The Andrew Law Hall at Aviva Studios in Manchester was svelte, dark and intimate, and probably the most formal venue I’d personally seen Grace Petrie play. As she put it, when she played in Manchester, it was typically in places with ‘stickier floors’.
This was a particularly special show for LOUD WOMEN: Grace Petrie played the very first LOUD WOMEN Fest in 2016 and has been part of the LOUD WOMEN story since the beginning. From the moment she marched across the stage to fervent cheers and applause, armed only with her guitar and harmonica, it was clear it was a special show for most of the room that night too.
The set opened with the anti-Tory anthem ‘Farewell to Welfare’, a searing takedown of the savaging of the welfare state under the coalition government, updated for the modern, equally bleak era to include a raucously received reference to the Mancunian in Number 10. As a proud wool, I felt obliged to point out that Andy Burnham is, in fact, a Scouser, but that minor detail didn’t detract from the fact that things have arguably got worse since the song’s release 16 years ago.
As Petrie herself pointed out:
‘I’ve been writing protest songs to make the country a more tolerant and left-wing place and I’ve been doing that for 16 years and I think, if anything, I’ve made things quite a lot worse.’
But the wry cynicism of ‘Farewell to Welfare’’s opening verses burst into the sharp defiance she is known for, carrying into the heartfelt and rousing ‘Storm to Weather’, ‘a rallying call for any particularly storm-battered socialists in the crowd’. She instructed the audience in a hearty call and response, and the mood took off.
In just two opening songs, Petrie had masterfully done what her music does best: rallied the troops. With humour, frustration and compelling sincerity, she worked the crowd like she was leading a labour march and built a sense of hope and connection in a way few can. She skewered the failings of the government and admonished the division and hatred that seemed to have Britain in a chokehold, but she never let herself, or her audience, descend into hopelessness. Her defiant resilience was contagious and the optimism among the crowd was palpable as revellers hollered, cheered and sang in unison.
With her signature self-awareness and tongue-in-cheek wit, she moved deftly from politics and protest towards reflective vulnerability with the raw sincerity of ‘Nobody Knows That I’m a Fraud’ and ‘No Woman Ever Wants to Be a Muse’, while ‘Iago’, a devastating anthem for the anxiously attached among us, struck a particularly tender chord.
Through ‘Black Tie’, ‘This World’s a Fixer Upper’ and ‘The Losing Side’, Petrie met us in the trenches without an ounce of defeatism and pulled us out, reminding us of the urgency of coming together and fighting for a better future for everyone, even if we don’t get to see the fruits of our labour in our lifetimes.
‘It’s pretty hard to stay hopeful but it’s important that we do. It’s not only possible, it’s essential, and the most radical act of resistance that we have available to us.’
Among a catalogue of beautiful, inspiring and transformational songs, the highlight of my evening was ‘The Distance’, Petrie’s tribute to her decrepit Vauxhall Cavalier. As someone who had just dropped the best part of £500 to patch up my Grandad’s 20-year-old Mazda, this sentimental love song to a failing heap of metal could not have been better timed.
Grace Petrie at Manchester’s Aviva Studios – photo by Ailish O’Leary Austin 
Grace Petrie at Manchester’s Aviva Studios – photo by Ailish O’Leary Austin 
Grace Petrie at Manchester’s Aviva Studios – photo by Ailish O’Leary Austin 
Grace Petrie at Manchester’s Aviva Studios – photo by Ailish O’Leary Austin 
Grace Petrie at Manchester’s Aviva Studios – photo by Ailish O’Leary Austin
I knew there was a love story, and a touching metaphor for finding your way to the one you love no matter what, in there. But the validation of my decision to funnel money into a car I can’t actually drive, along with the overwhelming atmosphere of optimism and people power that enveloped the evening, was exactly what I needed.
With Grace Petrie, I was reminded that some music is simply meant to be experienced live. Across the course of the evening, she commanded the stage and carried us through an inspiring and considered tour of her greatest hits, classic Bandcamp gems and most rousing protest polemics, ricocheting expertly between seething political takedowns, inspiring odes to community and moments of sheer vulnerability.
Whether you’d never heard her music before or had seen her a hundred times, whether you arrived downtrodden and hopeless or ready to get to work, Petrie sent us back out into the world feeling a little more capable of doing something about it. If there was one thing we all needed that night, and that she provided in buckets, it was hope.
Grace Petrie is on tour across the UK during October:
The Fire Station, Sunderland – 8 October 2026
Epstein Theatre, Liverpool – 9 October 2026
The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh – 14 October 2026
Dukes, Lancaster – 15 October 2026
Foundry, Sheffield – 16 and 17 October 2026
The Gate, Cardiff – 21 October 2026
St George’s, Bristol – 22 October 2026
St Petroc’s Church, Bodmin – 23 October 2026
Phoenix, Exeter – 24 October 2026
Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth – 29 October 2026
The Y Theatre, Leicester – 30 October 2026
Gulbenkian Arts Centre, Canterbury – 31 October 2026