Live review: Architects, Manchester Co-op Live

To quote the unofficial anthem of Sam Carter’s beloved Manchester United, This Is The One. “The biggest headline show this band has ever played, by a distance,” reckons Architects drummer Dan Searle. After warming up in mainland Europe, Brighton’s finest now have their shot at Manchester’s 23,500-capacity Co-op Live, the continent’s largest indoor venue, before they finish the weekend by conquering the biggest that Wales and London have to offer.

This leap of faith has felt inevitable for some time, but it was their sublime 11th album, The Sky, The Earth & All Between, that got these gigs over the line. Brimming with invincibility and confidence, Architects found a gear that would require nothing less than the biggest rooms at their disposal. Here come the golden boys of British metal, back on home soil, and primed for another date with destiny.

On the other side of their journey, House Of Protection greet Manchester – for the first time ever – with a game of Where’s Wally?. Stephen Harrison spends Learn To Forget submerged in circle pits, before Aric Improta abandons his drum kit to sing Godspeed, hunched over like a panther. The duo make it look slick, but the Co-op Live can barely catch their breath after 30 blistering minutes of electrified post-hardcore.

Ocala's Wage War bring less pace, but more muscle. They deadlift the arena with TOMBSTONE and the Bad Omens-esque NAIL5, although vocalist Briton Bond needs some time to warm up, finding his form by the time Magnetic rolls around. Manic, meanwhile, remains intriguing and unsettling, ending their set with a convincing power move.

For all the combined talent of Stephen, Aric and Briton, nobody in Manchester – and maybe the world – can compete with Sam Carter tonight. The notes that hard launch ‘The sky, the earth and all between’ in Elegy are obscene, immediately backed up by the rampant attack of Whiplash. Crucially, he always knows the appropriate moment to switch things up with a growl.

“Manchester, it’s time to make some fucking history,” our host proclaims. Too often, such record-breaking nights are restricted to London, but Architects are all too aware of their surroundings, exemplified by Sam’s decision to wear an Oasis Live ’25 vest, and later, a retro Manchester United shirt from the ’90s. Unlike his drummer’s stern focus during Curse, the frontman can’t stop smiling. “This has already been maybe my favourite show this band has ever played.”

Every note of Gravedigger’s djent apex point is crystal-clear. Flanked by two additional guitarists, the shining star of Architects’ production value is the sound itself. There’s zero pyro, which dominated their fabled step up to Wembley Arena in 2019. In contrast to the sensory overloads of Bring Me The Horizon and Parkway Drive, one modest screen surrounded by structured lighting enables the emotion with which their musicianship is delivered to remain front and centre.

Everything Ends and emotional juggernaut Doomsday are dedicated to “cherished and valued” guitar tech Miles Kent, who sadly lost his battle with cancer this week. Sam faces Miles’ image on the screen, bidding him farewell with some lines from Gone With The Wind, made even more poignant by the fact that Miles’ father and uncle are in attendance.

Imagine how proud the late author of that song would be if he could see this band today. Before Animals, Tom Searle’s twin brother, Dan, sits cross-legged on the podium, soaking everything in. What could come next? For now, we should remember ‘there’s nowhere to go when the sky is the limit.’ Celebrate this moment, and let them ‘reign, reign.’

Read this next:

• Architects: “Everything needed to be at 100 on this record… If we’re going to be heavy, it needs to be absolutely ridiculous”
• Wage War: “There’s nothing better than seeing your fans connect to music you feel proud to have made”
• House Of Protection: “This is a safe space for creativity. You can get as weird as you want”