Noah and The Whale: Manchester Cathedral, 3rd July

When Noah and The Whale announced they'd be playing just 2 UK dates this summer I was ecstatic to find one of them was at Manchester Cathedral.  I'm a long time fan, right from Peaceful The World Lays Me  Down, and First Days of Spring merely left me more enamoured with them. 

Nice view of the sound man too

Noah & The Whale took to Manchester Cathedral's makeshift stage surrounded by ramparts made from pews and flight cases.  Bursting into their set with a run of songs from their last album First Days of Spring including Blue Skies, Slow Glass & Love of An Orchestra.  The songs sombre yet uplifting feel matched the environment of Manchester's Cathedral perfectly and as the set gathered momentum the crowd shuffled and packed together in an attempt to get a better view and as close to the stage as they could.  There's a reason purpose built theatres don't have great stone pillars, because you can't see through them.  Some gave up and were happy enough to get a fleeting glimpse between heads now and then and just enjoy the vibe that NATW were creating.  Others, like me, shifted around the edge of the crowd for a better view, in the end I got a decent view from the right of the stage.

A powerful version of Give A Little Love (my favourite NATW song) and a set mixing the deeply personal newer songs with the catchy less serious earlier songs made for a great dynamic.

The gig was great and the Cathedral was packed, probably more people than it sees on a Sunday that's for sure, maybe they should offer great live music and a bar for services? 

They rounded out their set with a powerful encore of my favourite from the latest album My Door Is Always Open and 5 Years Time from their debut and ended the night with a new song L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N maybe Charlie's broken heart is mending?

Setlist:

Blue Skies
Give A Little Love
Slow Glass
Love of An Orchestra
Our Window
I Have Nothing

My Broken Heart
Jocasta
Mary
Stranger
Two Atoms
Shape of My Heart
Rocks And Daggers
The First Days of Spring

My Door Is Always Open
5 Years Time
L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N