Man/Woman/Chainsaw at Hare & Hounds: Launching into their future, while leaving older fans behind

Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, 6 October 2026

A product of the London windmill indie scene, Man/Woman/Chainsaw are a tapestry of countless genres and styles, distilled through each band member until they culminate in a collective sound entirely dissimilar to any of their contemporaries. Their chaotic assortment of instruments reminiscent of 2000s twee band Los Campesinos!, and their songwriting a mishmash of Geordie Greep absurdism and Wolf Alice romanticism, Man/Woman/Chainsaw infuse their influences with feisty youthful spirit and brew them into an unrecognisable soundscape. 

About two months after releasing their debut album Cannonball, this Birmingham stint is the penultimate stop on the UK leg of the tour, before the band jet off to the US at the end of the month. This is the third time M/W/C have played Hare & Hounds, having last headlined in February 2025. 

No matter how inconvenient the journey to Kings Heath is, Hare & Hounds is worth it. A grade two listed building with original Art Nouveau interiors, it’s the site where UB40 performed their first gig in 1979, and as such, is a cornerstone of Birmingham’s music scene. A live music venue and pub, I see the night’s artists excitedly sipping pints and chatting to fans before and after the show. I even bump into frontwoman Vera Leppänen on my way to the toilets; something that the band mentioned as being one of the quirks of small shows. 

The Leeds fourpiece occupies the stage with raw and convulsing energy

The excitement walking up the steps into the venue is only amplified by the booming bass courtesy of “industrial freak pop” opener Bathing Suits. The Leeds fourpiece occupies the stage with raw and convulsing energy; frontwoman Freyja Blevins stripped to her underwear, gyrating, while bassist Elise Hughes maintains fierce eye contact with the crowd, stomping along to the pounding bassline. This energy is not matched by the crowd, however. Comprised mostly of what the internet has dubbed ‘Radio 6 dads’, the audience does not reciprocate Blevins’ cries of “shake some ass”. 

After a particularly lengthy outro, which sees Blevins straddle her synth board, it was finally time for the main event. Bounding onto stage to the usual ‘In Da Club’ by 50 Cent, it’s not long before Man/Woman/Chainsaw erupt into ‘Only Girl’, starting the show off on a high. The first single to be released from their debut album Cannonball, ‘Only Girl’ fills the room with warm orange and purple lighting, and gleeful violin, courtesy of Clio Starwood, and finally gives us a reason to dance. 

I can’t help but join in with the songs that I’ve had on repeat ever since the album’s release, except for ‘Still Angry’, which Leppänen sings with such raw emotion it feels rude to interrupt. Piggybacking off of the intensity of ‘Goddamn, Lizard Man!’, she takes centre stage as the lighting dims down into harsh red, addressing nobody but the back wall as she explodes with fury: “Swear I never changed/ I’m still fucking angry”. The way she sings to this tiny room creates a beautiful sense of intimacy, one which wouldn’t be possible in a larger venue. 

It’s clear the band feels this energy vacuum too: their stage presence seems far more subdued than previous performances

I stick out like a sore thumb, singing and dancing amid an almost completely stationary sea of fans. It’s clear the band feels this energy vacuum too: their stage presence seems far more subdued than previous performances. I feel the awkward tension usually reserved for support acts, when only you know their music. Unable to shake the feeling that I was embarrassing myself by showing so much (rightful) enthusiasm, and the victim of a side-eye while headbanging to ‘The Thing’, I keep the shuffling to a minimum and try to focus on the music, rather than enjoying myself. 

The tickets for this gig went on sale long before Cannonball was announced, so tonight’s audience is primarily older fans, likely disappointed by the setlist’s focus on new songs. It neglects fan favourites such as ‘EZPZ’ and ‘The Boss’, and only two pre-Cannonball singles remain: ‘Adam & Steve’, and ‘Ode to Clio’, which are warmly received. While more polished, Cannonball‘s tracks lack the fresh, spirited attitude which defines these earlier singles, and therefore simply aren’t as fun to sing along to. 

Towards the end of the set, they play ‘Cannonball’ by The Breeders, getting the whole crowd jumping and chanting, proving that a soundtrack change was all that was needed to uplift the atmosphere. We are treated to ‘Scab’: an unreleased song recently debuted on the tour. It has a punkier, angrier tone than the majority of the album, and I suspect that it is one of Cannonball‘s rockier offcuts, teased to me in my interview with the band. 

It’s full of unadulterated, adolescent glee, which is perfectly translated into its performance

By the final song, ‘Nosedive’, it’s clear that M/W/C is getting slightly exhausted with the room’s lack of energy, as they shout “everybody jump” to try and lure out a little enthusiasm. Their most popular song by a long shot, it’s full of unadulterated, adolescent glee, which is perfectly translated into its performance, with Leppänen launching swathes of iridescent bubbles from an eponymous chainsaw-shaped bubble machine into the audience. 

This kind of silliness is exactly what makes M/W/C unique, and after the success of Cannonball, I can’t wait to see what they do next when I see them again in May (but it would be nice to hear some of the old singles!). 

★★★☆☆