When announced, tickets sold out within a week. Fresh, new band The Wytches took the Deaf Institute in Manchester by storm, their support covering a variety of genres, played a night to remember during their UK tour promoting their debut, ‘Annabel Dream Reader’.
The first support act came from East London’s newest act on the grunge scene, Claw Marks. Recently signed to Sexbeat, they boast contemporary riffs similar to that of Danish punk band ‘Iceage’, and with a stage presence and pedal board worthy of American rockers ‘Fat White Family’.
Playing a selection of songs from their debut, ‘05.19am Gone Weird’, Claw Marks showed great promise as they created a lively atmosphere amongst the audience through dance moves that can only be described as somewhat unique.
Telegram, an Anglo-Welsh band, with the help of record label Heavenly’s Temples and The Voyeurs, are collectively trying to invigorate the psych-movement, making it new and fresh for the 21st century. With a pedal board worth more than my house, Matt Saunders (vocals, guitar) & Co. attempt to excite the audience with hits like ‘Follow’, a concoction of psych and krautrock.
When they first grace the stage they have a presence somewhat similar to a deflated balloon; I think this was expected as The Wytches and Telegram are in NO WAY similar, a totally different scene, a nice portrait of these guys would appear next to the definition of ‘indie’ in a newly updated dictionary. About two songs in it’s as if people actually remember who they are, after gaining some popularity within the Manchester indie elite after their supporting spot for The Horrors at The Royal Albert Hall, a Twitter storm helped the band become a bit more visible within a sea typically average ‘indie’ bands. Their soft melodies seem to enchant the crowd, making them almost unaware of the carnage that awaits them when The Wytches take centre stage, they depart after a half hour set much to the audience’s dismay, an almost audible sigh spread throughout the room as Saunders clambers off the stage with scarce movement, clearly restricted by the band’s ‘drainpipes only’ rule.
The atmosphere a tense huge mass of angsty teens awaited a night of gruesome garage-psych, hungrily clambering towards the low-level stage to catch a glimpse of the trio hidden by knotted hair. Kristian Bell plays the familiar twanging notes of ‘Burn Out the Bruise’ and an intense shift in mood grips the audience as absolute chaos encaged in the 205 person venue follows. The screams of Bell accompanied by sharp licks of guitar assisted by a ‘Big Muff’ pedal ignites a buzz amongst the frenzied masses as they incautiously hammer against the creaking wooden floor boards of the Deaf Institute, whilst passionately reciting the lyrics word for word as if they themselves had written them. The Wytches, made up of lead guitarist and vocalist Kristian Bell; drummer Gianni Honey and bassist Daniel Rumsey, originating in Brighton, formed in 2011, they have steadily grown throughout the surf-psych genre building a massive dedicated fan base along the way. With releases such as their ‘Gravedweller’ EP and singles ‘Burn Out the Bruise’ and ‘Robe For Juda’, it has invoked ravaged punks to reminisce over 80s/90s era whilst updating and constantly refreshing the rock music scene.
Plunging into Beehive Queen, The Wytches know the crowd is theirs. A gigantic pit forms, enthralling the entire crowd, encased in absolute darkness apart from the occasional blinding strobe flashing against the bewildered eyes of the riff-hungry onlookers. The trio doesn’t seem daunted by the task; their performance seems almost effortless as Bell stares from beneath his hair-cloaked face savagely plucking at his Jaguar. As they approach the end of their set an unexpected second wave of buzz fills the air, regardless the audience have been throwing themselves around for the past two hours to the ‘doom-filled’ beat produced by the ‘goth crew’ as they have been deemed amongst certain circles, I think their 50 shades of black clothing might have been the influence. As the last note is played of ‘Crying Clown’ The Wytches slowly exit the stage, an immediate backlash of screams and rhythmically failing chants clutter the air, unfortunately these persistent yells demanding ‘more’ came to no avail as it seems they have adopted a no encore policy. However disappointing this may be it is something I admire them for, until a couple of years ago I didn’t know acts would separate a couple of songs from the rest of the set list, leaving these for the encore they know will come. This for some bizarre reason bothers me, knowing when one of my favourite acts have left the stage and I have been on the verge of losing my own voice due to my repeatedly shouting, aching in every possible sense for more, it has all been for nothing when either way they will perform for a second time. Perhaps they too feel the same.
Set list
1.Burn Out the Bruise2.Beehive Queen
3.Gravedweller
4.Jigsaw
5.Holy Tightrope
6.Wide at Midnight
7.Darker
8.Who Rides
9.Riding On Horseback in the Desert
10.Tricks and Dance
11.Crying Clown
George and James x xxx x x x xXxX x
JAWS WITH SUPPORT FROM FICKLE FRIENDS AND BRAWLERS – 22/09/14 – DEAF INSTITUTE
I love that feeling you get right before a gig, excitement mixed with a sense of absolute terror as you contemplate the multiple injuries you will return home with as a souvenir of your night. I definitely felt this for JAWS, since buying the tickets in early August it had been all I had thought about, especially that Monday afternoon whilst struggling to keep my eyes open during History.
JAWS were playing at the Deaf Institute, and if you any of you have had the pleasure of venturing there before you will know what a cool venue it is, from the exquisite wallpaper to the cosy seated area at the back of the small concert hall.
My friends and I decided to slump back at the benched area to let the 'young ones' waste their energy upon what turned out to be a pitiful first support act. Named 'Brawlers', they echoed crappy music and styles way past their time. The lead singer opened with a song named 'I'm a Worthless Piece of Shit', self-explanatory and not much can be said as this was the perfect name, not only did it describe their music well but also their stage presence. He did try hard I give him that, but trying to start a mosh pit for your own band? Really? Have some dignity for Christ sake, their 30 minute set (which was utterly painful throughout) dragged on and died a merciless, pitiful death as he encouraged the crowd of about 50 to rhythmically chant "fuck Leeds!" for no apparent reason. With a couple of failed microphone catches and some clear technical difficulties as we could hardly hear the poor (apparently bald and around 40 years of age) guy sing as the volumes were incorrectly set it is pretty clear JAWS had made a bad choice of support.
The second support act was a different story entirely, filled with funky, poppy, swim deepy before they got shit guitar riffs they kept the crowd mesmerized. I can estimate their pedal boards alone probably cost more than my house. 'Fickle Friends' are an upcoming band from Brighton who just recently released 'Swim', which you can hear below or alternatively on my new SoundCloud playlist.
https://soundcloud.com/ficklefriends/swimsingle
Finally Connor Schofield and the rest of the gang crept on stage greeted by the cheers of the funk hungry fans screaming song demands. They opened with 'Be Slowly', Schofield being his usual shy self said very little. Playing a a mixture of new tracks and old songs from EPs like 'Donut' and 'Toucan Surf', JAWS were very eager to please. They certainly succeeded along with exhausting the rest of the crowd with their 'groovy', energetic beats.
There is no reason not to catch JAWS the next time they're in town.
THE LIBERTINES – 05/07/14 – BRITISH SUMMER TIME/LONDON
The reunion of The Libertines has been a popular topic for sometime now, with Pete Doherty's tweet of 'l' numerous rumours were spawned, questions asked. By some sort of godly-miracle The Libertines reformed. An announcement of a headline slot at British Summer Time, a festival held in Hyde Park, London, supported by Irish legends, The Pogues soon followed.
A nationwide countdown dictated many lives of the hard-core, loyal Libertines fans who have prayed for this moment for years after the bro-mance between Barât and Doherty came to a painful end in 2004. With a promising recollection in 2010 things were looking up but nothing came out of the performance at Reading and Leeds Festival.
Opening with a strong rendition of 'Vertigo' the boys showed they were back and back with a bang, promising a brilliant performance for the thousands of dedicated fans trekking it to London to witness this beautiful reunion. However the second song (Boys In A Band) of their 24 song set their performance was called to a halt due to the crowd being crushed at the barriers. A delay of 10 minutes followed with a warning issued by Doherty, "we can't carry on if you don't calm down a little bit."
Awhile later fans climbed the sound towers in aim to get a better view, repeated warnings were issued and further delays followed, looking around I could see people getting a little bit 'pissed off' to say the least. Huge black letters appeared on the screen, 'Please get down from the delay tower', yet fans persisted. Powell and Hassall had left the stage to allow Barât and Doherty to play a stripped-down version of 'France' which was interrupted due to the climbing of the towers. Barât then shouted at fans as the delays continued: "If you don’t stop climbing the towers, Pigman can't do his solo."Unfortunately due to continuous delays the song was never played in full.
The atmosphere was electric as The Libertines approached the end of their set however there was a lingering feeling of dread as many have waited for this for months and it is finally coming to an end, a historic event you really had to witness. A beautiful celebration of music in a fabulous setting.
As the gig came to a close the boys shuffled into a line to salute the mass of people gathered to witness the recollection of four ridiculously talented men, Powell bellowed: "You are all amazing and you are all Libertines."
Set List:
'Vertigo'
'Boys In The Band'
'The Delaney'
'Campaign Of Hate'
'Time For Heroes'
'Horrorshow'
'Begging'
'The Ha Ha Wall'
'Music When The Lights Go Out'
'What Katy Did'
'The Boy Looked At Johnny'
'Can't Stand Me Now'
'Last Post On The Bugle'
'Love On The Dole'
'Death On The Stairs'
'Radio America'
'Don't Look Back Into The Sun'
'Tell The King'
'Up The Bracket'
'What A Waster'
'France'
'Albion'
'I Get Along'
THE LIBERTINES – 05/07/14 – BRITISH SUMMER TIME/LONDON
The reunion of The Libertines has been a popular topic for sometime now, with Pete Doherty's tweet of 'l' numerous rumours were spawned, questions asked. By some sort of godly-miracle The Libertines reformed. An announcement of a headline slot at British Summer Time, a festival held in Hyde Park, London, supported by Irish legends, The Pogues soon followed.
 |
| Photo Credit: NME |
Opening with a strong rendition of 'Vertigo' the boys showed they were back and back with a bang, promising a brilliant performance for the thousands of dedicated fans trekking it to London to witness this beautiful reunion. However the second song (Boys In A Band) of their 24 song set their performance was called to a halt due to the crowd being crushed at the barriers. A delay of 10 minutes followed with a warning issued by Doherty, "we can't carry on if you don't calm down a little bit."
Awhile later fans climbed the sound towers in aim to get a better view, repeated warnings were issued and further delays followed, looking around I could see people getting a little bit 'pissed off' to say the least. Huge black letters appeared on the screen, 'Please get down from the delay tower', yet fans persisted. Powell and Hassall had left the stage to allow Barât and Doherty to play a stripped-down version of 'France' which was interrupted due to the climbing of the towers. Barât then shouted at fans as the delays continued: "If you don’t stop climbing the towers, Pigman can't do his solo."Unfortunately due to continuous delays the song was never played in full.
The atmosphere was electric as The Libertines approached the end of their set however there was a lingering feeling of dread as many have waited for this for months and it is finally coming to an end, a historic event you really had to witness. A beautiful celebration of music in a fabulous setting.
As the gig came to a close the boys shuffled into a line to salute the mass of people gathered to witness the recollection of four ridiculously talented men, Powell bellowed: "You are all amazing and you are all Libertines."
Set List:
'Vertigo'
'Boys In The Band'
'The Delaney'
'Campaign Of Hate'
'Time For Heroes'
'Horrorshow'
'Begging'
'The Ha Ha Wall'
'Music When The Lights Go Out'
'What Katy Did'
'The Boy Looked At Johnny'
'Can't Stand Me Now'
'Last Post On The Bugle'
'Love On The Dole'
'Death On The Stairs'
'Radio America'
'Don't Look Back Into The Sun'
'Tell The King'
'Up The Bracket'
'What A Waster'
'France'
'Albion'
'I Get Along'
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