Paledusk @ Manchester Academy 3

As the lights went down and Manchester Academy 3 was blanketed in darkness there was a hum of excitement sweeping the room. It was a sell-out on the second leg of the band’s first EU/UK headline tour, and after throwing down to Headwreck, Greyhaven and Knosis, the crowd were ready for the headliners.

One by one, the band arrived on stage all wearing matching branded Adidas x PALEDUSK tracksuits. Maybe unintentional, but there were lots of Mancunians in the crowd all making the same Oasis-related observation. Looking more like a boyband, they immediately launched into their signature genre-bending style and put any fears to bed of a choreographed, purely pop, performance.

From the moment after the first notes hit the show erupted. Barely stopping to catch their breath, the band moved through tracks and genres and the crowd was there for all of it. Breaking out into Japanese singalongs and I think a partly choreographed dance for a few songs alongside circle pits and headbanging, it was a surreal experience. I hadn’t heard much of the PALEDUSK back catalogue before the show, but my plus one assured me that it would be an experience I wouldn’t forget in a hurry. He was right. Clear standouts with the crowd (and me) were SLAY!!, SUPER PALE HORSE and the almost aggressively romantic I ♡ YOU BABY, along with their biggest hit used as the opening for anime Gachiakuta, HUGs.

Moving back and forth from metal, to soft(er) rock, to pop and including operatic and synth backing tracks, I’m pretty sure I heard a saxophone and some jazz mixed in at one point too. It was almost overwhelming in places, but just before it reached that point out of nowhere would come a monumental breakdown. It wasn’t like anything I’d heard live recently in the heavier side of metal/metalcore. The only Western touchpoint I could think of was Post Human: Nex Gen by Bring Me The Horizon. As I’d find out (again from my plus one), guitarist DAIDAI helped to write and produce songs for them like Kool-Aid, AMEN! and Darkside. With one of PALEDSUK helping to form the core of an album from arguably the biggest metal band in the world, you have to wonder how long it will be before they are playing much larger tours in the UK in much larger venues? And on the flipside of that, it made seeing them in a packed-out intimate venue even more exciting.

The band themselves had undeniable stage presence. They put on a fun, energetic and polished performance. As the set went on and parts of the tracksuits came off, vocalist Kaito and guitarist DAIDAI stole the show. Whilst the rest of the band went to work building the soundscape, the pair took turns taking centre stage. When not moving between vocal registers there were moments when Kaito was less cool and composed rockstar and spoke from the heart to thank the fans for coming. Although every band does this at nearly every show, here it felt much more genuine. PALEDUSK have been growing in popularity in Japan and South East Asia for some time, but haven’t fully broken through into the UK and EU yet. DAIDAI however was playing the part of lead guitarist. Whilst the rest of the band took off tracksuit tops he took off all tops and played in his signature half-naked style. Taking time to show the crowd how intricate his solos and shredding skills were, the mystique was only broken every time he turned around and there was half a roll of duct tape stuck on his back to keep his in-ears and wires in place. Hopefully he gets a sponsorship, or at least puts tape on the band’s rider.

Even after the show I was still trying to come to terms with what I’d heard. I think that shows what an interesting band PALEDUSK are. In an era when bands are trying to break TikTok with a song snippet to get famous, they are creating and developing a sound – Hyper-metal? Hyper-pop? – that is fluid and always changing. In many ways it’s reflective of how many metal fans exist in the world nowadays; shifting, unfixed with moments of vivid clarity.