Day Two of Outbreak Festival at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester felt like a return to what fans know and expect from the festival. I thoroughly enjoyed the Friday with a major focus on hip-hop, but with the majority hardcore line up on Saturday, the festival felt significantly busier, and the crowds were even wilder.
TAQBIR
First up on my schedule for the day were Taqbir, an all-female punk band who I was recommended by multiple people as a set not to be missed. With their ferocious energy, Taqbir put on an incredible set that made a massive impression on everyone in the crowd. Their music was fast and unforgiving, with messages and cries sprinkled in-between, the one that stuck with me the most being their statement of: “There are lots of reasons for us to be scared to be ourselves, but do you want to know what’s scarier? Us not being ourselves.” They then followed this with more wild riffs ending their set fantastically. It was an unbelievable start to the day and truly a show that I haven’t stopped thinking about since. I hope to catch Taqbir live again soon.
SWEET PILL
With travel issues, Balance and Composure had to reschedule their set to Sunday leaving a gap on the main stage where Philadelphia emo group Sweet Pill stepped up to fill in. Sweet Pill are already set to play the festival on Sunday but saw the opportunity and took it by simply asking the festival if they could play an extra set. I really believe they deserved the chance to perform on the main stage as they played an excellent show. With a slightly more melodic feel to most of the other bands on today’s line up, Sweet Pill’s music sounded anthemic with the audience screaming lyrics right back at the band. With such a positive reception from the crowd, it’s hard to believe that this set was the first time the band have ever played in the UK. They ended their show with the simple statement of: “If you’ve never heard of us, now you know us.”
NEVER ENDING GAME
Detroit hardcore group Never Ending Game were next for me on the second stage. A band I wasn’t massively familiar with, they blew me away. Through their brutal breakdowns, gruff vocals and guitar that felt like it shook me to my core, the band blitzed through their set with song after song that teared the house down. Frontman Mikey Petroski was up close and personal with the crowd as they littered the stage throughout and commanded them in a way that was impressive through the chaos. Their track Tank On E was a personal highlight.
POISON THE WELL
One of the most anticipated bands on the line up, American metalcore group Poison The Well, were up next on the main stage. They put on a great show to their fans who seemed hypnotised by frontman Jeffrey Moreira for the entire set-time. To show how die hard the bands fans were, when asked if anyone came to their London show, a great roar emerged from the audience. It was clear the band being back in the UK performing was such a big occasion for fans. At one point Jeffrey screamed: ‘if you’ve signed that waiver, then get up here and jump off”, in relation to the wristbands that need to be signed for to be able to enter the front section of the stage. Song to song, their set was truly relentless with the power being cut off towards the end due to a swarm of fans on stage, who continued to scream the lyrics not missing a single beat. Luckily the band were able to have the chance to finish the song properly to close their set.
TOUCHÉ AMORÉ
After Poison The Well the heavens truly opened just in time for Touché Amoré’s set. They opened with their powerful track Flowers For You, a song that whilst already emotional, struck an even stronger chord in the live setting. The band detailed that their performance at Outbreak 2022 was their favourite show that they have ever done which made it clear they hold the festival close to their heart. Their performance saw the biggest singalongs of the day to that point and one of the best crowds too. The set ended with a massive stage invasion just showing how much love the fans have for the band. Chants of “Oh Touché Amoré” in the style of Seven Nation Army were screamed between each and every song they played which just showed how engaged the crowd were at all times during the show.
HAVE HEART
Next up was possibly the most anticipated set of the weekend by fans, hardcore legends Have Heart. It has been almost five years since the band have played in the UK with this being their only European show of 2024. The band stood on stage whilst Sinead O’Connor’s infamous cover of Bob Marley’s War blasted out of the speakers. It was a moving and effective way to set the tone and only added in the excitement for the band to play. Following the track, Have Heart unleashed into their set with a ferocious energy that the crowd fed off of immediately, sparing no time for moshing and stage dives. Frontman Patrick Flynn is one of the most enticing frontmen I may have ever seen. With his unorthodox movement and truly passionate vocals, it was clear he was just as into his set as the fans were. “This stage is your stage”, he told the audience before going into more songs, each crazier than the last. It really felt like a set that will go down in Outbreak history and one that felt special to be able to be a part of and to witness.
CHAT PILE
I had to leave the Have Heart’s set about ten minutes early to make my way to the second stage to see the band I was most excited to see at the entire festival, Chat Pile. I like many others were absolutely blown away by the bands 2022 debut album God’s Country and could not wait to see tracks from that record in a live setting. The group opened with Why, a song that instantly got the crowd hollering and moving with its repeated, screamed refrain of “Why?”. From the second they started playing I was hit with a wave of noise unlike anything I’ve experienced live before. For a group of only four people, I can’t understand how they make the noise they are able to produce. Each song was more devastating that the last with frontman Raygun Busch keeping the spirits high and off kilter through his speeches about films shot in Manchester in-between songs. The entire set was an absolute treat, but it was Dallas Beltway that was the highlight for me, a track that had the power of an immovable object and absolutely crushed live. Chat Pile really put on a show unlike anything I have ever experienced before.
BASEMENT
Finally, it was headliner Basement on the main stage to close out day two. The set is Basement’s first live show since they headlined in 2022. To summarise quickly, their set was an absolute party from start to finish. The amount of people I saw singing their hearts out and dancing with friends was amazing and showed how feel-good Basement’s set was. Tracks Whole and Bad Apple prompted sing-a-longs paired with crowd surfing and two stepping, whilst new material was even debuted which went down just as well. Frontman Andrew Fisher closed their set with a fantastic speech regarding the current conflict in Gaza and the importance of art and creativity. Following the speech was the fantastic two track finish of Pine and Covet which had the entire festival singing.
Day 2 of Outbreak Festival 2024 was a delight from beginning to end with each band showing why they deserve to be on the line up. The diversity between bands was also fantastic ranging between extremely heavy and more melodic sounds. Roll on day three.
