Experiencing The Molotovs: Rebirth of Passion, Energy and Presence
I’ve been a music fan for as long as I can remember, and for the past few years I’ve been going to gigs regularly. Too often, I left disappointed not by the acts but by the audiences. The pandemic’s emphasis on social media seemed to have hollowed out gig culture, replacing passion with clout and “the perfect shot”. Live music survived, but presence did not.
What stood out most about Issey and Mathew was that, instead of chasing a digital-first approach to stardom, they pursued an organic route built around live performance. After our brief conversation, seeing them live felt essential.
Beyond the music itself, The Molotovs offer something increasingly rare: a live experience that demands attention and fully rewards it. A great gig is not defined solely by technical performance. It relies just as much on the audience’s willingness to give energy back. I had seen this before with Carly Rae Jepsen, whose crowds weren’t interested in showing their ticket as a status symbol, but were simply dedicated to the music and the performance. The similarities end there, but the principle holds. A great gig captures an audience who understand that a live performance is a shared responsibility.
My previous experience at Gorilla delivered a very dispassionate audience, but entering the venue a second time revealed a multi-generational crowd with little in common beyond a shared love of music culture. The focus was on the stage, not on screens. Speaking to a few audience members offered some insight.
“After discovering The Molotovs through my husband, their performance brought me back to my youth, when gig culture was truly an experience.”
A gig partner of mine who was already a fan of The Molotovs described them as “bringing a stylish undercurrent to the modern music scene, giving us a sense of indie hope in an increasingly corporate musical landscape.”
Mathew and Issey of The Molotovs take the stage at Gorilla, Manchester
The openers provided a solid warm-up, but once the band stepped on stage, the room belonged to them. With over 600 gigs behind them, there was no hesitation in their delivery. Mathew carried a cool, mod-inflected, self-contained charisma, while Issey dominated the stage entirely, from movement to expression, commanding attention without needing to ask for it. More More More landed as a clear fan favourite, while Get A Life closed the night with the crowd fully locked in, ending a set that felt deliberately short, sharp, and complete.
The experience did not end there. Issey and Mathew joined the crowd afterwards to engage with their fans on a genuinely personal level. Issey recognised me from our earlier conversation and treated me with the same warmth, while Mathew maintained the calm charisma he had shown on stage. It felt less like an obligation and more like recognition of the fan’s participation in the gig.
I left the venue with ringing ears, a signed T-shirt, and the rare sense that I had witnessed something authentic. The Molotovs are not reviving gig culture out of nostalgia. They are proving that it never truly died; it was simply neglected. In an era dominated by algorithms, metrics, and passive consumption, they demonstrate that live music still thrives when artists and audiences meet fully, without mediation, and without screens getting in the way.