Only The Poets Live In Manchester

Words & Photography: Alisha Lawton

On the day of the release of their debut album, And I’d Do It Again, Only The Poets take on the Club Academy in Manchester to celebrate a massive day in the band's history.

Following the announcement of their historic headline show at O2 Academy Brixton, where all 5000 tickets were put on sale for just £1, the Reading-born band are taking steps to help save the music industry by not only addressing ticket prices, but by also giving unsigned artists the chance to support them at this massive headline London show.

With grassroots venues continuously closing all over the UK, opportunities for up-and-coming budding artists to find a live audience is becoming increasingly harder, so Only The Poets have given bands a platform to perform their music.

The band stated “without grassroots venues, we won’t have the next big bands, and without bands and fans going to grassroots venues, they can’t keep the doors open. Growing up playing in local venues gave us our first chance to get on stage and perform to people, and supporting other artists down the line changed everything for us, so we wanted to bring the two together.’’ 

Supporting this Manchester show was Alfie Jukes, who is no stranger to the band after touring with them on a previous tour.

Jukes played a set of original songs and a cover acoustically with his guitarist, Meg, which all the fans in the audience enjoyed and sang along to. 

As Only The Poets took to the stage the audience screamed to show their appreciation for the band on a special day in their career.

They played an epic 22 song set with a mix of offerings from their freshly released debut album and Only The Poets classic for the hardcore fans.

Throughout the entire set, the band shared their appreciation for the audience and the audience showed their appreciation for the band in an equal transaction. Everyone was truly on one level. 

The band put on a performance full of energy and enthusiasm showing how much they love the music and how it's truly at the heart of everything they do. On such a massive day in their career, they spared no energy and used it all on the stage as a celebration. It is clear to see that the band are going from strength to strength and this debut album is only the beginning of Only The Poets.