They’ll Shock and Amaze Ya – Shambolics Domination at Academy 3

Shambolics are one of the most exciting bands about and it was easy to see why, especially considering their grand return to their home away from home to obliterate Manchester Academy 3. Hailing all the way from Kirkcaldy, they have cemented themselves as honorary Manc greats, and the frequency you hear their name is only going to increase. Alongside their annual hometown headliner next month, they took the opportunity to come back to Manchester for one last, absolutely packed out, show of the year. It had everything: more football chants than a champions league match, incredible covers and some of the coolest people I’ve ever witnessed.

Support came from Rossendale rockers The Staags and Rochdale’s own PoolEra, who both rose to the occasion. The Staags opened affairs, setting the bar high with powerful guitar solos that got frontman Stanley Lumb praying! He seamlessly switched between vocal only duties and playing guitar each song. The crowd kicked off the football chants with ‘The Staags are on fire’ throughout their set. They had their own fun with the crowd by pretending their last song was just an instrumental, but with a cover hidden up their sleeve. They played a powerful instrumental but all you could see were their silhouettes as the lights were brought down. What was a dramatic end to their set turned into a final cover of ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries which was delivered with grace, a complimenting song for Lumb’s vocals.

Up next was PoolEra with early 2000s indie style songs, extended guitar fills and another hyperactive response from the crowd. They had smooth transitions between songs with tense drum and bass combinations. In tribute to their first single, ‘Falling’, they chucked a shirt into the crowd for a lucky fan, and during ‘Said And Done’ the crowd gave them a wonderful reception with fans getting on shoulders. Their set ended in a touching way with their penultimate tune ‘Tonight’, which they recorded at an empty Co-Op Live arena. Frontman Ed Jamil dedicated the song to bassist Calum Lucas for his birthday, personally I couldn’t think of a better way to spend your birthday than playing on the same bill as Shambolics! In their final song, Lucas took over vocals in the bridge which he delivered perfectly to close out their set.

After two thrilling sets it was time for “The Shams” to take centre stage. The iconic intro to ‘Freed From Desire’ blared over the speakers and the crowd went mental. They performed their own rendition by singing ‘The Shams are on fire’ instead as the band swaggered out on stage, basking in the applause and screams of joy. As soon as that ended the crowd immediately were chanting “Ooh Ah Up The Shams”, a reoccurring theme throughout the set. There was no easing into this set, they launched straight into your face, storming tunes, kicking off with topical tune ‘Influencer’, berating the culture created by social media. The chorus was delivered with precision, accompanied by contrasting higher pitched harmonies which were perfectly placed in the song. 

Carrying on as they started with ‘If You Want It’ and ‘Sharp As A Razor’, both being songs that you can’t just listen to once on shuffle, they need to be repeated lots of times with the addictive guitar riffs and blending harmonies. The songs, both of which have such huge walls of sound, were delivered by a band who don’t have to move around or do much to get the crowd going. They have perfected their craft to get the crowd going on that alone, the way they played felt very Gallagher-esque. Speaking of this style, lead guitarist Darren Forbes and frontman Lewis McDonald mirror this relationship with the switch up of lead vocal duties,with both blending flawlessly together in every chorus. They praised Manchester as their home from home, saying they knew they had to come back once more before the end of 2025. 

Shambolics have such a dynamism about them because as well as beautiful harmonies and intense characteristic vocals, they can also adopt a more spoken word style. Demonstrated perfectly with ‘Coming For You’, delivered by Forbes with an attitude and a powerful chorus that got the crowd creating huge mosh pits. The slight break from the chaos of their set came with tunes ‘All You’ve Ever Known’ and ‘Losing Your Mind’. The latter tune was a particular highlight for me as Forbes played the intro riff in such a cool, collected manner and drummer Robert Wright built the tension during the verses that tackled themes of violence and the class divide. The chorus was truly mind-blowing as Forbes delivered harmonies with such emotional conviction in between the fragile sensitivity of McDonald and bassist Scott Thomson’s vocals.     

The energy was jolted back to the max with ‘Do It Like You Do It’ and ‘Everything You Should’ve Done’ with gritty vocals, commanding drums and groovy guitar riffs. Soon,a deep tension gripped the room as the lights dimmed, smoke descending onto the stage and the band giving nothing away as they looked out across the sea of faces. They built up through the verses of ‘Insomnia’ by Faithless with drums and bass before an abrupt stop and a call to the crowd to check everyone was still with them. They played an amazing edition of the song, and hearing the iconic synth lines being played on guitar was incredible, echoed by the crowd singing the riffs in unison. My defining memory of the set was hearing ‘Universal Credit’ live for the first time, returning to that spoken word style shared between McDonald and Forbes. A song that feels increasingly relatable in a time where it’s challenging for bands to make it with no great level of support available. The guitar riffs were so simple yet so effective to create an incredibly addictive and huge chorus with McDonald, Forbes and Thomson singing together. I couldn’t recommend it more to anyone. They closed the set with their anthem ‘Dreams, Schemes and Young Teams’ accompanied by Shams themed football chants and the repeating outro reverberating throughout the room. This set was one that you can’t walk away from without it leaving a lasting impact on you. Shambolics will only continue an upwards trajectory as one of the best live bands about and one of Scotland’s finest, mind-blowing bands.

Words By Ruby Macklin