Slam Dunk alum and Canadian pop rock star, Lølø (note the slash thing), returns to Manchester with yet another helping of sweet and sour pop punk laced with just the right amount of bitterness. Dawson Gamble and Ella Red came along for the ride as support.

First up was Dawson Gamble and despite having a name straight out of One Tree Hill, he proved he was the real deal in an incredibly short amount of time. Dawson was on his own, armed with just an electric guitar, which was an unusual occurrence considering he’d typically have a full band with him. Despite this hindrance, he played a set of ethereal dream pop with tracks like I’ve got the Bends giving off a bit of a Jesus and Mary Chain vibe. Despite seeming a little awkward and out of his comfort zone without backup with arrangements that he wasn’t used to playing yet, Dawson turned what could have been a disaster into a lively set of beautiful tracks that got an early crowd singing along to tracks like Treat me Right.

In between his songs, he did quite a bit of guitar noodling that never seemed too flashy or excessive, it was the perfect amount of reserved and tasteful and complimented the songs brilliantly. His set ended with the repetition of “paint me like one of your French girls”, a familiar and intimate phrase that matched the small venue and almost seemed to give a much closer insight into Dawson himself and how he handles relationships and intimacy… Chris and I ruined this by imagining him singing about Garfield however which is more of a criticism of us than Dawson. Despite us briefly removing any semblance of professionalism, Dawson got the night started on a high.

Next up was Ella Red, a more rock centered act and actually had a drummer on stage who did a solid job injecting some much needed energy for this part of the show. Ella’s act was high on energy and felt like a very fashion forward act which was confirmed once she told the audience that every dress she has worn on stage during this tour was made by her.

Certain songs like Party Animal and Ball and Chain made Ella feel like a real life Clash at Demonhead from Scott Pilgrim vs The World with their use of buildup and tension before hitting super hard and giving this harsh and abrasive pop rock sound. Despite all the raging rock songs, she had a kind of Billie Eilish adjacent softness demonstrated on Aphrodite, a pensive female empowerment ballad that surely spoke to a great deal of the audience.

Finally, Lølø made it to the stage after giving us a little excerpt from her diary ahead of the show and giving us a bit of an insight into her life as a rockstar as well her newfound toastie addiction. The show began with a punk rock rager in the form of The Devil Wears Converse, a rowdy number that got a wild and unhinged audience even more amped up for what promised to be a feral show.

Lølø’s sound may feel derivative at first but it’s a clever mixture of different styles and artists that she’s clearly passionate about. The 90s riot grrl aesthetic and inspiration on tracks like Floor is Lava mixed in with Disney channel pop rock acts like Demi Lovato and Olivia Rodrigo give her just that extra bit of sweetness to a bit of a bitter set. Everyone needs a bit of dark chocolate from time to time and bangers like Debbie Downer hit that itch beautifully as the cheerleader motif hits hard with pom poms and call and response riffs.

The whole tour is a celebration of messiness, as Lølø calls, and that feels like an apt description. There’s still a great deal of polish and skill on stage but the imperfections and rambling storytelling adds that little bit of essential humanisation that an act like Lølø needs. It’s very easy to become unrelatable and Lølø walks that tightrope amazingly through tracks like the Alanis Morissette tinged 007 and the ode to millennial pop punk anthems in the form of Death Wish.

A personal favourite moment of the show saw Ella Red return to the stage to help on vocal duties during Delusional Darling which came with some absolutely adorable choreography despite dealing with the heavy subject matter of convincing yourself that someone can change despite having no indication of such a thing.

Lølø’s back catalogue may be fairly small at the moment but she still put out a masterful set of soon to be pop punk classics like Junkie, Hot Girls in Hell, U Give Me Depression, Faceplant which featured a sneaky cover of the English drunkard national anthem: Mr Brightside. It’s easy to write off Lølø as an act for the kids but that’s what punk started off as, a bit of something for the kids that evolved into something much much bigger.

Overall, Lølø gave a rapturous and emotive performance full of heart and relatability to the wide variety of people in the audience. She made a small venue seem so much more grandiose than you could reasonably expect from an artist like this but her drive to improve and climb the ranks of pop rock stardom indicates that this could just be the beginning.

Dawson Gamble (C) Christopher James Ryan Photography

Ella Red (C) Christopher James Ryan Photography

Lolo (C) Christopher James Ryan Photography