MUSIC IN MANCHESTER
	JJ72 ROADHOUSE 23/3/00

Propelled by the fervor of hype, the 72’s take the stage to an audience expectant with eager anticipation of the entertainment that they belive they will receive.

After all, aren’t they the pretenders to the crown of `Darlings of Rock’n’Roll’? Yet things don’t always work out the way they are supposed to and tonight is a bit of disappointment. If they had appeared in Manchester as they were supposed to, before they became darlings of the inkies, then the promise of `October Swimmer’ would be all that these punters would have to base early opinions on, and this performance would have built upon the early promise. 

Instead they have been written up as one of the bands destined to be huge. They themselves seem to know that they will not change music, but bullshit baffles brains It doesn’t help that they have been preceded by a band who have managed to stop them talking at the bar with a dynamic performance But with Mark Greaney using his distinctive, broken glass vocals at full throttle from the start, and continuing all through the set, even the during the section when Hillary Woods & Fergal Mathews leave the stage whilst he does his solo spot, each song merges into one another, there’s a lack of variety & subtlety.

Maybe it’s because they are still learning the trade, and how to react to an audience and pull them on your side when they appear lifeless waiting for a signal from the band to click into life is never easy

Sometimes the energy displayed by the punters provides the inspiration for the band, but this time the relative torpor and lack of movement appear unshakable and seems to spread to the band

Maybe this is the ideal time for them to take stock for a minute and make a decision on how to try to build on the initial energy and promise they undoubtedly have  

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