Live Review: As December Falls - O2 Ritz, Manchester
2nd November 2025
Support: The Hara, Redhook
Words & Photos: Nic Howells
October really had the UK over a barrel in terms of unbelievable shows and tours in the alt scene. Now if the miserable weather November kicked off with had people assuming it would be a quiet night, they were quite mistaken. Only one night removed from a sold out hometown show in Nottingham’s Rock City, As December Falls brought it up north, cramming people onto the dancefloor of the O2 Ritz as they took the stage flanked by opener Redhook and special guests, hometown boys, The Hara. For a Sunday night, and the midpoint of the Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine tour, there was certainly something cooking.
RedHook are first on the stage at a very early interval, walking on at just before 6:30, or in vocalist Emmy Mack’s case, knee sliding, as they kicked off the set with ‘Bomb.com’. The Aussie’s are highly frenetic, bordering on disorienting with the way they start bolting about the stage, Mack in a very large puffer coat to boot while guitarist Craig Wilkinson throws some Miyagi level spin kicks between licks on guitar. Within the first three songs, there’s plenty of hallmarks and gimmicks to the set, such as Mack climbing down on the barrier during ‘Dr Frankenstein’, or bassist Ned Jankovic producing a small but mighty bubble machine during ‘Hot Tub’ that creates a great visual and experience for the first few rows. The entire first four tracks of the set are from last year's Mutation record, but it's the latter half where the most memorable facets of the set come in.
The costume changes for Mack into a straightjacket arrive for ‘Off with Your Head’, whilst Wilkinson dons the saxophone and has the entire room flip him the middle finger for ‘Soju’ that followed. There’s another horror themed number of ‘Psych vs Psych’ to round out three back to back tracks from 2023’s Postcard from a Living Hell. The finale of ‘Dead Walk’ and ‘Bad Decisions’, from the band's earliest material sees a beach ball launched out into the crowd and Mack screaming into the front row as a final bout of chaos before saying goodbye. RedHook by far proved that variety is the spice of life, as they were very much in league with As December Falls in their demeanour, but also presented as if Electric Callboy spent time on Bondi Beach… and raided Ice Nine Kill’s costume cupboard. These are definitely one to see again.
The Hara follow with a different breed of intensity. The trio enter with the pageantry and glam that Redhook changed into during their set, and the hometown lads kick things off with one of their most notable numbers in ‘Rockstar’ from 2023’s Survival Mode. Josh Taylor and Zack Breen taking turns answering the phone on stage at those points in the song. Taylor wastes no time egging their people on, be that by sicking Breen on the circle pit as they rumble through this year's single ‘Easier to Die’, mockingly dangling the microphone in a phallic manner, or flinging himself over the barrier to crowdsurf in the following song. The crowd laps up ‘Violence’, as the Manc boys are joined on stage by headliner Bethany of As December Falls to fill her role on the track.
All three bands seem somewhat of an odd neapolitan of styles, and yet its during the collaboration that it's clearest that that is how they complement each other. Their set is loud and bold, but strikes a vulnerable note during ‘Trophy’ that brings out both phone torches and voices, and again you have to praise the versatility of the singles they have released in the last year. Ironically they then immediately play the classic ‘Animals’ and ‘Friends’ from 2020 which have been welded to the set for years now. The Hara effortlessly provided the cheeky, but gritty type of attitude that some of ADF’s material skirts around, but they were absolutely their own beast with this set.
With a band as revered amongst the elder emo community as As December Falls, the 8:15 start time for this set was massively appreciated. With the crowd fully filtered in by now, the Nottingham natives take their place on a stage covered in deep red light for opening track ‘Burn It All Down’. Because, y’know, semantics. That continues through to them playing the title track for the tour, ‘Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine’, before swapping to blues for ‘Angry Cry’, also off the album. Guitarist Ande Hunter Jimenez tests the patience of the Manchester crowd by insisting that Nottingham the previous night may have just been a little louder. Nothing eggs stubborn northerners on like petty oneupmanship.
They channel that into bouncy energy and sing along for 2023’s ‘Carousel’ as well as a personal favourite, ‘I Don’t Feel Like Feeling Great’, the sole entry of the night from 2021’s Happier. Bethany shifts the focus onto community and how huge the tour has been for them, with the venues in Manchester getting bigger every single time they play here before jumping back into things with ‘For The Plot’ and ‘Join the Club’. The group have tricks and jokes up their sleeve as well as tight musicianship, as newer tracks ‘Grim Reaper’ and ‘Fall Apart' get the gimmick treatment. ‘Reaper’ brings out an actual costumed Grim Reaper, who Bethany faux boxes before casting off stage to be crowdsurfed into exile, while ‘Fall Apart’ is precursored by a cat-meme themed DJ set from the singer.
The midsection of the set sinks the room back into deep reds, and it is entirely off of the Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine record with ‘Mayday, ‘Ready Set Go’, ‘Rewrite’ & ‘Bathroom Floor’ all doing their duty for the headline festivities, with Ande also commenting that it’s the first time they have ever had Ballroom dancing feature in their moshpits. A stripped-back cover of Blink 182’s ‘I Miss You’ is a big moment for the set, as Timmy Francis takes vocal duties in his best Tom Delonge impression, as well as giving Ande a cheeky peck on the cheek, and does so to rave response. Bethany and Ande claimed that he was on probation for having a microphone at all as this is his first tour with one on stage.
They have the crowd give the say on if he’s allowed one going forward, and long may it continue. Between each song from this point there is a strong “Timmy” chant for Francis, with one crowd member in the middle creaming the name in the same fashion as the South Park character. Francis and Jiménez wax lyrical about the humble start the band had, with the two allegedly sharing a bed for 6 months as students (but that's just between us). The home stretch sees ‘Little by Little’ from Join The Club as well as extreme deep cut ‘Capture’ where Beth and Timmy demand to see what Manchester can muster by way of crowd surfers. Nothing finds its purpose in life quite like a concert goer, 6 pints deep, insisting on doing the lifting for crowd surfers to go up. As a result, the request for surfers in one song persists entirely throughout the final 4 tracks.
As the clock nears curfew, the band don’t actually leave the stage, with Ande instead giving a speech satirising the usual “Walk off, lights down, make the crowd chant” routine, and said speech was in fact quicker than that routine meaning they can play two songs instead of just the one. The resulting ‘Ride’ sets the encore ablaze as it calls back to smaller shows the band played in his city, once upon a time playing Gullivers in 2019, which is about a 1/10th the size of Ritz.By the time ‘Therapy’ closes the night, the O2 Ritz feels completely spent, still heaving surfers over the barrier as BEthany is asking the crowd to throw up horns and smile for a group photo.
Ten years in and As December Falls are no longer the scrappy pop-punk newcomers playing a pub attic. They are a fully formed headline act.
Photo Credits: Nic Howells
