When Courteeners were just beginning to lift off, they were told, ‘London won’t like you and Liverpool might have an issue with you’.
Twenty years later, the band well and truly put that notion to bed as frontman Liam Fray declared our Manchester brethren “cousins” before a manic encore left the masses walking out on a high.
Over three hours earlier, the show kicked off with impressive sets from fellow north-west groups The Guest List and The Lathums.
Both are capable of holding the room with no issues, but this crowd had come to see Courteeners.
When the headliners did arrive, they did so with a bang, launching straight into Are You In Love With A Notion?
Despite a slight fault with his guitar, Fray powered through to set the tone for a joyful night.
Acrylic, No You Didn’t, No You Don’t and a tour debut for Summer followed, as the energy remained high for the first half of the show.
There are more musically experimental bands; there are more musically adept bands, but you would struggle to find a group that is more in tune with their fans.
Striking on the night was the sheer number of youngsters loving the show.
Indie music is experiencing a resurgence among 16-22-year-olds, and among the most popular groups are still Courteeners.
Despite their most successful album, St. Jude, coming out back in 2008, the hits are still recruiting new fans not just to the band, but to the genre too.
Fray writes crowd-pleasers that tell stories of boys and girls finding their way through life.
There are exceptions, but Courteeners’ tendency to sing relatively carefree lyrics makes them relatable to a generation that hasn’t yet experienced all of life’s hardships.
For those who have, the songs offer an escape back to their youth.
While Fray’s strength certainly lies in composing upbeat singalongs, there is time in the set for reflection.
International, Hanging Off Your Cloud and a cover of James’ Sit Down, interrupted by a brief medical incident, were sung beautifully.
There was clear chemistry between Fray and pianist Elina Lin, who joined officially in 2024.
The singer preached a message of appreciation. Even when not directly thanking his audience during the near two-hour performance, Fray’s recognition of the crowd was obvious.
His songs are written to be sung back at the stage. Across the entire set, there were blank spaces left for the crowd to be heard, to become part of the show.
After an acoustic breather, the encore was breathless.
The band’s first 2007 single, Cavorting, was followed by Beautiful Head before the highlight of the night, Not Nineteen Forever.
A song simply made to be bounced to, it is the quintessential indie anthem.
As the crowd moved up and down in one mass motion, the band, who must have played the song thousands of times, relished in the bliss created.
And as the show came to a close with What Took You So Long?, the overwhelming emotion that drifted out across the Mersey was joy.
