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A FIVER'S WORTH OF PIC'N'MIX
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:: Bright Kicks
:: Freedom Of The City
:: Stop The Blackout
:: Dilettantes ::
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02 July 2010 / Moho / Manchester
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By David Edwards
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Going to see an unsigned gig where you are utterly unaware of any of the bands is one of the most equally worrying and wonderful experiences for any music journalist to circumnavigate. I mean; if you get the chance to see a signed band, you generally expect them to be worthy of the time and attention (There are clearly exceptions. Most of them relating to The Kooks). And when it’s a band you know, you’ll get the songs you love. Even if they’re half-dribbled out by a shell of the former genius you knew (What was that, Mr Jagger?) they still retain a deep-rooted emotional connection and serve for endless anecdotes commencing “I remember seeing them in Scunthorpe in 1973”. The risk of an unsigned night is that you get a bunch of slack-jawed, slack jeaned morons cobbled together from the rancid DNA of Northern Uproar and something that Liam Gallagher left in the toilet while recording “Little James” shouting out nonsense to idiots more concerned with the slant of their hat than the shape of their soul. Equally, you can see something so stupefying that you spend the thirty minutes watching awe-struck at something so intense, innovative and exciting that you feel physically shaken. Plus there’s the added frisson of the natural human scavenger response: “I’m the first to discover these”. In truth, the vast majority of grass-roots musical scouring finds you exploring the middle of this space rather than the margins. But there’s always that spark, that thrill, that first-kiss sense of anticipation that keeps you going back again and again.
Moho Live is always a good option in these particular circumstances. Cheap entry and two rooms to provide an opportunity for Manchester’s smaller acts to grace stages that host some of the biggest local and national bands. And welcoming us onto the main stage tonight are FREEDOM OF THE CITY, drawn together from the embers of former top local act The SilverStones. And they can play, they can seriously play. The whole thing grooves along with precise, intelligent and whip-hip intensity; The Sunshine Underground after better dancing lessons. But the growl and sneer encased in lead singer George Brown’s vocals is 100% pure-grade Mancunia; wit and sneer, animosity and accord. Simon Goodwin’s beats are laser-guided, the bass snaps and slides around and caustic guitars batter out waves of inner-city frustration. It’s something genuinely thrilling to hear, a band taking on the challenge of adding a dance beat to guitar music and pulling the whole thing off with style to spare. Their final song is an absolute beast of a track; loud, chaotic and mesmerising. Judging from the frenetic crowd at the front, I’m not the first person to get quite how good this is. And having seen it for myself now; I certainly don’t think I’ll be the last. One of the most promising local acts I’ve seen all year.
It’s a Friday night and no-one wants to stay still. There’s something in the air that envelopes Piccadilly and the surrounding area that adds a little spice to the backbone and a snap to the heels. So maybe it’s time to take a little stroll to Room two and take in a little funk courtesy of BRIGHT KICKS then. They’re a bit like RHCP might sound if they’d been born and raised in Longsight rather than Los Angeles (Actually, has anyone ever seen Frank Gallagher and Anthony Kiedis in the same room? Thought for the day…). And you comprehensively enjoy every minute they’re playing for you. Lead singer Bobby Magee does a great blue eyed-soul turn with shuffling dance moves to match while the band themselves revel in all sorts of stop-start funk and soul grooves. It slinks and glides on talcum powder whilst retaining both a scuffed Northern charm and velvet Motown finesse. The only shame to be considered is the fact that it’s confined to the smaller room. Though it’s certainly intense amongst the crowds of delighted dancers; you do get the opinion that they would thrive more on the bigger stage with more room to strut and stroll. But the band make great work of what they’ve got; leading the crowd in an intense and taut workout that shakes the blues out of the week and welcomes in the weekend in glorious style. So who says white boys can’t play funk, eh?!
I only catch five minutes of DILETTANTES but it turns out to be a bloody good five minutes. When I first come in, they’ve got the whole crowd skanking to an acoustic version of “Just Be Good to Me” before launching into a fizzing slab of Libertines/Buzzcocks gutterpop-punk. They look like they couldn’t give a fuck about the cool kids and you don’t doubt they’ve got a cracking record collection. Check them out.
STOP THE BLACKOUT have been building a following around the North-West for some time now and have are starting to attract some significant tour support slots and national media attention. It’s easy to see why; they’ve got a superbly encompassing live sound with echoing, towering guitars and choruses that beg to be yelled rather than sung. When it’s good, it’s extremely good; early U2 and stadium sized ambition filter through cracks of purest yearning into glorious, epic reservoirs of sound. But equally, they occasionally sound like they’re going through the motions; with some of their other offerings unable to quite live up to their predecessors. It borders on frustrating at times: their best is immense, their least is simply acceptable. Which by itself wouldn’t be such a problem; the irritant is that it is profoundly clear that when they hit their peaks, they are worthy of incredulity and admiration, but at other times they are “just another band”. And they are clearly better than “just another band”. A bit more pruning, a little ruthlessness and a twist on the quality control dial could turn them swiftly from also-rans into leading contenders.
I’m going to finish this off with a plea. People spend so much money in this day and age on expensive festivals and gigs. I won’t debate the ethics of mainstream gig prices; you pay £40 to see a Premiership Football match so paying £30-£40 to see a genuine A-List band is not daylight robbery in my eyes, whatever the purists may say about the times when you could walk into a gig with £5, see Joy Division, The Sex Pistols or The Clash and have enough money left for a pie and pea supper on the way home. Those days are gone, shit happens. But alongside the vast amounts you empty out your pockets for seeing these gigs; keep a fiver tucked away for a night out checking unsigned bands. It supports the local promoters, gives encouragement to up and coming bands and keeps live music going in your city. You may see some utter tripe but well, that’s what the bar is there for. And who knows, you might see your new favourite band before anyone else has heard of them (Mark my words, it’s more thrilling than any arena show). All the greats started off playing tiny shows to a handful of people and a half-empty hall. They grew because people got what they did, went home all starry-eyed and ranted non-stop to their friends about how life changing it was. They need you. Local music is the heartbeat of everything. Without it, there’d be no Glastonbury, no Academy, no Apollo, and no M.E.N Arena. No Nothing. So next time you’re stuck for something to do on a Friday, give a few unknown kids with guitars a shot. Who knows what door you might be letting yourself inside…
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Resources:
Stop The Blackout
Freedom Of The City
Bright Kicks
Dilettantes
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Orphan Boy..
The Graveyard Shift..
Golden Glow..
DILE..
Sad Day For Puppets..
Arcade Fire..
Who Shot Who?..
Bare In The Woods..
Tweak Bird..
Fuzzy Lights..
BLACKLISTERS..
Beats & Pieces Big Band..
The Smiles & Frowns..
Islands Lost At Sea..
Backahyard..
Human Fly..
The Lines..
The Scottish Enlightenment..
Caspa..
Luke Hirst..
The Strange Death Of Liberal England..
Heat Vs Light..
Crass..
Oceansize..
Faithless..
Feeder..
Sky Larkin..
Darker My Love..
The Slow Readers Club..
Birthrite..
Tom Edney & The People Pleasers..
The Bottletop Millionaires..
The Nearlys..
Orphan Boy..
The Lightstreams..
We Are Willow..
Daniel J Nixon..
Mount Fabric..
Kyte..
Extradition Order..
BackPageFirst..
Orphans..
Beat The Radar..
Stu Morrison..
Laboratory Noise..
The Mysterons..
Les Cox Sportifs..
Black Cab Casino..
Charlotte Gainsbourg..
The Chemical Brothers..
Feeder..
The Xcerts..
The Gaslight Anthem..
Orbital..
Sound Of Guns..
Twin Atlantic..
Rush..
Wildbirds & Peacedrums..
The Wave Pictures..
Delays..
The Pipettes..
The Tamborines..
Archie Bronson Outfit..
Above Them..
Oasis..
Anathema..
Being 747..
Holy Fuck..
Everything Everything..
Alex Hulme ..
Fuzzy Lights..
Anna Kashfi..
Beads..
Bugs In Ember..
The Commune Of Rochefourchat..
The Missing Link..
Lotte Mullan..
Joe Galen..
The Real Dolls..
Cotheria..
Jaca..
Merchandise..
Faithless..
Charlotte Gainsbourg..
The Paddingtons..
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip..
The Gaslight Anthem..
Lethal Bizzle..
The Drums..
Young Rebel Set ..
Sub Focus..
Stornoway..
Pendulum..
Kill The Captains..
The New Pornographers..
The National..
Tunng..
Delays..
Slow Club..
Fuck Buttons..
Charlie Barnes..
Hurts..
Borland..
Various Artists..
Team Ghost..
Various Artists..
Luke Hirst..
Dead Confederate..
Lost From Atlas..
Ensnared..
The Exhibition..
Castrovalva..
Kyte..
Quack Quack..
The Lodger..
Clubsmith..
Carrie Flower..
Run Toto Run..
I Am Three..
Glass..
The Safires..
SupaJamma..
Exit Calm..
Love Is All..
Paul Weller..
Mr Fogg..
Sparrow And The Workshop..
Mr Fogg..
Codeine Velvet Club..
Biffy Clyro..
Being 747..
Black Sabbath..
Glass..
Lifescreen..
City Reign..
High Roller..
Transmission 13..
Exit State..
Obsessive Compulsive..
Ayatana..
Danny Mahon..
May 68..
Nowhere Again..
Daniel Burt..
Black River..
The Rising Hours ..
The Alfa Binding Theory..
PLANK!..
Islands Lost At Sea..
Freedom Of The City..
Casual Riot ..
Straight Lines..
Plan B..
The National..
The Loves..
Crazy Arm..
Sound Of Guns..
Kill The Captains..
Tunng..
The Hidden Cameras..
Duke Special..
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip..
My Luminaries..
The Miserable Rich..
The High Wire..
Cymbals Eat Guitars..
Islands Lost At Sea..
Xtra..
The Hicks..
The Nearlys..
The Lucid Dream..
From The Kites Of San Quentin ..
Deadtapes..
Young British Artists..
Tim And Sam's Tim And The Sam Band With Tim And Sam..
The Heartbreaks..
Eight Legs..
The Paraffins..
Trouble Books..
Knievel Genius..
Still Flyin..
You MeAtSix..
Wolfmother..
Placebo..
The Hush Now..
Plasticines..
Hammer No More the Fingers..
French For Cartridge..
Straight Lines..
Various Artists..
The Who..
Los Campesinos!..
Shearwater..
Efterklang..
Oh No Ono..
Charlie Winston..
TeenagersInTokyo..
Sir Yes Sir..
Inego..
The Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra..
Last Harbour..
LoneLady..
The Ambersons (The Magnificent Ambersons)..
Richie Syrett..
Tidy Hooker..
Benjamin Shaw..
Plasticines..
Eight Legs..
Husky Rescue..
The Irrepressibles..
Vampire Weekend..
Marble Valley..
You MeAtSix..
Ian Dury..
First Aid Kit..
Yeti Lane..
Standard Fare..
Lets Go To War..
Is Tropical..
Sub Focus..
The Hush Now..
Thomas Dybdahl..
Simian Mobile Disco..
Biffy Clyro..
Charlotte Gainsbourg..
Maps..
LoneLady..
Anna Kashfi..
The Chameleons..
Gary Fulton..
StateDancer..
Delphic..
Airship..
Jo Rose..
Hurts..
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NOW WAVE AUTUMN GIG FRENZY...
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