AMPLIFIER

Since 2020, Mancunian space rock experimentalists Amplifier have been operating as a two-piece, with guitarist/vocalist Sel Balamir accompanied only by drummer Matt Brobin, some choice backing tracks, and a litany of effects pedals that surround his ever-busy feet.

- PHIL WELLER

It’s taken five years – and a makeweight EP in 2023's Hologram – for the reprised outfit to release another LP. And so, with Gargantuan arriving just a week beforehand, the hometown leg of its supporting tour should have been a celebration of the band’s latest era.

However, in the run-up to tonight’s show Balamir took to Facebook to reveal he'd lost his voice, and was taking remedy advice from anyone and everyone as a sheer determination to do anything but cancel. Sadly, his voice only recovers enough to say a few croaky words to the audience, meaning the band are short-staffed when it comes to their noise-making abilities.

Imbued with a hardy rock’n’roll spirit, Amplifier cast their planned setlist aside and deliver a rather different experience that, while not a full showcase of the new album per se, becomes a much larger celebration of the two musicians that have underpinned the band's 26-year career regardless of the various iterations over that period.