Live Review: Luvcat at Manchester Academy 3
Every now and then, the spotlight shines so brightly on an artist that it’s impossible to ignore. We saw it with The Last Dinner Party and their electrifying live shows that led to a highly-acclaimed debut last year. We saw it with Wet Leg and their tongue-in-cheek lyricisms and quirky aesthetic. On the penultimate night of tour, Luvcat brought an overwhelming buzz of excitement to Manchester’s Academy 3.
The night begins with rapturous applause as Big Society saunter onstage. Formed at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music, they instantly win over the ever-growing crowd with jangly, surf-rock inspired guitar writing that interjects layers of crisply luscious harmonies. Their tracks feel familiar, with their nostalgic lyricism and sweet instrumentals that transport you to a warm and sunny childlike state. With their catalogue of future hits, they’re an undiscovered gem that effortlessly marry synth-pop elements with classic indie-rock sensibility, creating music that sits somewhere between Bombay Bicycle Club, The Royston Club, and Alfie Templeman. With a high-energy 30 minute set complete, they had perfectly set the stage and enchanted a now 400-strong audience ready for Luvcat’s grandiose set.
The lights fade to red as the mysterious entity that is Luvcat glamorously takes to the stage, in a venue that is likely three times too small for the show that the Liverpool artist and her band put on. Wearing knee-high leather boots with her golden hair bouncing effortlessly atop her shoulders, they launch straight into two unreleased songs, delighting the crowd with an air of mystique generated from wistful guitars and soaring vocals.
No time is wasted before the band play their hits – “Who’s been around since we released the first one? Who wants to hear it?“ is answered by a screaming crowd, eager for Luvcat’s debut single ‘Matador’, a track that already feels like a timeless classic. Hearing the track live provides the first taster for how huge Luvcat’s future shows are going to be, with her biggest headline crowd yet screaming back ‘You said babe this ain’t the Moulin-f**king-Rouge’. It’s over before we can even process the power of her songwriting, and the band launch straight into the spooky, live-exclusive entitled ‘Spider’, followed by latest release ‘Love & Money’. A synth-led gem, it continues to emphasise Luvcat’s signature style of songwriting in which she relates grandiose emotions to everyday locales that she frequents, while pulling on themes of jealousy and longing, and her want to make a sex tape and become rich. Iconic.
Between pining for her enemy to kiss her (the currently unnamed ‘Diss Track’) and diving deeply into her innermost thoughts while being whisked off to Paris (‘Alchemy’), the artist paints a picture of her personal life by discussing her obsession with The Libertines (who she recently supported on a tour of Europe), while presenting even more lyrical tales about romance, sex, and material possessions.
She ends the show with two songs that have experienced viral success on TikTok – the self-proclaimed murder ballad ‘He’s My Man’, and the unapologetically loud ‘Dinner @ Brasserie Zedel’. Luvcat is a force to be reckoned with and is destined for stardom, and anyone who can should see her at one of countless festivals and shows she’s playing this year.
Photography by Kyle Roczniak