Elliot Minor Live
Manchester Academy 2, 23 April 2025

Back in 2009 I received a review copy of an album by a band called Elliot Minor (a name that reminded me of my boarding school days). The album was called SOLARIS which eventually became one of albums of the year - it was that good. With such a beautiful record I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t heard of the band before, and why the album wasn’t receiving truckloads of media attention and airplay…

Needless to say, I was eager to catch a live performance but ultimately it took to April 2025 for that ambition to be achieved, and that at the very last minute! For me, the record had a powerful emotional foundation while creating a rock record of distinction and high level accessibility. All this should have bestowed the band with maximum exposure, and certainly the band should have recorded more than two records in twelve years…The band eventually split up in 2010 after keyboardist Ali Paul left the band to recommence his university studies.

When Ed Minton (vocals, guitar) was interviewed in 2014, he spoke about Elliot Minor’s hiatus stating, “It’s a tough one, when a band doesn’t work out well…it just doesn’t work out! We had a load of issues with our label, management and all the backend stuff in general, the fans were never the reason we departed.”

Luckily for us, the band announced that they would be playing selected UK city shows in 2025. Anew single was released ion February 2025, enititled ‘How Does It Feel’, an anthemic song that marks a bold new ea for the band…

Band Members

Alex Davies - lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards, violin, oboe.
Edward Minton - lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars,
Dan Hetherton - drums, percussion, backing vocals.
Edward Hetherton - bass guitars, cello, backing vocals.
Ali Paul - keyboards, synthesizer, piano.

With the band’s training in classical music, I’m expecting another special rock record to be released in the not-too-distant future. But for now Manchester University’s Academy 2 (one of my favourite venues) beckons and at last a live performance I’ve waited years to witness…

My first surprise for a band that’s been ‘low-key’ for several years: It’s a sellout concert (like all their 2025 gigs turn out to be). There’s an air of excitement and expectation as the excellent heavy-rock support band the Manx rockers Call Me Amour, (https://callmeamour.com/) totally warms the crowd. Playing songs from their recently released EP plus some, Geoff Murphy (guitarist from Douglas), Harry Radford (singer from Douglas), Danny Hall (drummer from Chester) and Arran Lomax (bass player from Liverpool) pile on bass-driven and surprisingly melodic heavy rock. The band boasted wonderful guitar riffs alongside great vocals from a compelling lead-man, and of course quite momentous drumming that generated a huge response from the packed crowd. And a first! During Radford’s several conversations with the crowd he mentioned that his mother was in the audience! Oh, and I forgot to mention the huge lighting setup, enough to light up the whole of Manchester…

Set-List: Good Day, La La, Dreams, Chasing Bugz, I’m Fucked, Bloom, Where’s The Chemistry, Girl On The Wall.