Words & Photography: Alisha Lawton
On a chilly Thursday night, Medium Build packed out the Academy 3 venue for his third visit back to Manchester in one year! Before entering the stage, the venue sounded with 2000s classics by Backstreet Boys and Usher.
Medium Build entered the stage to a cheer from the audience and played the first song of his set which was Crying Over You. With a song highlighting isolation and loss, it was easy to see an instant connection between the lead singer and writer of the band, Nick; and also, the audience, with one particular fan on the front row, shouting, singing and feeling every lyric.
Nick spoke about the last time he had played a headline show in Manchester which was at YES Pink Room a year prior, and when they opened up for Holly Humberstone in March.
He spoke about how he thought Manchester had a bad rep and the previous times he had visited the city, the experiences were black and white. Where once it was wholesome, and the next it was a little rowdy but, on this day, it was completely different once again.
Throughout the set, Nick spoke about mental health which is a through line within all of the music Medium Build releases. He stated, "the only thing I know, I know for sure, is that I don’t know where it’s going to go and that will break you if you let it, and in that there is a beautiful uncertainty and dance with the unknown," which, within itself, is a deeply vulnerable thing to talk about in front of a full room of people he doesn’t know.
During Rage, Nick said that he would usually get the crowd to scream as loud as they could, but joked that "this crowd didn’t seem like that type of people" and that they just wanted to appreciate the music, until a member of the audience shouted, "let us scream it out!" And scream it out they did.
Nick's lyrics are deep and soulful; you can tell every lyric he feels with all of his being. Showing this by allowing his body to move in the way it wants and closing his eyes to feel everything.
Later in the show, Nick spoke about the fact that they are able to play shows across the world isn’t lost on the American band, and that it’s not lost on him that his songs about being ‘black out drunk in Alaska’ are being sung back to him by people he doesn’t know. The rest of the band left the stage and Nick stated that he was going to sing the next song as "a token of his appreciation." The song was Knowing U Exist, all throughout the venue the audience were singing softly along to the acoustic song sounding like a beautiful choir.
Nick thanked the audience for "buying a ticket and showing up on time," and joked with the crowd that they shouldn’t tell anyone else about the band as the crowd was the perfect size, adding that any more people in the audience would make him uncomfortable, which got some laughs from the fans in the room. After that, they played one of their most well-known songs In My Room, where the crowd sang along loud and proud to the deeply personal lyrics, that also carry a humorous tone, which is a staple for Medium Build.
As the show moved to a close, it was clear that no one wanted it to end. Overall, Medium Build is a fantastic live band that is growing from strength to strength, with a voice that is moving and truthful, lyrics that are profoundly intimate to Nick’s life and upbringing but still they somehow manage to be universal so that people can relate and feel something through his experiences is a perfect practice. We cannot wait to see where they continue to go and see what comes next from the American band.