BAD COP BAD COP: A PERFECT STORM OF PERSONAL AND POLITICS
LIVE REVIEW | BAD COP BAD COP | MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3 | 11th December 2025 by Craig Harston
After a three year gap, San Pedro’s Bad Cop Bad Cop have finally returning to UK shores, joining Spike And The Gimme Gimmes (formerly Me First And The Gimme Gimmes) on their ‘Operation Ho Ho Ho‘ tour – the last time the four piece were over was in 2022 to headline their pandemic-delayed ‘Up The Pups’ tour.
Tasked with warming up the early crowd ahead of the main event, Stacey Dee (guitar, vocals) Linh Le (bass, vocals), Alex Windsor (guitar, backing vocals) and Myra Gallarza (drums) hit the stage amidst the Gimme Gimmes festive set up, which, coupled with the air conditioning giving them a permanently windswept look throughout their set, made it look like they were filming an 80s music video!
Primarily showcasing their fourth and latest album, this years fantastic ‘Lighten Up’ – Bad Cop Bad Cop kicked off the evening with the opening track from that album, the unity anthem ‘All Together Now’, quickly following it up with a great rendition of the mental health focused ‘Strugglinh’ with Le delivering a passionate version of the song. Briefly pausing to introduce themselves and wish the crowd a Merry Christmas, the band blasted through ‘Retrograde’ and a furious performance of ‘I’m Done’, leading the crowd in challenging gender stereotypes. Dee then set up the next song ‘Broken’, a song about how she no longer is, before Windsor administered some crowd participation ahead of ‘Pursuit Of Liberty’, pointing out that Santa has no borders, before an immensely passionate performance on said song.
Another new song followed, ‘Straight Out Of Detox’, then Le took some time to discuss how important it is to still focus on the relevant things in life even through the holidays, how reproductive rights are healthcare and are still under threat of being taken away ahead of pro-choice anthem ‘Safe And Legal’.
Heading into their final few songs (boo!), Windsor performed an absolutely face-melting guitar solo during ‘Disbelief’ with the always excellent ‘Simple Girl’ following (“Who’s going through the menopause? It sucks!”). After promising to return to the UK next year for ‘festivals’, Bad Cop Bad Cop finished incredibly strong with the absolute banger that is ‘Womanarchist”, a true ode to female empowerment!
There are still several dates on the ‘Operation Ho Ho Ho’ tour before Christmas so if you have tickets (still available here if you don’t) do yourself a favour and get down early – Bad Cop Bad Cop are one not to be missed! Here’s hoping they do return to the UK soon with a headline tour of their own.
