The Molotovs: Manchester Academy 2 – Live Review

The Molotovs
Manchester Academy 2
Saturday 19th September 2026

Passion, intensity, sharp clothes and great tunes – that was The Molotovs live. Paul Clarke watched an energetic band who left it all on stage as they began their inevitable rise towards arena shows.

There had been some accusations of being nepo babies aimed at The Molotovs, but they were hardly one of the Gallagher broods, or the tiresome Cruz Beckham cosplaying being a musician. Instead, teenage siblings Mathew and Issey Cartlidge had put in the hard work playing over 600 gigs, including early shows on the roof of the hair salon owned by their parents.

All that gigging had paid off handsomely as they produced a tight show full of catchy power pop anthems where The Jam were an obvious reference, but in fact dug deeper into the late seventies mod revival, and further back to pop gems played by the original Mods like The Who and Small Faces.

Right from the off with Johnny Don’t Be Scared, they set their stall out as Matt, in a classic polka dot Mod shirt, barked out the lyrics as he thrashed his Rickenbacker. His look brought to mind the cool Mod of Sting’s Ace Face in Quadrophenia, combined with early Weller as he shot around the stage. The star of the show was Issey in a red sixties-inspired mini dress and matching boots, constantly jumping round the stage, flicking her hair and striking poses, as well as knocking out melodic bass lines that called to mind a certain Mr Foxton.

As you would expect from the children of hair stylists, their barnets were on point, but the songs even sharper. The pounding Rhythm Of Yourself was an early highlight, and my foot started tapping without me realising it, which had always been the mark of a great tune.  That continued through new track Born in Society, which suggested they were rapidly moving from their In The City phase straight to Setting Sons.

It wasn’t all in your face stuff, as bittersweet love song Geraldine slowed the pace a notch before another new track, Join Us, was a rallying call for the kids in the audience to get active. There was more than a little bit of irony here as most of the audience were probably around when the last Mod revival kicked off in 1979. Fair play to eighteen-year-old Matt, who could quite easily be their grandson, that he challenged everyone to do something about a world turning to shit around us.

There was a maturity about their songwriting, and the catchy Today’s Gonna Be Our Day was full of the youthful optimism we need in a country where the RNLI are called traitors by right wing thugs. Down At The Cafe was the B-side to the last single, which saw them experimenting with different styles and textures, and a rollocking version of that single Urbia, with echoes of The Who when they were an intelligent pop band, showed just how far they have come as songwriters in such a short time, as the relentless and charismatic Issey showed no sign of tiring.

Another new track, Father Flag, was introduced as being about Brexit, and then it was time for their debut single More More More, full of Matthew’s chopping guitar sound that took it in a new wave direction, and driven by Noah Riley’s smart drumming, it had the crowd clapping along. At this point Matt mused that their debut album, Wasted On Youth, and Urbia had both reached number 3 in the charts. He took the chance to tell us that preorders for their upcoming second album, Welcome To Urbia, had opened that day, so he hoped we’d help them break the cycle and send it to the top of the charts next April. Album plug over with, they ripped through another new one, My Metallic Wife, which again suggested that the new record would be a clear step forward sonically and lyrically. It was interesting to watch the crowd respond to the new stuff that was veering into New Wave and contemporary indiepop with the same fervour as the more direct oldies.

Matt started the encore demonstrating what a great guitarist he was as he strapped on an acoustic for stripped-back versions of the melancholic Nothing Keeps Her Away and The Man Who Could Never Be. Tireless Issey then charged back for punchy versions of You, Me – Shadowboxer, and Come On Now as the siblings proved that despite their youth all those small gigs on the way up meant they had learnt to really work a crowd.

The Molotovs were not doing anything particularly new at this show, and understandably they did wear their influences on their sleeves, but you couldn’t help but enjoy a very tight trio who clearly really meant it. That’s not enough if you don’t have the tunes, but tonight’s show proved that The Molotovs’ high energy show, already packed with bangers, would soon be engaging and challenging crowds in arenas.

Please note: Use of these images in any form without permission is illegal. If you wish to contact the photographer, please email: mudkissphotos@gmail.com | © Melanie Smith / Mudkiss Photos. All rights reserved

You can follow The Molotovs on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram .

~

Words by Paul Clarke; you can see his author profile here.

All photos by Melanie Smith – Louder Than War | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Portfolio