MUSIC IN MANCHESTER

A willingness to experiment, to try the unexpected, has led to this LP launch party being held in what might normally be the viewed as the monied/pretentious/yuppified section of Manchester

A relatively small venue, but one that can still hold 200-250 people, and tonight the popularity of the occasion has led to guests with invites beings turned away

Discretely lit, not too dark, not too bright but managing to sustain an atmosphere between the intimate & intimidating.  The leather sofas decorate the area exuding a laid back, chilled out vibe, ideal for the fare to come.   No formal stage area, merely the re-organisation of a few of the aforementioned sofas ekes out a small corner for the bands to congregate. Much stepping over of monitors and a procession line of miscellaneous hardware - drums, keyboards etc.- is a feature of the night

Running time restrictions mean that most bands can only play two numbers at most, but tonight quality, not quantity, is what really counts tonight

Tribeca have already played by the time I get there, so "Hub" are introduced by MC for the evening Steve Toon. Making their live debut, no traces of nervousness are seen from this 5 piece as they get though their two numbers

There is only Tracy up front for " My Mate Mark", though Bev is in the audience trying to whoop up the audience.   It's only one song from them, but her natural exuberance on stage is magnetic, and she wants to control things as she wants.   So when the crowd gets too noisy, she quickly tells them that, and insists on re-starting from scratch, before taking a lopping, at times dreamy, at others menacing, path though a subtle mix of keyboards, beats, distorting mics & vocals

Chants of "We want Ithaca" break out in anticipation of what is to come. Ithaca serve up two differing slices of their catalogue and for the first time I've seen, a flautist is on stage with them, not for novelty value, but to bring a valued element to the overall sound.

"Sirenes" (French for mermaid) allows Francious to display her rich deep voice, whilst "Romantic" is a more upbeat number, starting slowly but quickly raising the tempo so that hips are swaying and punters are trying their best to dance in the packed area.   In the space of two songs they have got the crowd moving and when they depart, the chants begin again

By this time, Steve's attempts at negotiating the monitor stands appear to be more precarious, and the relief on his face is evident at the end

It was hoped that Johnny Marr could take the stage with TWENTY FOUR HOURS as he originally laid down guitars on "Imagine a Feeling" but recording commitments in Durham hold him back, so Pete Ithaca steps in.   Everything appears to run smoothly, except that the only male vocalist of the evening, Jez Kerr, doesn't know his girlfriend can't get in, and I ain't going to tell him.

A more guitar focused sound emanates, and the realisation that each band is different in their interpretation of the music, but with a similar thread linking the collective, sets in

 
Link to more piccies of
Hub
My Mate Mark
Ithaca
Twenty Four Hours

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