Creeper - Manchester Academy - 10th October 2026
It’s been a great year to become a Creeper fan. After not one, but TWO spectacular performances at Download Festival this year, the band are back with the ‘Off With Their Heads’ tour. We went along to the Manchester show to see if they could top what we’ve seen so far this year, and spoiler alert… our expectations were exceeded.
It’s a Saturday night in Manchester, and the queue outside Manchester Academy, stretching a fair amount of time before doors open, is unlike anything I’ve seen for a long time at a venue this size. Fans, young and old, are dressed in their best ghoulish attire, setting the scene for what promises to be a night of theatrical horror.
Opening tonight was StarBenders, who I believe caught the attention of many in the audience. The band look as though they’ve stepped straight out of the eighties, especially frontwoman Kimi Shelter, with her distinctive backcombed hair. But the vibes carry on into their songs, particularly “Chantilly Boy”, which sounded like Joan Jett had written a Belinda Carlisle song. Their set was high-energy and the perfect blend of old- and new-school rock ’n’ roll, mixed with gloom and glam.
Up next was Calva Louise, with members from Venezuela, France and New Zealand. It was hard to keep up with Jess Allanic's skills, delivering lead vocals, heavy guitar riffs and keyboard parts, all at once, using a brilliantly set-up sliding keyboard. But the surprises didn’t stop there, as Allanic sang several songs in her Spanish “mother tongue”. She also took time to pay an emotional tribute to her home country, reminding the audience of the devastating earthquake that had hit the country three months ago. Their set was bombastic, loud and in-your-face, making them another perfect warm-up for what was to come.
As we get closer to the main act, a DJ’s voice (who sounded suspiciously like Jared of Bowling For Soup) announced over the tannoy that he was in charge of the tunes until the show began, giving us a great singalong to “Crazy Train” and “Hell Bent for Leather”.
At this point, a white curtain covered the stage, and another announcement came from the band’s PR team, warning the audience to look out for a muscular woman who should be reported to security if spotted. Those familiar with the Creeper lore will know this woman to be the Mistress of Death.
As the lights went down, a silhouette of “the show’s editor” appeared onstage, announcing that he had edited the show to make it more family-friendly and given it a U classification. The crowd booed him until the Mistress of Death appeared, bumping up the rating to PG, 12, 15 and finally 18 as she beat him to death. Without having played a single note, Creeper had already proved they’d brought even more theatrics than before.
The curtain drops as the band burst into “Blood Magick (It’s a Ritual)”, a bold opening with a catchy singalong to “drink the blood”. The audience were lapping it up from the get-go. “Lovers Led Astray” gave both frontman Will Gould and keyboardist Hannah Greenwood the chance to share the front of the stage before fans belted out “Parasite”.
The energy continued with “Headstones”, which was met with a particularly loud response from the crowd. Creeper have cultivated a world of their own, and tonight, Manchester was more than happy to step inside it.
The mood shifted with “The Ballad of Spook & Mercy”, a hauntingly beautiful moment that showcased the band’s ability to balance their darker theatrics with genuine emotional depth. Creeper’s sound has always had a cinematic quality, and songs like this feel as though they belong to a gothic love story unfolding before your eyes.
But there was little time to dwell on the romance before “The Black House” brought the theatrics back to the forefront. Will Gould sat upon a gothic throne, using a phone as a microphone, delivering a performance that felt every bit as dramatic and eccentric as you’d expect from Creeper. It’s these details that make the band so much more than a conventional rock act. Every song feels like another scene in a larger production, with Gould playing the leading man to perfection.
“The Crimson Bride” followed, keeping the momentum going before the band handed the spotlight over to the drummer for a solo. It was a chance to catch our breath before the chaos resumed with “Teenage Sacrifice”.
Then came “Razor Wire”, which saw Hannah Greenwood emerge from a coffin at the beginning of the song. It was a suitably macabre entrance, but the real highlight was her vocals, which were nothing short of incredible. Greenwood has a presence all of her own, and moments like this demonstrate just how integral she is to Creeper’s identity. Her voice brings a different dimension to the band’s sound, adding another layer to the theatricality without ever feeling like a gimmick.
The band continued through “Prey for the Night” and “Daydreaming in the Dark”, before “More Than Death” and a personal favourite, “Cry to Heaven” brought the main set towards its dramatic conclusion...Or so we thought.
In true Creeper fashion, the show wasn’t going to end without a final spectacle. Following “Cry to Heaven”, Will Gould was taken away to the guillotine in a scene reminiscent of Alice Cooper’s infamous stage executions. The Mistress of Death had returned, and Gould’s fate appeared sealed. It was gloriously over-the-top, theatrical and perfectly in keeping with the world Creeper have built around this tour. Even the end of the main set had its own horror-show finale.
Thankfully, death is rarely the end of the story in Creeper’s universe, and the band returned for an encore of “Annabelle”, “VCR” and “Down Below”. The latter was a welcome reminder of the band’s earlier material, bringing together the dark romance and infectious melodies that helped establish their distinctive sound.
The evening closed with a Creeper classic,“Misery”, rounding off a set that had moved between explosive rock anthems, haunting ballads and full-blown gothic theatre before finishing off with older material that is sure to keep every fan happy regardless of when they discovered the band.
Having seen the band at Download Festival earlier this year, there was a question of whether their headline show could offer something new. The answer was an astounding yes. This was a much more immersive experience, with elaborate staging, elaborate storytelling and a setlist that gave the band room to showcase every side of their sound.
Creeper have always had a flair for the dramatic, but the Off With Their Heads tour feels like a band embracing that identity wholeheartedly. I’ve had quite a few conversations with people where we all agree that Creeper have really found their ‘thing’, and I can’t wait to see where they take it next.
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