SHAME AT MANCHESTER’S PROJEKTS SKATEPARK | IN PICTURES

PHOTO GALLERY | SHAME w/ The Orchestra (for now), Tooth, Theatre | PROJEKTS SKATEPARK, MANCHESTER | 4th September 2026 by Lucy McLachlan

Raucous London post-punk rioters shame played a farewell gig on Friday to a sold out Projekts Skatepark in Manchester. The band announced via Instagram a week before the show that it would be their last live appearance before going on hiatus, and the crowds came to see them off, packing onto every slope and ramp in the park.

Singer Charlie Steen towered above his congregation wearing his now signature clerical dog collar atop the floor speakers, pointing his mic stand at both band and crowd. Photographers moved out of the pit early to make way for the many crowd surfers passing through.

The band played a set covering songs from all four of their studio albums from their 2018 debut Songs of Praise (‘Concrete’ seemed particularly apt given the surroundings of being under a flyover) to last year’s Cutthroat, to mark the end of an era. From the beginning, shame have always been one of the best live bands to watch, even in tiny DIY venues. This writer first saw them in April 2017, when Steen was just as confrontational and up in the audience’s faces as he is today. And that includes their incredibly weird socially distanced seated Covid gig at Yes in May 2021 (that actually happened…). Projekts sees them going out with a bang; the energy from the crowd and the band created an electrical storm of an atmosphere. Even during the support bands, people were chanting “we want shame“, rude? Yes, but the tension was building a good few hours before the band was due onstage.

Here’s hoping the band gets what they need from the break and are suitably recharged for album number five.

Support came from London art rock band The Orchestra (For Now), who were apparently selling the Mickey Mouse sweater personalised with your initials for £250 each at the merch desk. Limerick dark folk grunge band THEATRE and London alt rock band Tooth.

Galleries

Shame

The Orchestra (for now)

Tooth

Check out the full gig listings from Now Wave on their website.

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Lucy

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