Manchester Orchestra celebrated their 2014 album, COPE, with a properly grandiose performance at Brooklyn Paramount on Friday night (9/13). The night followed the format of playing the album front to back, with a short encore of absolute bangers, and you could feel how invigorated the entire room was, all the way from the opening bombast of “Top Notch” all the way through to the haunting final dirge of “After the Scripture.” The immense power of Andy Hull’s voice was further propelled by the 2,700 screaming fans who packed out the suitably beautiful venue for the occasion.
COPE occupies a weird space in the band’s eighteen year career, at least in my humble opinion. Though I was aware of them as a band who often toured with my other favorite emo statesmen in high school, I didn’t actively engage with their music until after the release of Simple Math, another massive sounding record full of chant-worthy tunes. But by that point, every diehard fan I knew was already staunchly in the camp that either I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child or Mean Everything to Nothing were the best thing that Hull and company would ever release.
By the time COPE was released in 2014, I was living in Ridgewood, Queens and I got my first chance to see the band live at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and truly experience the way that only Manchester Orchestra could take a crowd from eerily silent to cranking the amplifiers up past eleven for another scream fest, sometimes in the span of a single four-minute song. Sure, they played past hits, but it was songs like “The Ocean” and “Cope” that got the biggest reaction out of me, personally. I could tell that this frenetic and urgent songwriting was something special, and the album has remained one of my most frequent re-listens ever since.
Do I think it’s their best album? No, and I know more than one fan who often quotes the acoustic-reimagining, Hope, as the superior release, but I do think it was an important turning point that lead them to where they’re at now: putting out truly cinematic masterpieces like A Black Mile to the Surface and The Million Masks of God. There’s something about the way in which Andy Hull, Robert McDowell, Andy Prince, and Tim Very come together to make music that has a way of crawling its way into your heart and never letting go, and for my own selfish reasons, I’m glad they’re taking this victory lap for a record that changed my life: going from a person who is casually aware of Manchester Orchestra to someone who couldn’t imagine spending another waking minute without them.
Direct support for the show was provided by Militarie Gun, a newer band who have slowly but surely evolved from their scrappy hardcore roots over the course of the last four years to become one of the greatest rock and roll bands currently writing music. Vocalist Ian Shelton took time at multiple moments in their set to revel at the majesty of the venue they were currently playing in, and pay tribute to Andy Hull and the rest of Manchester Orchestra for not only bringing them out on this tour, but for contributing to the fantastic reworking of “My Friends Are Having a Hard Time” from the 2024 Life Under the Sun EP, which they played the original version of at this show. Their set sounded even more massive than you could possibly imagine, and clearly resonated with the crowd, who slowly filled out over the course of their 45 minutes on stage. I’m genuinely thrilled to see where they go next.
Manchester Orchestra have more COPE dates coming up, including co-headlining shows with Thrice. All remaining dates are listed on the tour poster below.
Manchester Orchestra @ Brooklyn Paramount – 9/13/24 Setlist
Top Notch
Choose You
Girl Harbor
The Mansion
The Ocean
Every Stone
All That I Really Wanted (acoustic)
Trees
Indentions
See It Again
Cope
After the Scripture
The Silence
The Maze
The Gold
Bed Head
Shake It Out