Awkward Agenda @ Manchester Club Academy (UK)
Samantha Beggins
Awkward Agenda @ Manchester Club Academy- Manchester, UK (4/9)
Photos: Cerys Donnelly
Review by Beth Townsend
Awkward Agenda
Awkward Agenda are a 5-piece Alternative Rock band from Manchester UK. The band consists of 2 guitar players, 1 bass player, 1 drummer and 1 keyboard player. On Saturday the 9th of April they played a headlining show at the Club Academy in their hometown along with 4 other support acts. The venue was thriving with family, friends and fans by the time Awkward Agenda had begun to play.
The band had a great stage presence and seemed really comfortable talking to the crowd and getting them involved with the show. The keyboard player sang along with the lead guitarist which added more layers to the songs.
They played original songs as well as covers from various artists. The originals they performed were: Pentagons, Secrets, Spectrum, Love Loss and London, Mustang and Come Back 2 Me. All of these songs were very well written and the reason Awkward Agenda stands out compared to other bands is because their genre is very mixed and changes throughout their set. It was clear throughout the gig that this is a band that takes influences from many different artists and styles. This is a brilliant trait for the band to have as it will attract fans and supporters that are into all kinds of music. Not only did the original songs show diversity in Awkward Agenda’s style but the covers they performed did, too.
The first cover they did was of HeavyDirtySoul by Twenty One Pilots. This was the highlight of the gig as it showed how skilled Awkward Agenda really are. The singer was able to rap the verses with no problems and the band was able to add their own twists to it in order to make it fit with their instruments. The lead singer also included his own twist to the beginning of the song. Another cover that they did was Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis. The cover of this was brilliant and the vocals sounded very close to the original which may be due to Oasis being a Manchester band too. I would highly recommend this band to anyone who’s into Alternative music as they have something for everything.