“The entire set was just an outpouring of mutual love and passion equally flowed between both their close-knit fan community and the band - M60” - M60 Gig Review - By The Fans Magazine

Words, Review & Photography: Grace Wearn M60, the Manny four piece taking the indie-rock scene by storm. On a packed out Thursday evening, they played my hometown; but more specifically one of the local grassroots gig venues that I spent many a time, in my teens - Wedgewood Rooms, or known to locals as “The Wedge”. Their support, the incredible The Manatees were also present to warm up M60’ dedicated but also so welcoming, community of fans.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work alongside The Manatees almost a year ago now, and they are honestly just such a genuine, lovely group of very talented musicians - which combined together, both their live sound but also their recorded music; is razor-sharp magic. Alongside their talent, they are genuinely nice people - they’re always supporting creatives in the industry, and are also big on representation, which for us too - is incredibly important.

At around 8:15 (give or take) The Manatees took centre-stage, minus 2 of their members - Miller & Issy, whom were missed at the show dearly (no doubt Issy smashed her Physics exams and we hope Miller recovers from surgery swiftly and safely!). Their levels of both equals measures of passion and energy really does come across in their set, especially considering (after a natter post show) their drummer Joe had landed from an 11 hour flight the same morning as the show! They absolutely smashed it.

The passion and energy is additionally; incredibly infectious - even as a photographer I could hear some of the crowd on the front row say in-between songs “they’re so so good”. I also overheard after their set some of the crowd say “I’m going to search up their music on Spotify”, which speaks for itself! From the crowd engagement to the ethereal overtones paired with the drum beats and of course what would’ve been the synth and the bass (played usually by Issy & Miller), they’re very much a feel good indie band that creates pure magic.

Then M60 took the stage, and my god what a set! As we’ve said above, their fans are both welcoming and so dedicated, so the entire set was just an outpouring of mutual love and passion equally flowed between both their close-knit fan community and the band - M60. Their set was fun, it was lively, slightly chaotic but most of all - electric. We absolutely adored the cosiness vibe to the set with their fairy-light vine wrapped mic stands, and their set including both a mix of covers and majority original music material.

Whilst the majority of the crowd were close knitted within their fan community, there were a few that were potential newbie fans; regardless, their songs just have such prominent elements that get the crowd moving, it’s nothing short of fun.

One of the covers they performed is by Catfish and The Bottlemen, one of my personal favourite bands and as a fan myself - M60 did such a great own spin on the cover. If you’ve ever been to a Catfish and The Bottlemen gig, you’ll know that their gigs are both chaotic and cosy; and when we say cosy - we mean the mosh pits, the packed out shows and the community. M60 very much have a nod to that, especially with their energy being almost magnetic to the room full, regardless of whether fans before the gig or; of live music fans.

Their aesthetic, to us, shows as - slightly chaotic, cosy, lively and fun; and the show proved that perception and more. Perhaps some elements from their sonically inspiration was drawn from both Catfish and The Bottlemen & Coldplay (both of the incredible bands that they covered); but with heavier guitar melodies, a closer knit cosy community of fans, but of course prominently - indie rock.

Incredible, incredible show.

You can listen to M60 here.

You can also listen to the Manatees here.