. The setlist order felt meticulously chosen to build one step up from their foundation to reach the summit. Basslines from Mike Grimshaw were commanding in tracks like ‘Runaway’ and ‘It Won’t Last Forever’. The highlight of set was their going out in style, they finished with ‘Lose Control’ with guitarist Alex Porter playing the guitar on the back of his head!
Kyle Falconer sauntered onto the stage with his band and told everyone to calm down so he could inform everyone about the smooth tones of his guitar. He did so in an American accent which you will come to realise is a running theme in his interactions in between songs, his range of accents is very impressive. Opening up with the grooving ‘Stress Ball’ as his guitar displayed those wonderful smooth tones and Falconer reached impressive heights with his vocals as the crowd bounced along to the rhythms. ‘Grace’ and ‘Wasted Little DJ’s’ brought in a sea of pints and hands in the air as everyone belted out the words and the build ups in the bridge made the whole venue feel alive. This gig was a cult singalong all night and how could you not with the offering of so many classic tracks.
Falconer switched to a Mancunian accent to poke fun as the Scots do love the “patter” humour and before launching into the next track he shouted out Peter Doherty who he worked with to make the leading single ‘Midas Touch’ for his new album. He played this gig on Doherty’s birthday which felt poetic as Doherty was such a hero for Falconer growing up. Falconer tricked the crowd into thinking Doherty was going to play the song with him. ‘Midas Touch’ is another groovy bouncing track featuring sassy vocals from Falconer that builds the excitement for the new album. The accent changes returned where he kept switching between northern Irish and Irish accents, you had a job to keep up! Once again that top tier Scottish quick wit was back which makes Falconer such an entertainer and an easily likeable character.
The band brough the full experience with the inclusion of the harmonica and the trumpet in tracks like ‘Family Tree’ and ‘Covers’ as the crowd clapped along. Falconer has such an appreciation for his fans as he stepped back to allow the crowd to take over to sing in these tracks as well as ‘The Therapist’ because this is the relationship he has built up with the crowd over the years. Falconer introduced ‘Tacky Tattoo’ with a scouse accent, and this track featured a gorgeous atmospheric outro. Being in the city of Manchester, he brought out a beautiful cover of ‘Half The World Away’ by Oasis and I’m not biased at all as a diehard fan but it was great.
Now it was really time for things to start “kicking aff” not “off” as Falconer corrected the crowd. This was perfect timing as the band played my favourite The View track ‘The Clock’ with swaggering guitar riffs, really catchy choruses and a brilliant guitar solo. The crowd went mental as we reached the latter end of the set with ‘Dixie’ and the iconic ‘Same Jeans’. To see these tracks performed in a small space as fans mounted the stage for ‘Same Jeans’ and people moshing, hugging and dancing as a big personality in Falconer delivered his classic indie anthems. Falconer sang the short and sweet ‘Typical Time’ with grace as he pretended that was the last track as the crowd chanted “one more song”. The band delivered a final cover of ‘Go Your Own Way’ by Fleetwood Mac which was delivered with elegance and passion to end what had been a brilliant night.
Keep an eye out for his new album Lovely Night Of Terror (2026) which is out at the end of the month to hear more brilliant tracks like ‘Midas Touch’ and ‘I’m Lost (You’re Dead)’.
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PHOTO CREDIT – HELS MILLINGTON
