Live Review: Outbreak Fest Autumn - 27/10/2024
Outbreak Festival, in its autumn form, showcased some of the greatest hardcore acts around, with huge international names coming to town and giving the Manchester crowd exactly what they wanted.
The iconic festival has proved extremely popular with its diversity and variation. The inclusion of an autumn date as well as the original summer display has transcended the spectacle, giving fans of punk, alternative rock and everything in between an extra lashing of hardcore entertainment.
This year held a mighty list of acts, with the headline slot being occupied by The Story So Far, and fans took to Manchester’s Bowler’s Exhibition Centre for what was set up to be an incredible day.
Despite falling on a Sunday, there was no lack of energy at Outbreak, neither from the artists nor the crowd.
This was evident from the get-go, with the crowd being right in the spirit of things as End It opened the Main Stage. There was everything you could ask for right from the start, with a healthy dose of stage-diving, two-stepping and moshing taking place. It was an epic way to kick off the day.
One of the greatest aspects of the festival’s one day variation is that there are no clashes. With a stacked line up on both stages, festival-goers were able to catch everyone they wished to. Talk about good value!
The high-octane energy was maintained throughout all the sets, on both stages too. Hotly tipped outfit Whispers understood the assignment as they opened the 2nd stage, yet again sending the crowd wild. There’s a reason the group are gaining attention from all angles in the hardcore world, their set was sublime. It was home to some huge pinch harmonics, distorted vocals and commanding drums. Several of the other acts were present for their set, and it’s clear they’re well-respected and loved in the scene.
The Main Stage hosted some of the stand out acts in the lead up to the headline slot, with Fleshwater and Angel Du$t going back to back. The latter were truly something to behold. It’s evident that they’ve been touring with The Story So Far, their stage presence and ability to create beautiful bedlam in the arena was second to none. ‘Set Me Up’ was the track that really did it for them, with an incredible amount of the crowd taking to the secondary stage to two-step and stage-dive. It feels as though Angel Du$t are in for a big career in the genre.
Ahead of The Story So Far came Speed and Citizen, two groups who have differing sounds, but are both incredible.
Speed didn’t come to mess about, and treated Manchester to an all-out frenzy of a set, with the group showing just why they’re gaining popularity so fast. Lead vocalist Jem Siow was at his absolute best on the stage, immersing himself in the hardcore culture just as much as the crowd.
Citizen followed up the incredible set just as expertly. They performed new material as well as classics like ‘The Summer’, which the crowd lapped up. It was surreal hearing all the voices in the BEC arena belting out the words.
The Story So Far were then primed and ready to cap off what had been a sublime day of music.
Bringing their energetic pop-punk sound to Manchester, Parker Cannon and co. nearly took the roof off the place.
Their set was impeccable, with a perfectly sufficient helping of songs from their recent record, ‘I Want To Disappear’ making an appearance. These tracks seemed to go down just as well as classics like ‘Roam’.
One from the recent album that was especially well received was ‘All This Time’, which was immediately followed, as it is on the record, by ‘Watch You Go’. The pair of fast-paced belters had the crowd going wild. The double-kick drumming was expertly executed and was a vital component that had festival goers completely lost in the music.
Of course, the band showed off classic tracks like ‘Out Of It’, and these were all screamed out, word-for-word, by the audience.
The end of their set signalled the end of Outbreak Autumn 2024, and what a day it was. Hardcore fans came together in great spirits to create a day that won’t be forgotten in a hurry, with some of the genre’s biggest names from across the globe coming to town.
Fans will already be looking ahead to future Outbreak events, and justifiably so, it’s an incredible festival!
Words by Matthew Caslin
Photo Credti: Eddy Maynard / @eddymaynard
