SPILL FESTIVAL REVIEW: MANCHESTER PUNK FESTIVAL 2025, MANCHESTER (UK)

MANCHESTER PUNK FESTIVAL 2025

@ MANCHESTER (UK)

APRIL 18-20, 2025

Manchester Punk Festival continues to thrive. Now in its 10th year, the Easter weekend institution remains atop most UK punks’ calendars, and with good reason.

Recently voted the UK’s best small festival by the UK Festival Awards, Manchester Punk Festival certainly had a heavy reputation to live up to as the weekend started, but once the usual throng of wristband-collecting and merchandise buying ceased, things got off to a rocking-heavy start, as Coleraine, Ireland’s finest Good Friend took to the Union stage.

Attracting a huge crowd at the festival’s main hub, even as the very first band on the bill, the boys took control of the audience immediately – if you’ve never seen potentially up to 500 punks sing “Like A Prayer”, then let it be known that Good Friend will have you doing it. They parlayed that stage entrance into an incredibly fun set, with a blend of some Ramones-like poppiness joining surprisingly powerful emo-ish vocals into a crowd-pleasing set. By the end, sore throats were aplenty from multiple singalongs.

That could’ve made a difficult job for the second band of the day in Slow Death, but thankfully the Minneapolis-based group created an immediate sonic wall, with no letup. It may have lacked the melodiousness of the previous band at times, but they received a great reception and some of the first circle pits of the festival.

After that, it was time to cross over to Gorilla, where one of the best three-band runs of the festival rounded off an aptly-named Good Friday. Talented Ontarians Single Mothers represented Canada tremendously, turning the mid-sized venue into the world’s largest steam room as their biting pop-punk encouraged many, many fans to dance in the packed, overheated room. They were a hot pick coming into the festival for one of the top sets, and nothing about this set removed that idea from people’s minds.

A tough act to follow, but fortunately, Millie Manders & The Shutup are well-versed in this particular endeavour. Fast becoming veterans of the British punk scene and seemingly on an unstoppable rise, their set was possibly the highlight of the festival. Loud, high-octane, and from a band dripping in stage presence, it’s not hard to see why everyone in the band, especially bassist Georgina, play with huge smiles on their face. They are MPF regulars, and have consistently risen up the lineup. It would not be a surprise if they were to headline not just here, but multiple places in the years to come.

Closing the night were ska veterans Call Me Malcolm, who, rather than controlling the energy, harnessed it, and turned it up even further, as it felt like almost every audience member either sang themselves hoarse or crowd-surfed during a truly life-affirming set. Just when it seemed like things couldn’t keep getting better, Malcolm proved everyone wrong, and it proved an explosive end to a wonderful day’s music.

Having thrown off the cobwebs, Saturday’s run started with Redeemon, who produced a truly unique performance. For some, linking up ska, punk, and metal would produce something too grotesque to be heard, but Redeemon did a fantastic job of getting the blend exactly right, proving to be a fantastic vibe to set the second day off – and producing some very fun circle pits!

Hometown heroes Knife Club followed them, and in playing what I know from having spoken to the band was a nerve-wracking gig, clearly decided the best way to deal with it was to play as fast, loud, and chaotic as possible. It could have been a shambles, but like the very best in punk gigs, it could’ve crumbled, but didn’t. The band had a vice-like grip over the audience, who loved their beautiful, well-received chaos. Their set also marked a welcome MPF debut for the keytar. Who says punk has narrow boundaries?

The Irish flavour continued next, as Derry favourites Cherym took to the stage. Every inch the Derry Girls you might expect, they dripped with attitude, stage chops, and uncompromising riffs. I don’t think anyone could’ve failed to have fun watching them, and they feel one unforgettable hook from crashing through the glass ceiling. Their stage presence was certainly worlds above some other, more experienced bands on the bill.

By now, the hall had really started to fill in anticipation of the day’s headliners (more on them in a second), which gave Smoke Or Fire a great audience to make their MPF return to. The experienced Bostonians didn’t disappoint, either, delivering an excellent setup set full of nostalgia and singalongs.

Finally, and most majestically, Philadelphia titans The Menzingers strode to the stage and produced exactly what everyone would expect. There were loud, approving singalongs and chanting from the first note, and anyone who didn’t scream a cathartic ‘I’ve been having a horrible time’ into the ether along with the band is either lying to themselves or hasn’t got a soul to spare. It was an interesting choice of setlist from the band, blending crowd favourites with some surprises (including newer tracks), but no one who watched it can say they were disappointing in any way. They were a perfect celebration of ten years of this magnificent festival, and the life-affirming reality of their lyrics and performance left a glow inside this particular reporter long after the festival ended.

All in all, the 10th anniversary of the Manchester Punk Festival followed the script of those that came before – a chaotic, beautiful experience great for the soul, and the best weekend of the year. See you again next year!

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