By Alisha Lawton
On a cold Sunday night, American indie rock band Lord Huron were a long way from home, but found themselves in Manchester playing a sold-out show at the O2 Apollo to a room full of fans.
From the moment the house lights went down, the vibes were immaculate. Kicking off their set with everyone but their lead singer, Ben Schneider, on the stage, the band began to play Who Laughs Last, taken from their most recent album, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1. The track features the recognisable voice of Kristen Stewart, who commentates through the majority of the song, before Ben finally stepped on stage to make his first appearance of the night. Upon stepping into the spotlight, the 40-year-old danced to the beat of the song in a steady two-step motion, before making his way over to the centrepiece of the set design – a phone booth, paired with a phone receiver hanging ominously in mid-air. Just a few seconds before his part of the song, Ben grabbed the receiver and sang directly to the crowd.
After their striking opening and a couple more songs had passed, Ben addressed the audience and told them how long it had been since they’d visited Manchester – at a show back in 2022, on the other side of the city at the smaller Albert Hall. Fans had been eagerly waiting for their return, and so Ben had many tricks up his sleeve to spark excitement.
One of these was when the American singer-songwriter teased the crowd by introing Ends of the Earth with just a harmonica. Despite the sparse instrumentation, the crowd knew exactly what song was next, cheering loudly, though when Ben was singing, they watched on in sheer awe, singing along at a considerably quiet volume. The music was so beautiful that the audience couldn’t help but stand still and take it all in. A highlight was when Schneider put down his guitar and took the microphone in hand, moving around the stage, pouring every ounce of emotion into an already emotional song. What could be seen especially here was how many couples were in the room, and how many of those had the band’s music soundtracked to their relationships, as many of them slow danced with each other like they were the only ones in the room.
Other than the melancholy, the show also had theatrical elements. At one point, the phone box lit up and rang before the stage plunged into darkness. Ben answered with a simple “Hello” before a voice from the distance replied: “There are rules… no one runs free from fate unless they escape their cosmic debt.” providing a surreal start to Secret of Life.
After the high-energy track, Ben told the crowd that the band were having such a great time… as if they couldn’t already tell! He joked that having fun was a new thing for them, which got some chuckles from the audience. The Night We Met hitmaker also spoke about their most recent album, and asked the crowd if anyone had listened – he teased he wouldn’t hold it against them if they hadn’t had time yet, joking that ‘fifty minutes of music is a lot of time!’, but one thing he did suggest was to listen to it front-to-back, because you may find ‘new meanings’.
As the show came to a close, the band played some of their most popular hits, including Meet Me in the Woods, before culminating on The Night We Met, where the crowd sang the loudest they had all night, singing every word at the top of their lungs.
Overall, the show was a beautiful display of music by a live band. They sounded just like their studio recordings, giving fans the chance to relive the songs exactly as they first fell in love with them. The show was clearly well thought out, allowing the band to glide through their setlist with purpose, leaving the crowd in awe until the very end.
Unless otherwise stated, Photography & Text Copyright 2025 © Alisha Lawton/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Kyle Horne 
Madi Briggs 
Jack Walsh