Photos by Ell Vincent Photography
It’s always great to see progression in a band – moreso when they started off strong and have continued to rise. One such band is Ventenner. Back in 2017, I saw Ventenner live supporting Lord Of The Lost, Inertia and KMFDM at The Ruby Lounge in Manchester – and they put on a very enjoyable and solid show.
Fast forward two years to their tour with White Ring and Victim Unit (two bands also well worth your time to check out), and you can really see how hard the band has worked on their live performance. That’s not to say they weren’t good before, but the evolution between the two shows is evident.
Moving together as a single unit, the band powered through a strong six-track set. 1, the opening track of their This Is The Reason album, served well as an opener in a live environment too. The set continued strongly with inclusions such as Six Blood and Attack, with a good balance between their This Is The Reason and Distorture albums.
Final track Ataxia was the definite highlight of the night. Already a fantastic track in its own right, in a live environment it really packs a hit, and what was especially good was that you could see how much of a blast Ventenner was having as they performed it! And that’s what made Ventenner’s performance so good – from start to finish, the band were clearly loving being on the stage and playing their music to a room full of people, and that really helps to make a performance good – when the band is having a great time, you can’t help but have a great time as well!
All in all, a fantastic night. It’s always a pleasure seeing Ventenner live, and they really nailed it with this set.
