Music Review | Two nights of Belle and Sebastian in Manchester

Two of the best gigs that I’ve been to in a while

Belle and Sebastian celebrate the thirtieth anniversaries of Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister with two shows in Manchester.

Author | Peter Jones

A decade ago, they took over London’s Royal Albert Hall for two nights, playing the albums in full to mark their twentieth anniversaries. The second show landed on the day of the Brexit referendum. 

Ten years on, Britain’s place in the world may have slipped, but Belle & Sebastian haven’t. Still indie royalty with a loyal global following, they’ve revived that 2016 one-off concept for a wider run, hitting multiple continents with two-night stands in each city to cover both records. 

After wrapping up a European leg and returning to the Royal Albert Hall earlier this week, they head back to Manchester’s own grand stage for a nostalgia-tinged celebration of the glory days.

The frontman is in particularly excitable form

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Amongst everything else, he is a churchgoer who effusively relates his Sunday morning meeting with the Bishop of Bolton to the crowd. 

Only the obligatory stage invasion for their signature song, The Boy With The Arab Strap, seems set in stone; elsewhere, the second sets are hugely varied, and thus an accurate reflection of the band in 2026. They paint with every colour on the indie pop palette.

There is an electric atmosphere on both nights

The almost wholesome vibes are a testament to the band. The wonderful songs Murdoch wrote for those two 1996 records are elegant, literate, and full of heart.

Super News Affiliate and GM Super News contributor Olivia T was stood next to me on both nights and told me towards the end of the Sunday gig: "It's just nice in here. We all need more collective experiences like this one."

The difference between the two albums

It’s long been argued that their shared origins make Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister feel like a de facto double album, two sides of the same coin. But night two makes it clear the latter stands firmly on its own. It heads off down entirely different musical paths, from the way opener The Stars Of Track And Field swells into a loose, Velvet Underground-style crescendo to the moment Stevie Jackson tears through a rousing harmonica solo at the end of Me And The Major.

There are moments of stark intimacy, like the rarely aired The Boy Done Wrong Again, alongside wry, observant takes on shifting identities in Seeing Other People. The title track still feels untouchable, its vividly sketched characters pushed to the edge by ennui, longing, loneliness, fading faith and a lack of direction. “The reviews called this a mini-LP when it came out,” Murdoch notes, clearly unimpressed, a claim this performance firmly puts to bed. This is a towering piece of classic British indie. 

Final thoughts

This is a band who's live performances need to be witnessed by more people. I can't wait to see them again.