Live Review: And So I Watch You From Afar – Academy 2, Manchester
16th October 2026
Support: Caspian, Otayonii
Words: Oli Gonzalez
Manchester has been host to some quality progressive and post rock this year. Having seen tours from We Lost The Sea, Plini, This Will Destroy You, and many more pass through the city, it was time for another star studded lineup of experimental music. This time, a Friday night at Manchester Academy 2. The line up spearheaded by Pelagic Record’s own And So I Watch You From Afar (ASIWYFA), alongside Caspian and Otayonii in support.
‘’Is this the right queue?’’
The good ol’ bit of confusion whilst waiting outside Manchester Academy and not knowing which line you’re supposed to be in. However, given that one line was full of largely 18-20 year old students and the other full of middle aged men sporting obscure band t-shirts, it was safe to assume which queue was for British boy band The Wanted, and which was for our night of progressive music.
Once in the correct venue, it was time to get an early vantage point with pints in hand and compare thoughts on tonight’s show, all before the lights went down…
Well, there’s left field music. There’s crazy music. And then there’s Otayonii!
How to even categorise this kind of music? ‘Experimental’ seems to be the only word but doesn’t really come close to fully encapsulating how bat-sh*t crazy this was. Here’s an attempt to describe it.
Try to imagine Lane Shi, a petite Asian woman, on stage by herself. No backing musicians. Just herself. Entertaining the crowd through the medium of interpretive dance, electronic beats and her keytar. This whilst wowing and terrifying the audience in equal measures with vocals ranging from ethereal and haunting, through to straight up violent and blood curdling shrieks! Traditionally, the stage is performers, but she broke that barrier and brought the performance into the crowd just to add to the chaos. Otayonii reminds me of…well Otayonii; there really is nothing like this out there! Sounding like a disorganised secondary school music project that really shouldn’t work, it takes skill to craft compositions that appear so muddled and disorganized whilst having an ineffable glue and cohesion that somehow makes it flow.
Lane Shi recently joined The Ocean as 1 of 2 lead vocalists…and they have a woman who was simply born to perform on stage!
Next up from the USA, post-rock legends Caspian and a band who could have easily closed out tonights show. This was loud. Much louder than anticipated! See, when you’re listening at home on Spotify or on vinyl, you’ll find yourself being lulled by the delicate melodies of songs like ‘Hymn For The Greatest Generation’ or ‘Sycamore’. None of these classics made their way into the set tonight. Instead, today marked the release of their brand self-titled album. As such, it came as no surprise that the set was loaded with songs from this, like ‘A Great Fire’ and ‘Remain’. Whilst still melodic, seeing them in the live setting was a completely different animal! With three guitars, a bassist and drummer, this extra beef in the backline shifted the dynamics from indulgent and opulent, to crushing and overwhelming! The good kind of overwhelming though; the kind that provides that atmospheric immersion that you just simply can’t get from listening at home. Despite being fully instrumental, they say more with just their instruments than could ever be said with lyrics. A Caspian set truly is a journey where you’ll ride through multiple waves of emotions. Like some did tonight. It had been two years since they had performed in the UK. Hopefully it won’t be another two years til they return! Surely Damnation and Arctangent festivals will have their eyes on them!
Almost exactly one year since their last Manchester performance, supporting Coheed And Cambria at the ‘big’ Academy, it was time for the Northern Irish post-rockers And So I Watch You From Afar to take to the stage. They were always going to be up against it and have a hard time following up that solid Caspian set. But they were up for the task. They came out of the blocks sprinting and the pit opened before the last song had finished…hang on, a pit at an ASIWYFA gig? Yes, it seems one of the least likely bands to elicit this kind of reaction. But it was Friday night. Everyone was ready to let loose once they had a few pints in them. Plus their explosive energy, chaotic time signatures, and the sheer walls of sound being pumped out through the PA meant that in some ways, people throwing their bodies around was an inevitable by-product. Especially when the first few seconds of ‘Northcoast Megafauna’ was met with roars of approval from the crowd! Though they slowed the pace down with ‘Mother Belfast’, a song that the band described as being ‘as long and complex as Belfast itself’. They also took the opportunity to thank the crowd and to show gratitude to be playing in ‘a room full of people’. It was pretty busy to be fair!
The end of the set was nigh, as was the inclusion of fan favourites ‘Set Guitars To Kill’ and ‘Big Things Do Remarkable’, as well as a good ol’ sing along to the latter. ASIWYFA walked off stage. We knew they were coming back. Fooling nobody, they returned and closed out the night with two more to round off a well paced and structured set. It’s been over two years since “Megafauna”. Deep into this album cycle, is it time for new music?
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