There’s always something extra in the air when a hometown hero steps back onto familiar turf. For Zack Breen, The Hara’s guitarist and Leyland lad made very good indeed, The Ferret in Preston was never just another tour date on the map. And the crowd knew it.
The Manchester alternative metal trio arrived on the back of The Fallout, their second studio album released in January via Mascot Records, and from the first note it was clear this was a band who had grown into something formidable. Frontman Josh Taylor took to the stage shirtless, his heavily tattooed frame commanding the room, layers of chains catching the stage light as he moved with a coiled, restless energy. Gone is the longer hair of previous tours — both Josh and Zack have embraced a sharper, closer-cropped look that feels entirely in step with the harder, more focused record they’ve made. This is a band that has shed the skin of its earlier self and emerged leaner, more purposeful, and considerably more dangerous.
Zack’s playing throughout was a masterclass in controlled aggression. As the sole stringed instrument in the trio — covering both guitar and bass duties — the weight he carries in the live set is immense, and he carries it with the kind of quiet authority that only comes from genuine ability. Dressed in a sleeveless top emblazoned with crosses, his expression locked in focused stillness while the music raged around him, Breen was a compelling presence — the perfect counterpoint to Taylor’s unbridled intensity at the front.
The Fallout material landed with real force. Tracks drawn from the new album — including Trophy, Kings, and Monsters & Demons — hit harder in a live setting than even the record suggests, the sheer physicality of the band translating every bit of the catharsis and urgency Josh has described as the album’s core. When the crowd surged forward, phones raised, faces lit up in the blue-tinged haze, it felt like something that genuinely mattered to the people in that room.
What made the night exceptional, beyond the musicianship, was the intimacy. The Ferret has no barrier between stage and crowd — and that’s the point. Taylor stepped down to the very edge of the stage, reaching directly into the mass of people pressed up close, locking eyes with those right in front of him, breaking down whatever distance remained between performer and audience. In the smoke-filled, blue-lit moments between songs, the room felt entirely in his hands.
There were quieter moments too — a leather-jacketed, more contemplative section mid-set revealed another dimension to Taylor as a frontman, his delivery in those passages every bit as compelling as the full-throated, all-out intensity that bookended them. It’s a dynamic that separates The Hara from many of their peers: they know when to pull back, and that restraint makes the heavy moments hit even harder.
For Zack Breen, coming home to Preston meant playing to people who’ve watched the journey from the beginning. For the rest of the room, it meant witnessing a band at the very top of their game. The Hara are not a band for the background. They demand your full attention — and on this evidence, they’ve more than earned it.
The Fallout is out now via Mascot Records.
Photos by David Beech Photography
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