Andy Hull and Robert McDowell of Manchester Orchestra bring the tour in honor of the 20th anniversary of their debut album, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, to Adler Hall on November 12th with special guest Brother Bird.
Formed in Atlanta by guitarist and vocalist Andy Hull, Manchester Orchestra released their debut album, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, in 2006 with Hull, keyboardist Chris Freeman, bassist Johnathan Corley, and drummer Jeremiah Edmund. The album featured an organ-driven sound that included elements of gospel, rock, emo, and pop and demonstrated the band’s ability to create songs both massive and stripped back yet always extremely powerful, from roaring opener “Wolves at Night” with its driving distortion, controlled feedback, and bah-filled ending refrain to the hauntingly devastating exploration of a family’s reaction to its patriarch’s death on “Sleeper 1972.” One of the most striking aspects of the album (and all of the band’s music to come) is Hull’s clever and impactful lyricism, sung in his unmistakably soaring and wide-ranged voice, with lines like “because if seeing is believing, then believe that we have lost our eyes,” “when I fly solo, I fly so high,” and “my mother lies alone on her back at night, adding up hours ‘til her demise, she counts herself to sleep.” Beloved for its highly emotional songwriting, both thematically and sonically, and ambitiously grand scale, I’m Like a Virgin laid the foundation for the huge career that would follow for Manchester Orchestra.
Known for their incredible range in style, the band’s following three albums, 2009’s intensely angsty Mean Everything To Nothing (their first release with longtime guitarist Robert McDowell), 2011’s absolutely slamming Simple Math (first release with drummer Tim Very), and 2013’s headbang-inducing Cope (first with bassist Andy Prince), took on a much heavier sound than their debut, utilizing explosive drums, wailing guitars, and aggressive vocals, while still featuring the solemn tone and contemplative lyrical content essential to the band’s music. After releasing a beautiful stripped-down reimagining of Cope called Hope in 2014, Manchester Orchestra released their biggest record to date, A Black Mile To The Surface, in 2017, which debuted in the Top Ten of four Billboard charts and included the Adult Alternative Songs chart-topping single “The Gold.” The band followed up in 2021 with The Million Masks of God, which continued in the lushly cinematic indie rock direction of A Black Mile, this time with more ambience and electronics, and in 2023 with The Valley of Vision, which took on a more laidback, slow-burn approach.
After the tragic, untimely death of their extremely warm, powerhouse of a drummer, Tim Very, in 2026, Manchester Orchestra has released one previously recorded album from their residency at Union Chapel in London and has taken a break from touring as normal, with Hull and McDowell performing acoustic sets as a duo instead. In a letter to the fans earlier this year, Hull announced that the band has finished recording their seventh studio album and are in the midst of figuring out how to “honor our friend with his final piece of work” and that they will be releasing a twentieth anniversary edition of I’m Like a Virgin on October 16th, which will include a “complete re-recording that the full band has been recording over the last five years.” This fall, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the album that started it all, Hull and McDowell will embark on a small tour where they’ll be playing it front-to-back every night along with songs from the Union Chapel album. Equally as powerful acoustically as with a full band, Manchester Orchestra’s performances hold a high emotional weight and have the ability to transport you to a higher plane of existence, making the show for the album that “holds a special place in [Hull’s] heart for many reasons” one you won’t want to miss.
Catch Manchester Orchestra at Adler Hall on November 12th!!!
How To Get Manchester Orchestra at Adler Hall Tickets
While tickets are currently sold out, you can join the official waitlist here or purchase resale tickets at Vividseats.com.
Location: Adler Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture
Address: 2 W 64th Street New York, NY 10023
Show Time: 7:30 p.m.
Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Ticket Price: $189-$377
Ages: All Ages
