Off With Their Heads @ Moho Live Manchester UK, 31/08/2010.

Off With Their Heads’ performance at Moho Live Manchester was one of the more interesting spectacles I have witnessed, largely due to the extreme juxtaposition of two incredibly present and tangible elements. The first being the harrowing tenacity, vitriol and relentless tirade of confrontation that is the Off With Their Heads set, and the second being the almost completely apathetic reception it is greeted with (save for two or three souls dancing and singing with the band at the front of the stage). The crowd seems to be predominantly made of thick- rimmed glasses, black fringes and rucksacks unwilling to engage with highly emotive and emphatic lyrics played against a back drop of catchy riffs and well- structured Punk Rock, who are instead content to sigh with folded arms as if the embodiment and expression of apathy was this month’s big thing. For tonight, it seems, Off With Their Heads might have felt more vitality playing to a set of mirrors.

 This of course is a shame as Minnesota’s greatest misfits bring us a performance so profound and devastating that I myself am left in a state of utter awe. Self- berating classics such as “I Am You” which can be found on the masterpiece “From The Bottom” are always going to be impressive live to say the least, and the band’s fantastic ability to convey emotions that sit uneasily in the pit of one’s stomach against heroic melodies and jaunty guitar ventures is truly inspired. Other songs that provoke positive reactions from the two or three fans engaging in this performance are “Self Checkout”, “Die Today” and a fantastic rendition of The Beltones’ “Fuck you Anyway” which is co- sung by a crowd member wearing a The Beltones t- shirt.

It’s rare that we see this sort of modesty from such a painfully gifted band, and the willingness to pay tribute to somebody else’s art is moving. The lack of ego is what helps to make this band so important- seminal I would argue, and this is truly one of the most moving sets I have ever witnessed.

 I didn’t bother to watch a single one of the other two acts billed- or take a note of their names. What looked like a silly Sick Of It All tribute act took to the stage after Ryan Young and co at which point I lost interest and headed for the bar. Meanwhile, the mannequins of twenty minutes ago have become a little more animated and receptive. You surely have to question an audience’s tastes when more people are willing to dance and participate in what appeared at best to be a substandard Hardcore-by-numbers set and yet are unwilling to engage with a band that display such ingenuity and lyrical finesse as Off With Their Heads. No matter, a 45 minute set and a heavy night of drinking was more than enough to make this evening perfect- and I happily paid the full price of this ticket to see just one band. I headed off almost immediately after, with a couple of the fans I had seen dancing earlier. We’d had our fill and left the nonsense to the in- crowd.

Words by Seb Murphy- Bates, Picture by Sarah Pennock.