Live Review: Acid Bath – Academy, Manchester
25th June 2026
Support: Green Lung, Conan
Words: Oli Gonzalez
Photos: Tim Finch
Perhaps the hottest gig of the year, in more ways than one! Whilst there’s no promises that this will be last joke about or reference to the heat, tonight was no joke. This wasn’t an ordinary gig. This was big. A night many thought would never happen.
The UK debut of the legendary Acid Bath!
The O2 Ritz was simply not going to be big enough so an upgrade to Manchester Academy was needed, and the sold out stamp was pressed for the second time, and months before this night too! Being at Manchester Academy, we huddled in the cover of Kro Bar’s beer garden, comparing on the events that would transpire a few hours before doors. We weren’t alone as the place littered with black shirts; it was obvious where they were all headed. Those not here or in another bar were braving the fierce Manchester sun (probably the first time you’ll ever read that sentence) in the queue in order to get an optimal viewing spot at the venue. A good decision as the place was absolutely packed out long before the first note of tonight’s opening act was played…
The lights went down, and the ensuing roar tested the decibel meter on the sound desk. The room filled with the epic and frosty soundtrack to Skyrim, with the nerds in the audience purring in admiration (myself included). Though this was quickly and abruptly cut by Conan‘s sludgy tones of ‘Hawk Is Weapon’.
There was barely enough room to swing a cat on the stage as the power trio squashed themselves in somehow. Still, their presence was felt as within seconds the entire Academy was headbanging, under the hypnotic trance of the doom infused attack on the venue. This was the antithesis of aesthetic, with the grimmest distorted walls of noise bellowing out. Only 2 songs in and the pits were already open. Not a band you’d normally expect to have a pit for, but then again this night was unlike any other. Frontman Jon surely knew he had the crowd right in the palm of his sweating hand tonight, and a simple circular motion with his other hand was enough to send them into a circle pit during the aptly named ‘Levitating Hoax’. Would the young pups in the pits be able to keep the energy going for the rest of the night?
From the moment the doors opened, the merch stand was packed out, and only grew after Conan’s set. But £45 a t-shirt? Is that worth it? Is that capitalism gone mad, capitalising on the event and bleeding the consumer dry, or a genuine reaction to venues taking an unfair merch cut and band’s desperately trying to break even ?
There wasn’t too much time to ponder this as a band set to headline this venue in 6months time was up next…
The tune of Type O Negative’s ‘My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend’ blasting over the PA was interrupted by the deafening roar of the crowd.
It was time.
The crowd now red hot in more ways than one, Green Lung’s set opened with the instantly recognisable riffs to ‘Evil In this House’. All part of an excellently paced set packed full of blazing guitar solos, chunky headbanging riffs, all underlined with a satiating psychedelic spice, and spearheaded by the towering presence and soaring lead vocals of Tom Templar! Play a studio recording of the band and compare it to this live rendition and you’ll barely notice the difference, such is their exquisitely tight and polished live sound. See, Green Lung are one of those names I had seen crop on headline shows and festival posters all over the country for many years. It had been a mystery as to how and why they had got so popular,
and how they had headlined Desertfest London only a few weeks prior. But if you were there whilst ‘Let The Devil In’ was bellowing out, you’d understand why. Even so far away from London, their popularity in Manchester could not be understated. No matter where you looked, you could see people singing along at the top of their lungs; a song as crushing yet anthemic will do that. Green Lung have headlined and sold out pretty much every venue they’ve played in Manchester to date. This will only continue in their seemingly unstoppable ascendancy to the top.
It was hot. A sauna. An oven. Pick your analogy. People were not even trying to hide their discomfort. The bar staff were kept busy as hydration breaks were a necessity to survive, with plenty of free drinking water readily available too. Surely this was all worth it for such a rare gem of a headline set though?
With Green Lung’s backline removed from the stage and the cloth removed from Acid Bath’s, a gargantuan wall of amplifiers revealed themselves! From the line check, we could see they were going to shift some serious air. Only to be matched by the sheer venom of the drums. They were pulling no punches with the production either with what was going to be a dazzling lighting display.
Over the PA we could hear the song that started the entire metal genre; ‘Black Sabbath’ by Black Sabbath. Everybody was clearly in the mood for a sing along too! Then in the mood to thrash around and dance within seconds of Acid Bath’s first notes being struck. Some even decided to go airborne and towards the barrier and the waiting arms of the security staff who kept everybody safe and hydrated tonight. A slow and steady stream of crowd surfers was a recurring theme of the night. Though the main theme was nostalgia. Fulfilment. Manifestation. A genuine ‘I was there’ and bucket list moment. Call it what you want, this was special. Take ‘Bleed Me An Ocean’ as an example.
Vocalist Dax didn’t need a backing vocalist on stage as he had over 2000 in the arena! The crowd was only a few decibels away from drowning him out. That’s how you know you’ve won as a band! Whether it was calmer slower ballads like this or the primitive and crushing riffs that engulfed the venue, Acid Bath were omnipotent on that stage!
Schedule for seventy five minutes, sadly the heat became too much for me at roughly the 60 minute mark, and I weaselled out! Being able to beat the rush to get home and the prospect of a cool shower feeling more desirable than ever, perhaps this was the right choice at the time. I’ve seen some rare sets in recent times, whether it’s the Uk debut of Blackbraid, a rare set from the ever elusive Portal, or the worldwide live debut of Gallowbraid. Seeing Acid Bath resurrected and in the flesh definitely ranks up there in terms of prestige!
Photo credits: Tim Finch
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