Live Review: Margarita Witch Cult - Star & Garter, Manchester
27th March 2026
Support: The Bear Around Your Neck
Words: Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
Margarita Witch Cult were one of those bands that have been on my “must see” list ever since I heard their brilliant debut album a few years ago, and I couldn’t have picked a better venue to see them in than Manchester’s very own house of doom, The Star and Garter.
The place was packed, and bang on 8pm, local support band, The Bear Around Your Neck, took to the stage. The duo of drummer Jay and guitarist/vocalist Nathaniel start with a fuzzy laid back opening to “Poison Vortex” with each snare hit and picked guitar string being audible. They are heavier live than on record, as I mentioned to Jay outside at the end of the gig, but the songs flow well. There’s plenty of distortion and feedback before “Earthly Vessels” which has a heftier sound to it, alongside swift tempo changes, a bit of echoed vocals, and big riffs, which goes down well with the crowd.
“ROTT” has a wonderfully raw energy around it, and with Nathaniel facing the drums, they begin the intro. I can see heads banging all over the pace as the now more animated frontman lets out a few screams. They get a bit darker on “Chained Locusts” but once again the rhythm is good, and we are all enjoying their psychedelic grunge rock. Final track “Mutated Faith” has that space age feeling before the weighty melody kicks in. It’s a good song to end their enjoyable set and the crowd gives then a good round of applause.
With arms held out wide, bassist Jim Thing greets the crowd as Brummies Margarita Witch Cult begin their aural assault. Now this is what a Friday night in Manchester is all about. As the intro kicks in, heads are banging, hair is flailing about, and they open with “Crawl Home to Your Coffin”. The bass is deep, and with triple vocals on the chorus, they are nice and heavy, following on with the wonderful “Be My Witch”.
Their songs have groove, rhythm, plenty of riffs from Scott Vincent, and pounding drums from George Casual, and with the audience screaming the lyrics to “Sacrifice” back at them, the pit gets bigger and fiercer, which prompts the drummer to ask them to “all look out for each other”. Ahead of “Mars Rover” Casual announces that “it’s great to be back in Manny” before he builds up the beat for the pacey track. The weightier “Lord of the Flies” is fired at us next, with the crowd getting wilder as guitarist and bassist do synchronised windmills on their instruments.
Casual informs us that “the next one is a ballad and is the first song we every played together” as they launch into “The Witchfinder Comes” which is epic. Considering this is their first UK headlining tour, they know what the crowd wants and know exactly how to give it to them, as the set list is balanced with terrific songs from both their albums. Asking us to “grab your partners, as it’s time for a slow dance” the trio begins the slower start to “Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm” and then it goes off, as the low and heavy sound sees rows of sequenced headbanging from the assembled masses.
After the dynamic, grooviness of “Witches Candle” we are encouraged by Vincent to “sing along if you know the chorus” and the crowd clearly did, as “Scream Bloody Murder” whips us into a frenzy. It’s such a splendid song, with ace solos and rhythm, matched only by the wonderous “Death Lurks at Every Turn” as the floor is turned into a see of limbs. It’s raucous, imposing, hefty, and as they walk off, the drummer signals they have one more.
“This is Birmingham folk history” as they play a quick melody of Black Sabbath songs as a way of introducing their final song, the appropriately titled “Diabolical Influence” which sees the final drops of sweat and energy from both crowd and band pour out and is the perfect way to end their mightily majestic set.
Photo Credits: Tim Finch Photography
