By Alisha Lawton
Samuel Holden Jaffe, more popularly known as Del Water Gap, took to the stage in Manchester as part of his Chasing the Chimera world tour, in celebration of his third studio album of the same title.
The New York-based musician, known for his indie and alternative sound, has just finished the US leg of his tour and now embarks on the UK and Europe side, and Manchester was an impressive night 32 for the singer. Fans were overjoyed to see him again, as his last tour date in the city was two years ago in 2024.
White drapes covered the entire stage from top to bottom, and the band’s instruments lay across the stage in anticipation for the performance.
Once the room went dark, fans screamed as loud as they possibly could to welcome the singer and his band, at which point an ambient instrumental rendition of Small Town Joan Of Arc played throughout the room, which signalled the lights to pulse in purples. Holden entered the stage to a loud cheer and the band began to play.
Kicking off his set with Sorry I Am, Holden grabbed his guitar and began to dance in front of the crowd as they sang every word of the song back to him. Moving quickly into the next song, the lights turned a bright red and the hook line of Better Than I Know Myself began. A true fan-favourite, this one gained a cheer from the audience as soon as they figured out which song was about to be played. Even though the track is from Del Water Gap’s debut album, the crowd still love it, and took every opportunity to jump up and down with their friends to the upbeat melody.
As the set moved forward, Holden took a second to greet the audience, saying hello and joking that there were a lot more people in attendance this time around, as the last time the singer played in Manchester, he was at the much smaller Band on The Wall, a whopping 80% smaller than the Academy venue he was playing this night. The New Yorker told the crowd how nice it was for him to be back in the UK after so long, before revealing that it was only the second night of his tour, as it had started in Glasgow two days prior, so he still had a bit of time to soak up the British culture.
Part way through the singer’s set, Del Water Gap gave a button to control the lights for his next song, to a girl in the crowd who was there for her birthday. It’s safe to say this birthday was one for the history books!
A highlight was when Holden played Beach House. This song had a heavier beat than the rest that had been played in the set by that point, and it had every single person in the room in a chokehold. It was so infectious that one could stand still, and everyone sang the words as loud as they possibly could.
Later on, the singer told the audience that he had a surprise for them, that because Manchester birthed Harry Styles, he would treat them to a cover of the One Direction track, Steal My Girl. This, as you can imagine, earned one of the loudest screams from the audience where they sang every word back to him, not missing a beat.
As the show was quickly coming to a close, the energy was just as high as when it had started. With only 2 songs left, avid fans knew which ones hadn’t been played yet, so they needed no introduction.
As the beginning notes of the song Perfume began, fans screamed as loud as they could. Half way through, Del Water Gap joined fans on the barricade shaking hands with them, sharing a moment they wouldn’t forget, before making his way into the middle of the audience where he encouraged them to jump with him to make this show the best night of the tour.
And just like that, it had reached the last song of the set – Ode To A Conversation Stuck In Your Throat – which ended the show being the singer’s biggest song.
Overall, the show was full of energy from start to finish, and Del Water Gap played a mixture of upbeat and hard-hitting songs, to lyric-based slower songs, which just goes to show the singer’s range. The performance as a whole was energising and his love for the music radiated onto the audience, leaving them with a new appreciation of his music.
Photography Copyright 2026 © Olly Bailey/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Text Copyright 2026 © Alisha Lawton/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Chloe Morris 
Kyle Horne