Returning to the cosy environs of Salford’s Sounds from the Other City (SFTOC) festival this week, I am continuing to traverse down towards Salford Central train station. Behind the excellent New Oxford pub, lies the St Phillips Chapel Street Church.
The church is nigh on 200 years old and is a Grade 2 listed building and its architectural style is apparently Greek Revival. In addition to their Sunday services, they also have concerts, recitals, and community activities.
I have seen four gigs there; however, my first attendance was an individual visit on 10/12/10 outside of the SFTOC roster. It was the first time I had visited that area and Uncle George and I had a sally around a couple of local pubs before venturing to the venue. As it was my first Church gig, I was fascinated to see how it would pan out.
It was a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere however understandably toilet facilities were very limited. To my astonishment they served alcoholic beverages including a keg of real ale. We grabbed a drink as it would be rude not to and caught the support band Frankie Rose and the Outs who are a lo-fi indie group. Their driving force Frankie Rose is an ex-member of Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls and the Outs consisted of a further three female members and their sound had a Spacemen 3 dream pop vibe.
Overcoming my ingrained Catholic guilt (it should be considered a medical condition!) from my youth regarding suitable activities in religious buildings, we took a pint of the finest ale to sit in the pews upstairs. We begin to watch a psychedelic rock outfit which was an odd experience in the surroundings we found ourselves in.
The band in question was Wooden Shjips, which has also resulted in a spin off band called Moon Duo. They hail from San Francisco and their sound consisted of long epic guitar wig outs. I have always found this genre of music in equal parts intoxicating but unsettling due to its repetitive psychedelic swirl!
My other three attendances were under the auspices of SFTOC. The first in 2012 was Withering Hand playing under the stage name Dan Willson. He is an Edinburgh based musician and previously played guitar for a group in Bishops Stortford called Tinfoil Circus amongst other bands and he has also supported Frightened Rabbit and King Creosote.
In 2017 I saw Ola and the following year the nattily titled Have you ever seen the Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS? They were a Finnish garage pop rock group with sweet melodies, a very odd combo but also good fun I seem to recall.
Nearby the Church is one of the festival’s central hubs on Bexley Square. Located there was the Bexley Square Live Tent and in there in 2017 I saw Tobi Sunmola. Tobi was a young rapper who hails from Nigeria but is now based in Manchester and appears to be receiving some attention with airplay on national radio. The following year I witnessed Kxngs, an electronic loungecore act from London.
Next door to there in 2017 was the Bexley Square Bar Tent where alongside obtaining refreshments I saw Liohness, a drum and bass act who reside in Bristol.