By Jared Musson
As his triumphant Manchester Academy gig came to a close, The Last Shadow Puppets co-frontman Miles Kane proved that he’s got everything needed to go it alone.
Kane played to an uncontrollable crowd that saw plastic cups of beer flying through the air throughout the entirety of the performance. Annoying as a beer soaked back can be, however, it wasn’t enough to take the mood down as Miles smashed through songs spanning his three solo albums, including his latest release, ‘Coup De Grace’.
Beginning with ‘Loaded’, Kane weighed up the crowd, almost easing them into what he had in store for them from that point on. This steamrolled into an electrifying, guitar-thrashing version of ‘Inhaler’, and it was from that moment on Miles Kane began to orchestrate the Academy crowd.
The new songs were received as well as the older classics, which was good news for Kane, as he played a total of eight tracks from his latest offering. As was to be expected, it was hits ‘Rearrange’, ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’ and the closing song ‘Come Closer’ that sent the Academy attendees into overdrive, but the spotlight shone just as brightly on ‘Coup De Grace’s title track, during which Kane had the audience bellowing out the chorus. The softer touch of the acoustic-driven ‘Killing The Joke’ showed that more mellow side of Miles’ work is perhaps some of his strongest.
A surprise cover of Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’ was thrown in for good measure and worked well to keep the gig going at an unrelenting pace. Kane flies through songs at his live shows, wasting no time chatting to the crowd other than the odd “Manchester, I love you” moment, which was very much justified as the locals gave him everything they could.
Kane left the stage after playing ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’, but was joyfully forced into an encore by the persistent shouts of “Miles, Miles, Miles fucking Kane”. Bouncing back on, arms out wide, soaking up the moment, Kane and his backing band led the crowd through sing-a-longs ‘Colour of The Trap’ and ‘Come Closer’.
Filled with the glee of having the Manchester Academy on puppet strings for the night, the Liverpudlian performer left the stage for a second and final time; the Academy-goers emptied out into the streets of Manchester, covered in sweat and alcohol, attempting to use what was left of their voices to tell friends how amazing the show was.
Mission accomplished for Miles, who moves onto the next performance of his tour of the UK. Manchester will surely be remembered as a conquered highlight for him this time around.
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