Featured image and gallery: Kaitlyn Brockley
It’s a cold winter’s night, but not in Club Academy. A crowd huddles in the dingy basement venue, warmth radiating from the throng gathered underneath the hue of fluorescent lighting. Opening the night is Miso Extra: an exciting upcoming rapper, producer and vocalist, inspired by everything from UKG and R&B to traditional pop.
Her smooth breathy vocals melt into ambient swelling synths, reminiscent of early bedroom-pop Clairo and Billie Eilish, providing a perfect tonic to a blistering Thursday night. Miso Extra is clearly destined for The Warehouse Project with her mellow, hip-hop drum patterns and trancey rhythms that run in circles like a daydream. Miso twirls on the stage, dancing under the fluorescent lights, while the crowd dances with each other.
Rejjie Snow soon follows to a screaming crowd, smoke shrouding him like a shield. It cannot hide his cheeky grin as he surveys the Manchester crowd, and the front row that beams and clamour his name.
There is a sense of vulnerability of him standing on the stage alone, just him and a backing track. But this doesn’t seem to affect him – he immediately launches into ‘Obrigado’, before following with fan-favourite ‘Egyptian Luvr’. Surface level, his music is smooth, mellow, laidback, but dig deeper and the lyrics tell us more: the post-chorus of ‘Karen’ calls out “blonde hair, blue eyes… Privilege in denial” whereas ‘Bye Polar’ detail his mental turmoil, contrasting with chirpy major chords.
‘Peace to the World’ is the shining moment of the set, a treat from his latest album, reminiscent of Childish Gambino and featuring what appears to be an elevator music sample. ‘Poofy Leaves’ echoes early Kanye, whereas ‘Rio de Janeiro’ pairs a bossa nova beat with warm, ambient synths. The night finishes with the encore tracks ‘Acid Trip’, a quintessential lo-fi hip-hop hit with a rolling bassline, and ‘Sunny California’, closing the set with a sliding guitar solo and waves of applause.
Featured image and gallery: Hoang Phan Notebooks were carried from one workshop to another. Writers from different generations sat around tables, sharing manuscripts and listening to each other. Outdoors, small groups strolled along Oxford Road, pausing before buildings steeped in literary history. This was the scene during the Manchester Writing School Summer Festival 2026, held…
Featured image: Katja Ogrin With many sore heads and limbs this morning after the most hardcore day of the festival taking place yesterday, many are recovering from the moshing and pit brutality of the previous day’s antics. As the tradition of a morning movie in the Serpents Lair prevails, the crowd sprawls out onto the plush,…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After an electrifying start to the weekend, with temperatures slowly climbing, many lather themselves in suncream, shed their band shirts and rise from their tents to trek towards the arena. Saturday has big things incoming for the humans of Bloodstock 2026. Some pace themselves for the day and hide from the early…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After a memorable Thursday opener, Bloodstock 2026 opens its gates once again onto the Hallowed Grounds of Catton Park, kicking off day two of its 25th-anniversary celebration of metal. As the sun rises on Catton Park, festivalgoers emerge from their tents to prepare for another day of mayhem. The morning brings…
Leave a reply