“YOU’VE BEEN DIVORCED!” – Divorce Take On Manchester Academy2 [10.12.2025]

Over the past two years, alt-country band Divorce have leapt from strength to strength. 2025 saw them take on Glastonbury, release their debut album, tour the UK twice and get a nomination for Rolling Stone UK’s Breakthrough Artist Award (to name a few gongs!). In Manchester alone, we have seen them jump from the YES Basement, to Gorilla, then further up Oxford Road to Manchester Academy2 (with a capacity of 950). Not only is this a display of their growth as a band, but equally the city’s awareness of such talent. Fans from across Manchester came together on a chilly winter night to celebrate the Nottingham quartet, and along the way went on a journey to their fictional town of Goldenhammer.

The first of two support acts was Curiosity Shop, a five-piece band from Edinburgh who delivered beautiful folk songs which warmed the room up after the chill people faced outside. They shared that unfortunately the “flu has been going round”, but you couldn’t tell from their performance. A particular stand out was Dreaming Through the Day, which had everyone in the room bobbing up and down.

Next was Formal Sppeedwear, who radiated an air of mystery as they took to the stage. They didn’t interact with the audience almost at all, and yet people were evidently intrigued. A mish-mash of new wave and experimental sounds as well as some ‘70s and ‘80s influence, this band is one for fans of Talking Heads, Joy Division, Peter Gabriel or perhaps some early ‘80s David Bowie. It is difficult to encapsulate their presence on stage, but many were inclined to draw comparison between lead singer Beck Clewlow and David Byrne.

After these two super talented support acts, it was then time for Divorce. By now, the Academy was filled to the brim with excited fans, ready for the venture into Goldenhammer to begin and there was no easing in. The band played their debut in its entirety, with all twelve songs having their moments to shine and fans fully absorbing the 90-minute set. Starting with Karen and Jet Show, co-vocalists Tiger Cohen-Towell and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow radiated a coolness which had the crowd transfixed. It wasn’t until Gears, a 2024 single, where they seemed to fully warm up. Met with whoops and singing along, the band greeted Manchester by sharing “We’ve been looking forward to this one!” It had only been six months since the band last played in the city at Gorilla, but throughout the night it became clear that the appreciation from fans is like a magnetic force drawing them back.

Cohen-Towell speedily built a connection with the crowd, and by the fourth song was singing Scratch Your Metal with them at the barricade. The album, Drive to Goldenhammer, has been extremely successful for Divorce, and this night felt like a celebration of that, with them sharing “we don’t have any [vinyl] copies left! …CDs – they’re totally back in: smaller, cuter, cheaper.” After looking at the merch stand myself at the end of the show, they had a wide variety of creative items and I came away with a few postcards.

A highlight from the night was Pill, which signalled a very dramatic vibe change. A song of two halves, it begins with jangly and upbeat drum beats and synths before transforming into a heartfelt and reflective ballad at the drop of a hat: “Suddenly/It’s 2013/And I’m at the bottom bunk/Andie hooks her legs on to the top”.

This eager and cheerful crowd were rewarded with a couple of surprises, both being performances of brand new, unreleased songs! They revealed, “So we have been writing…[you] won’t be able to listen to [them] for ages”. The first track, named Bone Museum, was a lot darker and dirtier than any of Divorce’s other songs and provided a vision into a grittier side of the band. Later, they brought a special guest on stage whose talent they likened to “squeezing a choir of angels”. This would usually be a very odd statement, but it is perhaps one of the highest compliments an accordion player could receive. Yann from The Curiosity Shop joined Divorce on stage for another unreleased song named Christmas.