Live Review: Alt Blk Era - The Deaf Institute, Manchester
15th April 2025
Support: BEX
Words: Matthew Williams
Photos: Martin Hingley
I’ve been to The Deaf Institute many times before, last time was to watch the magnificent Minima Deutsch, but tonight’s gig was in a smaller part of the building called The Lodge, which has a capacity of around 130. As I walked up the stairs, the room was packed for tonight’s sold-out gig, the first of the UK tour for Nottingham’s genre-smashing sisters Nyrobi and Chaya, better known as ALT BLK ERA.
I had reviewed their debut album “Rave Immortal” back in January, and was immediately impressed by their blend of punk, electronica, nu metal and rap, so was intrigued to see what they would be like live. Upon entering the room, I squeezed past several people to find a corner, and joined the crowd watching support act, female punk rocker BEX.
Starting off with “Taste Better” and followed by "FilfY”, the three piece are energetic on stage, and she comments at one point that “it sounds like silence, lets not do that again” before jokingly saying “I know where you live” as they crank up “Crybaby” This gets a few in the crowd moving and then she asks “if you can get down on the floor then please do” and gets a few more bouncing about. “This next song is a cover, by a small band, in a similar place to me, you might have heard of them, Green Day” and with “American Idiot” ringing out, the crowd sing back to her.
The next song was their best one, as it was about the crowd and how “people outside of here don’t get us” and with a simple beat, they begin “We’ll Never Be Like You”, which goes down well with the tightly packed in crowd. After finishing “Sum Kinda Syko” she stands there looking and smiling before thanking her mum, who was stood in front of me, for making the merch and they end with a sing along during “SPYD4 K1NG” which even the drummer struggled to write down when I asked him what they’d played afterwards, cheers for the help though.
For a duo who have graced the stages of Glastonbury and Download, there was a touch of apprehension and excitement in the air as Alt Blk Era walked past me and through the crowd for the first night of the tour. With Nyrobi all in white and younger sibling Chaya head to toe in black, they stood with security at the front of the stage as the intro tape played, and with the words “The Rave is Immortal” blasting out, the show begins.
There’s a build up into opener “Freak Show” and with a decent riff backing it up, there’s a loud “Manchester, how you doing?” from Nyrobi before the pace and tempo picks up with “Even if we’re Not : Solar”. The smiles are huge as Nyrobi speaks, “Thank you for being here to celebrate our album. This was the first show to sell out and we are going to perform the album from start to finish. It’s a personal album about our struggles, so thank you for coming out.” And the beat kicks in for album opener “Straight to Heart.”
Their songs certainly get the enthusiastic crowd moving about and yet there are tender moments like “Come on Outside” as the audience clap along in unison to the sincerity and meaning of the words. “Crashing Parties” gets the crowd moving again, and with the backing band of Sam on drums and Alex on guitar, they keep the tempo moving along nicely. “This song needs no introduction, but we need some voices, can you do it Manchester?” asks Nyrobi, and they most definitely do, as “My Drummer’s Boyfriend” sees Chaya playing bass and the song gets rapturous applause at the end of it.
Then came a moment of humour, and considering the number of gigs I’ve been to, I’ve never seen before. Nyrobi instructed the crowd to “split in the middle, don’t worry it’s not a pit, but a runway. Who wants to walk the runway with us?” and lots clearly do, so during “Hunt You Down” they parade up and down, grabbing audience members to take part and turn it into a party atmosphere. This is what makes coming to gigs so pleasurable, seeing people smiling and having a good time, as the sisters, and members of their family, were all enjoying themselves.
Back on stage, Nyrobi comments “that was fun” and talks about the next part of their story before saying that “the runway nearly killed me off!” as they jump even more for “Upstairs Neighbours” which has a quality backing beat and voice changers on the vocals. Heavy beats set the crowd off again for the anthemic “Come Fight Me For It” and “Run Rabbit” sees the sisters doing synchronised movements, which the crowd love.
They are a very infectious duo on stage, always smiling and look to be really enjoying themselves. “Catch Me If You Can” really allows them to showcase their vocal range a bit more and as they stand back-to-back, Alex gets a bit of time at the front to play a solo. “This is the last song on our debut album called Rave Immortal, will you sing it with us?” The crowd instantly respond as the family members throw 4 big balloons into the audience as everyone bounces about all over the pace like a 90’s rave all over again.
“This album means a lot to us, and I hope that it means a lot to you” says Nyrobi. “We’ve got one more song, called I’m Normally Like This, so raise your middle finger in the air to those people who try to change you.” And with that the last song gets the reaction it deserves, with the assembled masses singing, dancing, jumping with their middle fingers aloft. With huge smiles on their faces, night one of the tour has been ticked off, and I’m sure they’ll be doing many, many more. Let the Rave be Immortal.
Photo credits: Martin Hingley
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