Live Review: Drug Church – Manchester

Live Review: Drug Church – Gorilla, Manchester

7th September 2026
Support: Downward, Liquid Mike
Words: Matthew Williams
Photos: Tim Finch

Sometimes in life, the best nights out occur when you least expect it, and a Monday evening gig in Manchester, the day after coming back from holiday, was not one that I was immediately looking forward to. However, that all changed after watching over an hour of the mayhem and carnage caused by Albany, New York’s post hardcore band Drug Church. I knew very little about all 3 bands, as post hardcore isn’t my favourite genre but wow, what a show they put on at a sold-out Gorilla.

The night started with Michigan’s Liquid Mike, a quartet on their first ever tour of the UK. The rock band have a variety of good sounding songs, from “K2” to “Drowning Machine” and mix it up with synthesizers and a few trumpet sections from Monica Nelson. Vocalist/guitarist Mike Maple takes centre stage, and with plenty of vocal harmonies between the two, it’s an effortless performance, with fun visuals on the screen behind them, and I find myself nodding along. They have elements of wonderful melodies in songs such as “Crop Circles” and “AT&T” with rockier compositions being heard in “USPS” and the excellent “Hell is an Airport”. Let’s hope that they return soon.

I was somewhat indifferent on Oklahoma’s Downward, whose brand of alternative rock, didn’t really capture my attention on the evening. They offer lots of slow, rumbling noises, nice guitar harmonies and solid rhythms, but only get going sporadically. I don’t know enough about the band so might be doing them a great disservice, as some parts of their melancholy sombreness were enjoyable, but not memorable. When they do get heavier, it’s good to listen to, as they create tension and drama with subtle tempo switches and crushing musical crescendos, but these were all too infrequent for me.

With a disco song playing, the screen lights up with the Drug Church logo, and they walk onto the stage. Frontman Patrick Kindlon stands and says “Manchester, you know what to do, no encouragement needed” and with that, the chaos begins as they start with “Million Miles of Fun”. I’ve been to Gorilla more times that I care to remember, but I’ve never seen anything like this, it was sheer bedlam from start to finish and doesn’t ease up during “World Impact”.

Kindlon is a bundle of energy but informs us that doing two shows in one day at Leeds was “a bit rough of my voice” so wants us to help him out, which off course the packed, energetic crowd do in their robust manner. There are stage divers and crowd surfers galore, so much so that on times I struggle to see the band from my vantage point near the back, but this is a high energy show and “you have to feed the pit monsters” as they are whipped into a frenzy with the stunning “Slide 2 Me”.

Franklin informs us that he’s wearing a long sleeve shirt as he needs to “drop some weight” and wants to feel “physically exhausted” by the end of each show”. Even slower songs such as “Hey Listen” don’t deter the stage divers, as the band continues to pump out a metronomic sound that encourages further bedlam, especially during the superb “Demolition Man”. He asks for “a stupid circle pit for stupid people running round” and he gets it, before telling us a story about Deftones, which is richly applauded.

He wants more stage diving and gets it during “Learning to Speak British” as he queries some of our customs, especially when so many push back his offer of the mic and continue the stage onslaught. “Unlicensed Guidance Counsellor” keeps the energy high, as the band are giving it everything, with their tight powerful melodies exploding across the PA. “Sing along if you know it,

I could do with the help” the frontman politely asks before the anthemic “But Does it Work?” and he wants the crowd to “express yourselves” as that’s what “it’s all about at our shows”.

As they build towards the end of the show, there’s the slower, bass propelled “Tillary” which is full of melody as the non-weary punters grab the mic to sing the words, before they play the monstrous “Myopic”. This is one hell of a song, but they leave us after the thunderous “Weed Pin” which sees wave after wave of stage divers, people jumping all over the place as the venue becomes a room of frenzied, sweat drenched bodies. This was a performance that I won’t forget in a hurry, as it was truly epic and I’ve been converted into a Drug Church fan for life.

Photo credits: Tim Finch

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