Kids In Glass Houses Raise The Roof In Manchester Celebrating 15 Years Of Dirt
photo by Gracie Hall - @gracroc
The year is 2010, gigs tickets were still physical, rooms were covered in Kerrang posters and Kids In Glass Houses unleashed Dirt on the world - it was a great time. Fast track to 2025, were all elder emos but this record is still as important to us now as it was back then and the celebration of something so great was always going to be special.
The announcement of this tour gained a huge buzz and it highlighted just how loved the band are even to this day - then again that was never in doubt when you think back to the reception they got on their return to the stage at Slam Dunk in 2023 having said goodbye on their farewell tour in 2014. The tour made its way to Manchester headline a sold out night in the stunning Albert Hall in what was set to be a night of emotional nostalgia.
photo by Gracie Hall - @gracroc
photo by Gracie Hall - @gracroc
On the build up my brain was left questioning what order we get to experience this in because in recent years more and more bands have thrown in a bit of mystery and excitement with playing albums in full but in random order - as much as I love the element of surprise, just please don’t, having a record played in full and in order transports you back to your room lying on the floor playing the album on your CD players loudest setting while your mum screams from downstairs to ‘turn that noise off’. Thankfully we were given the order it was intended and getting the ball rolling with 3 songs and no stops - Artbreaker I, The Best Is Yet to Come and Sunshine set the tone for the night with the band sounding incredible and fans screaming back every word.
Matters At All was the first song that got me into this band and it was a song that would be regularly played out loud around the streets of my hometown when I’d be playing football or just hanging with my best friend at that time, something that I cherished dearly back then and something I look back on even now with the fondest of memories and that song brings it all back. Even the likes of Undercover Lover, For Better or Hearse and Hunt the Haunted bring back incredible memories from a childhood that shaped my love and passion for music now.
I’d recommend to anyone who somehow hasn’t heard this album to go listen, I could sit for hours talking about just how flawless the record is and getting it in full is a pretty sick feeling. Out with the record we were given an added bonus of some other classic tunes to fill the encore with the likes of Give Me What I Want and Saturday as well as a surprise of Secret Santa as request by the crowd.
photo by Gracie Hall - @gracroc
photo by Gracie Hall - @gracroc
When these guys split up in 2014, it was something that hit hard for me and for many having loved that band for such a long time - the thing that I have loved about this tour and the whole comeback is the connection between them and the fans has never left, that love has always been there and that’s something that screams out at how important Kids In Glass Houses are in the modern day. Looking around the room and seeing mostly older fans but also younger fans who are seeing the band for the first time and that is such a special heart warming feeling knowing that there are people who get to experience this record like we did 15 years ago.
Being in my very early 30’s now, I am very lucky to have grown up with this band and got to experience this record and their live shows first hand back at a time that was considerably easier than times now - it makes me so happy that people around my age at that time now get to escape from the real world and witness Kids In Glass Houses live and scream out the words with every passionate bone in their body and that there is why this band will always remain important. 2010 or 2025, the love will never die and neither will the passion for this record or this band - I just hope our knees and backs can cope with the 30th anniversary.
photo by Gracie Hall - @gracroc