The big review: Outbreak Autumn 2024

The clocks have gone back, winter is coming and you’ve packed away your tent until 2025 – but festival season still has a couple more bites of the cherry to offer. Outbreak – more ambitious and expansive than ever – this year continued its spring of surprises by announcing a standalone all-dayer in October, returning to the site of June’s traditional weekender: Manchester’s Bowlers Exhibition Centre (B.E.C.).

Always looking to reinvent the wheel, Outbreak continues to ride the wave of global momentum surrounding hardcore whilst simultaneously taking risks like no other festival, evidenced on this summer's stacked bill. Where else can you find JPEGMAFIA, Basement and Soccer Mommy on the same ticket?

Packing down the glorious outdoor stage that was introduced to the B.E.C. in June, today's autumn edition zigzags between two indoor stages – importantly, with zero clashes.

Headlined by The Story So Far – in the midst of their first UK headline shows since supporting blink-182 – Outbreak Autumn also sees the finest in hardcore, shoegaze and alt-rock converge on Manchester for a day full of two-stepping, barrierless mayhem and heavy-hitting tunes. Let’s begin…

“It warms my heart. Thank you for shining a light on South East Asian hardcore.” The words of Speed frontman Jem Siow later today, describing Bangkok “evilcore” upstarts Whispers – who bring their cataclysmic sound to a healthy second stage crowd. Riff after riff cannons around the B.E.C. during Retribution, the first teaser trailer for their forthcoming EP Yom-Ma-Lok. Ignore Whispers at your peril.

How about celebrating your debut album with a Main Stage slot at Outbreak? Texas shoegazers trauma ray are doing exactly that, bringing their spooky moodiness of their Chameleon opus. Shy and reserved as people, their sensational wall of sound does the talking – with three guitars and vocalist Uri Avila’s belted vocals occasionally coming to the foref. One of the classiest sets of the day, the crowd are completely transfixed by the end. It’s sheer escapist bliss.

Also celebrating release weekend are Brit thrashers Pest Control, who have the wind in their sails with their latest EP Year Of The Pest. “If you’re involved in UK hardcore in any way, show me what you’re fucking made of” growls singer Leah Massey-Hay, inciting carnage on the floor during the title-track – while the Time Bomb guitar solo is gloriously ear-piercing. Having made the short trip over the Pennines, the Leeds five-piece are one of just two UKHC bands on the bill. After today, you get the sense that they still have plenty more history to create with Outbreak.

The other UKHC band are T.S. WARSPITE, who hail from Manchester itself. Living up to his T-shirt which reads ‘AIN’T NO FEEBLE BASTARD’, vocalist Marco Abbatiello leaves nothing in the tank, even though his shouty, bellowed style sits awkwardly in the mix. The set is bombastic and furious, but not quite the finished article.

The Fleshwater who graced Outbreak’s Depot Mayfield Main Stage in 2023 have since grown in leaps and bounds in the live room. Pounding drums and the delightfully murky vocals of Marisa Shirar make for a masterful and dominant showing. They’re at their best during those darker, sludgy moments – the proof is in grungy number Kiss The Ladder, where the stage is properly flooded for the first time today. If it was ever in any doubt, Fleshwater have assuredly grown into much more than a Vein.fm side hustle.

Armlock’s delicate, wistful dream-rock sound is unfortunately overshadowed by crowd chatter from outside, but it nevertheless makes for arguably the most beautiful moment of Outbreak. They might seem timid, but the melodies in Guardian are just otherworldly – think Turnover’s Peripheral Vision. It’s perhaps a mismatch in a vast, well-lit warehouse, but there are signs of a band with undeniable talent.

Justice Tripp has the Outbreak crowd in the palm of his hand. Angel Du$t are well acquainted with this festival – having also played this June – and the Baltimore hardcore titans waste no time, rattling through the frenetic Sippin’ Lysol and the turbo-charged Stay. Pest Control’s Leah Massey-Hay jumps in for Set Me Up, concluding a predictably frantic forty minutes. You’re welcome back any time, Angel Du$t.

Falling victim to the post-Angel Du$t / pre-Speed crowd rush for food, Washington grunge quartet Emunclaw find themselves also plagued by a muddy mix which makes for a thin second stage crowd. Nonetheless, chemistry and joy emanates from the stage throughout, particularly from bassist Eli Edwards – sporting a Union Jack beanie – while his older brother Aramis (vocals) shows off his raspy voice which would make Dinosaur Pile-Up proud.

This is the one Outbreak's been waiting for. Since doors opened, their merch table has been completely overwhelmed. Speed’s triumphant return to the fest lives up to the hype, having squeezed the slot in between shows in Poland and Austria. “Look around. This is crazy. I’ll never get used to playing hardcore shows as big as this” beams Jem Siow, firing up the crowd like the world’s most motivational personal trainer. KILL CAP and DON’T NEED are particularly powerful highlights, and the inevitable flute-down in THE FIRST TEST receives the loudest cheer of the afternoon. Speed will headline Outbreak one day – it’s surely just a matter of time.

After the neatness of Armlock and the maturity of trauma ray, Horse Jumper Of Love’s spaced-out indie-rock doesn’t quite cut through with the same feeling, as the Manchester rain hammers down outside the B.E.C.. Though the set naturally revolves around August’s Disaster Trick LP – starting with the shoegaze one-two of Snow Angel and Today’s Iconoclast – interest does pique during the stark, haunting Orange Peeler, as the crowd engages with the added sense of atmosphere.

Euphoria is pouring out of Mat Kerekes as the entire B.E.C. bounces in unison during If You’re Lonely. The lead single from Citizen’s latest album Calling The Dogs slots magically into the set, lifted into another stratosphere in the live room. Naturally, there’s a barrage of tracks from Youth towards the end of the show, with The Summer and How Does It Feel? making for standout moments. 'I should have crashed the car / The night I drove alone' still induces goosebumps. Class is permanent.

Bands like Fucked Up will always be needed at Outbreak. One of the older names on the line-up, the Canadian hardcore veterans power through their set with pace and fury, as the perfectly scruffy Damian Abraham wields his mic stand like a katana. Though their all-killer-no-filler approach does feel like a blur at points, bassist Sandy Miranda’s sporadic vocals provide a neat sense of balance.

Parker Cannon feels right at home. And why wouldn’t he? For one night only on their UK tour, The Story So Far get to play their biggest headline show with no barrier. Spending most of the gig in the midst of the onstage chaos, he remains utterly calm and composed, staring into the whites of their adoring fans’ eyes. Big Blind is complete magic, while golden oldies Keep This Up and Quicksand have lost none of their potency. TSSF have always found love from the hardcore world – and Outbreak certainly played a (big) blinder with this booking.

Read this:

• Speed: “The experience of hardcore – the scale of it, the enormity – is mind-boggling right now”
  
• Pest Control: “We said, ‘Let’s go for it: let’s do the thrash band that we’d always talked about’”
• Damian Abraham: “When I joined F*cked Up, I was just going out there wanting to bring my pain to everybody”