NO HORROR SHOW – NEW YORK’S I AM THE AVALANCHE SEEK UNITY IN MANCHESTER

LIVE REVIEW | I AM THE AVALANCHE w/ Cold Years, Hospital Radio | THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER | 13th July 2026 by Craig Harston

It’s been way too long since I Am The Avalanche were last in the UK. So long, in fact, that the venue they last played in Manchester, Sound Control, has been converted to student accommodation in the intervening decade. Whilst front man Vinnie Caruana has been over more recently, either with his other band – The Movielife – or performing solo shows with songs from both bands, I Am The Avalanche fans have been chomping at the bit for proper return for a long time!

First up, though, were the support bands. Hospital Radio kicked off proceedings with their very ‘midwest emo’-sounding songs; they reminded me a little of math rock upstarts Tiny Moving Parts, which is no bad thing! They played a solid set that included their earliest song, ‘Emily’, and brand new song, ‘ACFS.’

Up next were Scottish band Cold Years, who kept the momentum going with their bluesy emo songs. Playing an energetic set from across their discography, including ‘Life With A View’, ’62 (My Generation’s Falling Apart)’ and brand new song, ‘Dread‘. Considering the response they received, they clearly had a lot of fans in attendance.

Touring to celebrate their first album in six years (and one of this year’s best), THE HORROR SHOW , I Am The Avalanche took to the stage to knock out two songs from their fifth full length Dive. Leading with a raucous performance of the title track, they followed this up with the more melancholic ‘LAUGHING AND BLEEDING’. With the announcement that the next two songs were from Avalanche United – arguably their best album – the crowd went absolutely wild for a high energy rendition of ‘Holy Fuck’, with Caruana getting the crowd bouncing and clapping, which carried over into follow up ‘Amsterdam’.

An excellent rendition of ‘I’M NOT DEAD (I JUST BLINKED AND NEVER SAW THE LIGHT AGAIN)’ followed, with Caruana donning his guitar for the blistering riffs during the closing moments of the song, creating a huge wall of sound that he maintained for the subsequent track, the melodic ‘I MISS CALIFORNIA AND EVERY DOG I’VE EVER MET’. Things then ramped up again when the band took things back a couple of decades to their self titled debut album. ‘I Took A Beating’ gained a massive response, before Caruana united the whole room for a huge singalong on ‘Better Days’.

After taking a moment to thank everyone for coming out on a Monday night, Caruana began a heartfelt rendition of deep cut ‘Love Song 69’, before being joined by the rest of the band as the song really kicks in, ahead of a performance of his current – since yesterday, apparently – favourite I Am The Avalanche song, the very hardcore ‘TRUE LEGENDS NEVER DIE’. Caruana then got a great back-and-forth going with the crowd on “New York summer song” – ‘177’. Talking a little about the state of the US right now, the frontman shared how great it is to be able to visit Manchester and then performed a fantastic version of fan favourite ‘Green Eyes’.

I Am The Avalanche are yet another band who eschew the traditional ‘encore’, with the band opting to stay on stage and just play right through -“welcome to the encore” – with an energetic rendition of ‘Gratitude’ before finishing strong with the perpetually great ‘Brooklyn Dodgers’. The whole room raised the roof as they sang along to every word. Realising they had time for one more song, I Am The Avalanche played one for the old school fans with ‘Symphony’.

Overall, it was a great show and the new songs sat comfortably next to the old. While they might not be “classics” just yet, you can guarantee many of them will become live staples in the future. Here’s hoping I Am The Avalanche don’t leave it too long before they come back again!