Everyone You Know
– Soup Kitchen, Manchester –
It’s Monday night and after touring for nearly a week, Everyone You Know have arrived in Manchester. The band, consisting of two half-brothers, has recently released their second EP ‘Look After Your Pennies’ and started their first proper headline tour on 22nd October. I haven’t seen a gig at Soup Kitchen in quite a while and thanks to some discrepancies at the door, I almost hadn’t seen this one either. Luckily, the band’s vocalist Rhys Kirkby-Cox was just standing outside and after having a chat with him we are able to sort everything out and go inside.
Unfortunately, this makes us a bit late and we miss most of support band Noisy’s set. Gathering from their Instagram, they have only started the group recently and will only release music on Spotify within the following days. The four guys have a vocalist, two guitarists, and a drummer on stage and from what I hear, their sound is very interesting and varying. As we enter, they seem to have a strong garage vibe, but we also get a bit of punk and early noughties indie influenced tunes (especially when they get their tambourine out). Their energy on stage is very lively, they all seem as if they’ve been doing this for a long time. All in all, each song they play sounds like a different genre, which makes it a very manifold performance.
While the stage gets prepared for Everyone You Know, we go out to have a cigarette, and by the time we get back, the venue has become significantly more packed. We can hardly find anywhere to stand and end up on the right side in the back. I have a good view on the half-brothers and am content with our spot until I realise that there’s a drummer I hadn’t noticed because I couldn’t see her. Paige Proctor is supporting the guys on the drums when they’re playing live. I’ve been wondering why the drums sounded so real…
Their electronic music as well as the light show makes me almost feel like I’m at a rave, everybody is dancing cheerfully. There is an overall energetic and infectious atmosphere in the room; the crowd and the band seem to really complement and push each other in this regard.
Again, I can spot a pretty varied sound from the group. Some songs, like ‘She Don’t Dance’, start off pretty calm and chill before the dance/rave energy comes out; others sound more like (hardcore) punk infused with hip-hop and still others are heavily dubstep influenced. Also, Rhys’ vocals are fairly impressive, which especially shows when he sings in a high voice.
Songwise, highlights are most definitely their hits ‘She Don’t Dance’, ‘The Drive’, and ‘Our Generation’; as everybody seems to know the lyrics and is singing along. While ‘The Drive’ is more of a relaxed rap song, ‘She Don’t Dance’ brings out everyone’s urge to dance again, and ‘Our Generation’ is another chilled song, showing the band indie-rock and britpop influences.
They end their (surprisingly) short gig with playing ‘She Don’t Dance’ a second time which goes down well with the crowd. Their performance was definitely a lot of fun and I’m sure we’ll hear more of them in the future.
Everyone You Know Official | Facebook | Twitter
My decision to leave Germany and move to Manchester was most definitely influenced by my love for music and going to gigs. I came here in 2018 and am now studying English and Journalism at Manchester Met. When I’m not at a gig, you’ll usually find me reading or in a café.
