MARCUS & MARTINUS – LIVE REVIEW -MANCHESTER ACADMEY 2

Norwegian twins Marcus and Martinus made their long-awaited return to the UK this week, bringing their 2026 headline tour to Academy 2.

The venue isn’t the biggest, but it was just right; super intimate, with great views everywhere.

Fans started lining up as early as 6 am, and by 7:30, the line stretched halfway down the street. When I saw they were playing Manchester, I knew I had to make the eight-hour trip down. This wasn’t their first UK show, but before now, they’d only performed in London, so I was excited to finally see them live. I grew up watching their social media content and listening to their viral hit “Heartbeat,” which was everywhere on “Musical.ly” (now known as TikTok) back in 2016/17.

You truly couldn’t escape that song, and hearing it live a decade later felt unreal. I knew we were in for a great show, especially after seeing them in Eurovision. But did it meet my high expectations? Let’s discuss!

One thing to know about Marcus and Martinus, their fans are dedicated. So by the time the clock hit 8:30, and their intro reel began to play on the large screens in the background, the fans were deafening and ready to scream every word back to them.

Kicking off their set with the high-energy track “We Are Not The Same”, the boys came sprinting out, and their energy was unmatched right from the get-go. Joined by two incredible dancers, Jennifer Pacaanas and Miinaa Kjellbom from Toledo Company, the duo was bouncing and dancing all over the stage, hyping the crowd up instantly. After the song ended, the duo spent a few minutes introducing their team, including keyboardist Olle Tidblom, drummer Gurkan Lannebjer, and guitarist Anton Ramsö, as well as their dancers, before diving into the next track, “Bad”, an unreleased song fans have become obsessed with since the tour kicked off about a week ago.

This was the moment you could tell the boys had truly perfected their craft, because each dance movement was perfectly in sync, the vocals were flawless, and the crowd somehow knew every word. This then transitioned into one of their biggest hits, “Girls”, a collab with Swedish duo Madcon released back in 2016. Turning Academy 2 into a dance party, the crowd were jumping along as the boys showed off their best dance moves.

Next up was one of my most anticipated songs of the night, “Gimme Your Love”. Jam-packed with high-energy choreography, musical breakdowns, and insane dance breaks, this was the perfect song to add to the setlist. I strongly believe this track could be the one to get them in the charts if it were to blow up on social media.

The chorus is super catchy, and the beat is irresistible. You cannot listen to this song without dancing along, and that’s what makes it such a fan favourite.

Towards the end of this song, Jennifer and Miinaa took the stage by storm with a phenomenal dance break. They caught my attention instantly and the energy onstage was out of this world.

Shortly after this song finished, it was time for the first interlude of the night, and a video appeared on the LEDs with a series of screenshots displaying hate comments and a video of someone ranting about how much the boys have changed since their older performances.

This transitioned into them performing “Bae”, during which they brought a fan onstage to sit on a chair as the boys performed around her, giving her a super special experience she’s likely to remember forever.

Then it was time for another interlude, this time a super emotional one with Martinus being very vulnerable and sharing how the past few years have been difficult in terms of relationships, detailing a specific experience where he thought he’d found “the one”, but believes he messed up and lost her forever.

This transitioned into the rawest, stripped-back section of the night, with an emotional rendition of their hit song “Heartbeat”, in which Martinus was visibly holding back tears. This was truly gut-wrenching, but the sadness didn’t stop there. The duo then performed a cover of “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak, a track Martinus famously covered during his time on the Swedish version ofthe beloved TV show,‘The Masked Singer.

’By now, the crowd was in a flood of tears, but next up was yet another emotional song. Marcus took to the stage by himself, starting the first verse of ‘When All the Lights Go Out’ alone, with nothing but a mic stand and a spotlight on him, delivering some of the best vocals I have ever heard from him, before Martinus came back on stage as the pace picked up for the second half, shifting the mood back into a party with the crowd jumping along and singing every word back to them.

Next up was one of my standout moments of the show, the performance of “Follow me”, in which the boys turned a bit more sensual, body rolling and perfectly synced movements whilst holding the mic stands.

It was then time for a total mood switch, as the boys left the stage, and another on screen interlude began to play. This time, when the boys came back out, they had changed from all white outfits to all black, before performing one of the fan favourites, “Jinx It”.

The dancers also joined them on the stage once more. However, the real highlight for many fans during this song was probably Martinus taking his shirt off to reveal his back tattoos, abs and muscular figure. The top was thrown into the crowd, leaving many fans fighting to catch it whilst screaming every word back to the duo.

Next up was “Sugar Rush”, quite possibly the most heavily choreographed song of the night. The choreography was excellent, but the vocals didn’t suffer once. Both Marcus and Martinus still sounded flawless. I was blown away.

Then came another one of their mic-ography songs, “Love Flow,” my personal favourite track from their discography. This song is an English cover of “WANT” by K-Pop artist “TAEMIN”, but the boys truly make it their own each time they perform it. The movements are very dramatic, with sensual hip movements, and dance moves all centred around the mic stands, including leans, and signature boy band moves like hand reaches, fingersnaps, the whole package.

You thought the emotional rollercoaster was done? Not yet! The next few songs were heartbreaking ballads with nothing but a guitar or piano backing them, leaving their powerful vocals as the focus. “With You” was my personal favourite of this section. Marcus, in particular, had me close to tears at one point. I have always loved his vocal tone, but the little runs and riffs he included in his sections. This song is an emotional, deeply personal tribute to the twins’ grandmother, who unfortunately passed away before their music career took off. Throughout the verses, they’re reflecting on times they wish they could have shared with her and believing they didn’t spend as much time with her as they could have. This resonated with me super deeply as I lost my grandparents back in 2020 in super tragic ways, and the lyrics of this song choke me up every single time. This song was clearly relatable to members of the crowd ,as the audience was in a flood of tears, holding phone torches up and singing along to every word with their hands on their hearts.

But the pace was very quickly brought back up, with “Air”, their 2023 entry to Melodifestivalen, a competition in Scandinavia to determine who will be representing their countries in Eurovision. The twins placed 2nd with this track, and they made sure you knew exactly why with their performance at the show. The choreography was slick, executed brilliantly and left the crowd even more excited as the show progressed.

Next up came “Diva”, in which Martinus asked the crowd, “Who’s going to be my diva tonight?”, sending the crowd into a frenzy. This was followed by their most suggestive performance to date, as two chairs were brought to the centre stage, and the opening notes of “The Room” began to ring out. With the twins sitting on chairs and the dancers getting up close and somewhat risqué, this was the most explicit the show got, but it didn’t feel cheesy or ‘too much’, and I thought they executed it brilliantly, especially with the audience being mostly young teens.

This track is the one that keeps going viral on social mediafor the performances, and witnessing it live proved exactly why. The choreography in the choruses was super addicting, with the crowd copying their movements, before the boys and their dancers finished up with some more high-energy dance breaks as the crowd clapped and screamed along.

One thing I love about Marcus & Martinus is that they aren’t afraid to make their Scandinavian roots known, and this next track was the perfect way to bring the show to a close. Whilst it was the only one in their native language, the crowd knew every single word, and it was super heartwarming to see. The fact that the crowd love them that much, they took the time to learn each lyric of “Elektrisk” was super special. Especially when Marcus held the mic out to the crowd, and they recited the entire chorus back to the duo as they stood on stage in awe, with the biggest smiles on their faces.

The highlight of this song was after the last chorus, where the boys took time to express gratitude towards the crowd for singing in Norwegian, whilst Marcus asked “We know you can sing like Norwegians, but let me see you jump like Norwegians”, and Academy 2 turned into a rave. The boys started yet another dance break as the crowd bounced along to every single beat, from the front all the way to the back of the room. There wasn’t a single person in there who stood still. And just like that, the night came to a close.

The duo blew kisses out to the crowd, expressed how much they loved them and exited the stage. Then it was time for the encore, which was obviously going to be their hit song “Unforgettable”, which placed ninth in Eurovision 2024. This track marked their transition into a more mature sound with themes of an addictive, somewhat dangerous romance, packed with hypnotic production, electronic beats reminiscent of a nightclub, and super catchy hooks that get stuckin your head instantly. The duo started back-to-back, with the lighting synced perfectly to light up just one of the twins as they delivered their lines of the song, switching back and forth. The anticipation was getting higher and higher as the song progressed, as the boys delivered their last dance break of the night, going harder than ever before.

Martinus, in particular, really caught my attention. He was super comfortable up there, and each move felt natural. It’s clear the pair have been working on his dancing a lot since competing in Eurovision, but I don’t think I expected them to be anywhere near as slick.

They really do have the full package. This show was truly unforgettable. Marcus and Martinus really are one of the most exciting additions to the pop industry, and I cannot wait to see how the next few years go. This was handsdown one of the most impressive shows I have witnessed, especially in a venue of that size. I knew it would be a great show, but this far exceeded my expectations. The pair have been in the spotlight since they were about 12 years old, but now at 23, they’ve matured into true superstars. I reckon it’s only a matter of time until these two play venues double, if not triple the size. With two massive shows coming up at Avicii Arena in Sweden and Unity Arena in Norway, these two are set to become the biggest pop artists in Scandinavia, a region packed with a truly incredible amount of talent, such as Swedish legends ABBA, pop superstars Zara Larsson and Omar Rudberg, and of course, the Eurovision legend, LOREEN. I highly recommend catching one ofthese shows; these two are going to be massive.