Amigo The Devil & Nate Bergman @ Gorilla, Manchester, 12th July 2024

I genuinely didn’t know what to expect from tonight’s gig. I’m a latecomer to the storytelling genius of Danny Kiranos, aka Amigo The Devil, a man who can be compared to Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash. He blends poetic singalongs with honesty and intensity, bordering on the morbid at times, but he’s amassed a dedicated fan base, as the sold-out Gorilla in Manchester is bursting at the seams.

To start the entertainment off, we have Nate Bergman, a one-man singer songwriter who comes out to a raucous rock track before announcing ‘it’s great to be back in Manchester’. Bergman is an American who gets irony, evident from the beginning when he starts chatting with the crowd, ‘let’s take a few moments to get to know each other, as I couldn’t afford to bring a band, so you guys are going to have to help me out’.

A huge clap along gets him started off, straight into the wonderful War On The Working Class, his smooth voice putting smiles on everyone’s faces, just him and his guitar and he’s met with generous applause. He encourages a sing-along on the chorus of Wish I Was and he smiles before saying ‘this is as happy as the set gets’. He tells a story about how he was at rock bottom one year ago, before Danny dragged him to Nashville and saved his life, as he sings the heart-warming Deep End.

Then one of the highlights of the night for me, and a very special moment for Nate, as he tells the story behind Ode To Manchester how he was trapped in the Manchester Central Travelodge when Covid struck, getting down to the bar every day at 9am, and watching the world around him collapse, thousands of miles from home, and it was the first time he’d been able to sing this song in the city he has a great affinity with, and it was perfect in every way.

We are then treated to an emotional song about his horrific break up with an ex, Sweet Elle before the acoustic led Back To Nashville and we, the crowd, had to replace the gospel choir that he chose to record it with, and he lets out an excessively loud scream of ‘fuck yeah’ as we do a fine job. It sadly ends with another brilliant song Into My Arms and he encourages everyone to come upstairs to the merch stand for a chat.

There is a genuine buzz of anticipation as Amigo The Devil walk onto the stage. The plaid shirted trucker cap wearing trendy bearded masses have assembled to see their returning hero, all waiting to be entertained, and we would not be disappointed, as the gentle strumming of Small Stone begins the set, before bursting into life, ‘I’ve missed you Manchester’.

A grinning Amigo looks around the venue, ‘God Damn, we’ve sold out this place, fuck!!!’ He tells us about his band and songs being about a mix of good people and favourite vices, one of which is a game as they launch into Murder At The Bingo Hall. The crowd are loving it, singing along at every opportunity, the song has so much energy about it, and of course, so much dark humour, which is one of his most endearing qualities.

‘I gotta make a change real quick’ as he goes acapella with just his banjo, It’s All Gone followed by Cannibal Within, a song which he wrote when he was having a think about his own life and where he was at. He reflected on his time living in Queens Creek, a suburb of Pheonix, ‘don’t cheer that place, or cheer for Nate, he knows how good he is’ and the endless parties they had which led to Once Upon A Time At Texaco Pt 1. Words fail me at this part, because there isn’t a superlative around for me to describe how much I enjoyed this song, and the crowd were loving each second. A wonderful gig moment.

‘It would be really cool if shows were just 30 mins long’ the joking frontman proclaims, before we get a song full of double entendres about going down to the waffle house, (work it out for yourselves folks) and then another funny anecdote and subsequent song about kids at a previous gig who had no idea what an orgy was. Hilarious in every way possible.

A sad moment next as Amigo announces that he had to have his Boston terrier put to sleep a few weeks ago, and how he used to miss it when he was on tour, before he plays the soft, gentle and atmospheric Cocaine & Abel which was sung beautifully. ‘To be honest, we don’t know what we are doing’ laughs the frontman, ‘I feel like a little pot-bellied fucker – these lot aren’t pot-bellied, but I am’, as the passionate Stray Dogs kicks in.

We then get to hear a new song, which has the title emblazoned on the back of his tour t-shirts, My Body Is A Dive Bar another amazing song full of charisma and witty lyrics, the classic being ‘my face is a bar stool waiting for you to sit on’. The band take a quick rest as they’ve eaten something bad and aren’t feeling to well, ‘I’m ok though, as I’m pickled’ but he encourages them to bring some shots back when they return.

I was told about Amigo’s humour before the gig, and how he gets the crowd hanging off his every word with his tales, and the one that leads into I Hope Your Husband Dies is nothing short of captivating. One of his best friends, starting dating another man, ‘my ego got bruised man’ and he wrote it, he played it to them, even his nan told him it was bad, and he promised to stop ‘trying to fuck his wife’ even though he tried. A few months later, the bloke died, and we get called ‘sick fucks’ for singing the chorus with such glee and passion, as he smiles throughout the song. Another magnificent moment in a night of so many.

Shots now consumed, Hungover In Jonestown, a song about community and how to lose it gets an airing before ‘I hate encores, they are like adult hide and seek’ and the glorious Hell And You gets the crowd in full sing-along mode. A clearly elated Amigo shouts, ‘what the fuck?’ after a long, loud and thoroughly deserved cheers and applause.

After introducing his band, he says, ‘make a circle man’ and off he goes, grabbing the mic and performs the final song in the middle of the crowd, armed with his banjo, ‘these moments make it all worthwhile’. He plays a song he doesn’t usually play as people thought it was glorifying violence, but it was the first song her ever wrote as Amigo The Devil, and Perfect Wife is sung surrounded by his adoring masses.

The crowd clearly don’t want this to end, so he says to stick around for a few beers, and like that it was over. This one will live long in the memory, as it was a night of sheer unadulterated brilliance from Nate Bergam and Amigo The Devil.

Amigo The Devil

Nate Bergman

Scribed by: Matthew Williams
Photos by: Lee Edwards