WORDS AND IMAGES GOSIA CZYZNIEWSKA
On Monday, September 16, 2024, Manchester Academy 3 hosted an intimate night of indie/slacker pop with the incredibly talented Lauran Hibberd, an English singer-songwriter hailing from the Isle of Wight.
I arrived just in time to catch the second support act, Housewife, an indie rock project led by Brighid Fry, based in Toronto, Ontario. They delivered a set rich in lyricism, blending lush indie and folk melodies. While they couldn’t perform their new track “Amelia” due to technical issues, they delighted the crowd with “Life of the Party,” a song humorously reflecting on the singer’s reluctance to go out. The band’s sharp commentary on American consumerism in “Patrick Bateman” and their witty banter went down well with the Manchester audience.
Then it was time for Lauran. The stage was beautifully adorned with flowers, and the sweet scent of lilies filled the air, adding to the atmosphere. She kicked off her set with “Girlfriend Material” and “How Am I Still Alive,” followed by “Honda Civic,” which had the entire crowd flipping the middle finger in unison during the chorus — a moment of shared rebellious fun. Her charm and humor shone through when she urged the audience to up the energy, calling it a “5/10” and encouraging everyone to jump.
Despite the heat, Lauran kept the audience entertained with her infectious energy, jokingly asking how many people were feeling insecure and pondering moving to Manchester herself. Her rapport with the audience felt personal and genuine. At one point, the band did a fun statues challenge mid-song.
She performed “Jealous,” asking the audience to “boo” every time she mentioned her ex, and the entire crowd was happy to oblige. “Mary” took an unexpected turn when Lauran found out there were no Marys in the audience, so she humorously decided to dedicate the song to her sound engineer, Jesus. A minor technical mishap with her tuner didn’t faze her, as she reassured the crowd they were “friends” and clever enough to understand the mistake.
Housewife got a special shout-out before Lauran launched into “Charlie’s Car.” The heartfelt “Anti-Fragile,” inspired after Taylor Swift’s “Antihero,” brought the set into its emotional “sad” section, with Lauran visibly moved by the crowd singing along to the lyrics.
A highlight of the night was “Shark Week,” a track the audience had requested through an Instagram poll. The stage was bathed in red lights as Lauran shared the story behind the song, a quirky reflection on her teenage years. She rounded out the set with “So Romantic” and “That Was a Joke,” a mystery track that had narrowly missed the top spot in the Instagram vote.
By the end, she’d worked the crowd into a frenzy with “Suck at Grieving” and concluded the night with “2nd Prettiest Girl,” her final song. She emphasized that there would be no encore because they hadn’t practiced any more tracks, ending the show on a humorous yet heartfelt note.
Lauran invited everyone to the merch stand afterward, cheekily asking them to help lighten the tour van by buying some merch. The night ended on a high, with a massive ovation for Lauran and her band — a performance filled with charm, humor, and undeniable talent.
SET LIST
1/ Girlfriend Material
2/ How Am I Still Alive
3/ Honda Civic
4/ Bleugh
5/ I’m Insecure
6/ Jealous
7/ Boy Bye
8/ Mary
9/ Charlie’s Car
10/ Hoochie
11/ Anti Fragile
12/ Shark Week
13/ So Romantic
14/ (mystery track) That Was a Joke
15/ Still Running
16/ Hot Cover
17/ I Suck At Grieving
18/ 2nd Prettiest Girl
FOLLOW LAURAN HIBBERD
FOLLOW HOUSEWIFE