Words by Jamie Ganley
A sold-out headline show at Manchester Academy 2 saw NewDad, the most ambitious Galway band of the moment, return to the city and open their tour in support of Altar, their most atmospheric and introspective record yet, written mostly before 2022’s MADRA. It’s been over a year since their show at the O2 Ritz last August, a night that cemented the NME cover stars’ mark on the city’s scene. Fresh from the release of Altar, the group have evolved into a sound that’s sharper, more pop-leaning, and emotionally charged, yet still comfortably within the genre of dream-pop and shoegaze favoured by BBC Radio 6 Music and their so-called Radio 6 Dad group of listeners.
Arriving just twenty months after MADRA, itself a hazy blend of shoegaze and pop, Altar explores homesickness, loneliness, and isolation after the band’s move from Galway to London. Its mood is more mature, reflective, and self-aware, steeped in longing for what was left behind. As the lights dimmed at Academy 2, the stage was bathed in deep red and blue light, mirroring the record’s melancholic tone. Opening with ‘Other Side’ and ‘Heavyweight’, the band set an enveloping, slow-burning pace. The crowd stood silent, transfixed, until MADRA highlight ‘Sickly Sweet’ broke the tension, its familiar drive offering a burst of nostalgia before sliding back into the darker textures of Altar.
Frontwoman Julie Dawson’s powerful vocals intertwined effortlessly with Sean O’Dowd’s screeching lead guitar, particularly on ‘Roobosh’, whose live rendition hit with a visceral energy. Fiachra Parslow’s drumming gave the set its power, creating a hypnotic, tribal undercurrent. Together, the trio conjured a dense my bloody valentine-esque wall of sound that felt immense. Mid-set highlights included ‘Blue’ and ‘Misery’, alongside the electric live debut of ‘Mr Cold Embrace’, a raw, confessional piece reflecting on the band’s move abroad and the ache of leaving home. The metaphorical altar Dawson sings of is Galway itself, both muse and memory.
The main part of NewDad’s set closed with ‘Sinking Kind of Feeling’, a song which left the audience hushed in collective awe as the band left the stage. Not one member of the crowd moved during the encore pause, as the air became thick with anticipation. When NewDad reappeared, ‘Angel’ erupted in a haze of red light, as euphoric and climactic as its studio version. The band closed with ‘Roobosh’, one of Altar‘s singles and the perfect way to end a live show. The applause that followed felt endless, proof that NewDad’s return was transformative in more ways than one.
