Following a fairly quiet summer, Scottish duo VUKOVI headlined Manchester’s O2 Ritz for ‘The final show of the [MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN] era’, playing their most recent studio album from start to finish.
It’s a special, one-off show, and so I’m surprised at how thin the crowd looks when I arrive at the venue during the changeover before the headliners take to the stage.
The set begins as expected, with the atmospheric opening of THIS IS MY LIFE AND MY TRAUMA rippling through the room, setting the tone for the concept album we’re about to experience. The haunting vocals into the explosive live riffs of guitarist Hamish Reilly bring up the lights, and the transition into the intro of GUNGHO sees frontwoman Janine Shilstone strut onto the stage, barefoot in a blue lace catsuit and black leather trenchcoat.
The attitude emanating from the stage is palpable from the start, but the drums are overpowering in the mix. It’s a shame, as the weight of the music combined with the purity and power of the vocals and lyrics that have a tendency to slap you in the face is one of the special things about what VUKOVI do.
Thankfully, though, the sound becomes much more balanced from here on out, and as the album’s title track begins, Shilstone sprays the crowd with a bottle of fizz that she proceeds to swig from as she dances across the stage.
A mid-song break has me nervous for a moment that someone in the crowd is hurt, but instead Shilstone reads from a sign she’s spotted; “My God has got a gun, and he wants me to scream with you. Can I come on stage? Come on then!”. Fan Joel joins her, (and does a cracking job) as the pair of them jump up and down, holding hands. It’s as wholesome as any moment involving screaming down a mic can be, and the ear-to-ear grin on Joel’s face is contagious.
The band play through the rest of the album without any chatter. It simply isn’t needed. The songs, especially when offered up in this form, speak for themselves. It’s a beautiful flow of vulnerability in its themes, its lyricism, communicated not only through the blending of genres, from pop-rock, to metalcore, to pure electronica, but through the four people on stage, drawing us in through their performance, forming a real connection to the audience and truly leaving everything on the stage.
By the end of SNO, Shilstone is on her knees, beating the floor after an outpouring of emotion, followed by a casual “Hello, are you still there?”.
COWBOY feels like the dawning of a new day, a calm between storms, the lighting like rays of sun between clouds.
I spot unpeople’s Jake Crawford heading determinedly towards the pit for a blistering rendition of BLADED, and just like that, after 50 minutes that have absolutely flown by, the album has come to its conclusion.
The band only leave the stage for a couple of minutes if that, but the crowd have The Ritz’s famously bouncy floor shaking from the stamping of feet. A six-song encore follows, with Shilstone counting us down between songs.
MERCY KILL seems to activate the sleeper surfers in the crowd, and I notice one poor security guard get accidentally clocked in the line of duty.
There’s a greater sense of freedom in this encore than I felt from the album set. Not to say that the main part of tonight was in any way rigid, but perhaps more fraught than these last few songs.
Shilstone addresses the crowd once more. “This album in particular is about resilience, survival and keeping fucking going because we all deserve to fucking be here”. She thanks the support acts, the crowd, and asks if anyone has a vape she can have a puff on. “We have been VUKOVI. Thank you so fucking much. See yous later” are the last words before regular set closer La Di Da, which sees both Shilstone and Reilly take it in turns to crowd surf themselves.
Tonight has been a triumph for VUKOVI in terms of their performance and their artistry, and a truly unique experience for those of us who were here to witness it. And for those who missed out, it seems that a new era of VUKOVI is coming. Don’t miss out next time.
WORDS BY SALLY HIRSHMAN
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