Tag: Dot to Dot Festival

Manchester Venue 191 Gorilla – Part 2

Manchester Gorilla had a coup a few years ago when none other than Kylie Minogue requested to play two intimate European dates prior to her upcoming arena tour and she chose to play Berghain in Berlin alongside the Gorilla. I believe as a result the tickets went like hot cakes!

My next visit to describe was the exceedingly welcome reformation of Rocket from the Crypt (RFTC), who in my personal view were the best live band on the circuit for a couple of years in the late 1990’s and was the first time I had witnessed them in twelve years. They were still in fine fettle, and I enjoyed the show.

Manchester Gorilla. Image Credit Visit Manchester.

The driving force of RFTC is the lead singer John ‘Speedo’ Reis, who owns the Swami record label and has also been in several other bands over the years including Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Sultans, Night Marchers, Swami and Hot Snakes. In January 2018 I saw the last named act who serve up a more stripped down sound than RFTC where John was more in the background and during the first track dampened down the ‘Speedo’ chants from the admittedly sparse audience. They produced an urgent, vibrant and thoroughly enjoyable performance.   

On a cold January night in 2015 we trogged over to see Neneh Cherry for the first time. She was born in Sweden under the name of Neneh Mariann Karlsson and her half-brother is musician Eagle Eyed Cherry. She has punk heritage as a 15 year old member of the Slits and around that time roomed with lead singer Ari Up in a squat in Battersea. In 1989, she had a huge hit with ‘Buffalo Stance’ and has also dabbled in DJing and broadcasting.

She cut a spiky intriguing presence and was a veritable bundle on energy on stage and we very much enjoyed the show however we unfortunately had to scamper off early to guarantee we could catch a train home.   

The Slits. Image Credit billboard.com

Next up was Parquet Courts, a four piece from New York who met whilst at university in Texas. They were touring to support their fifth album ‘Human Performance’, for which the art and packaging of that particular release garnered a Grammy Award nomination.

Later that year, I had my latest dose of the unique Lovely Eggs who were in fine form. It was Gill’s first exposure to them, and she was swiftly converted. They were supported on the night by the Hornblower Brothers, who have nobody named Hornblower or any brothers in the lineup! What I can tell you is that they had more than a passing resemblance to Half Man Half Biscuit. A couple of years later in 2018 we saw the Eggs again there and they marked a milestone as it was the first time I reached a century of gigs in a calendar year.   

The next one on the roster was a band that I had been chasing for a long time, but events always seemed to conspire against me when they announced tour dates. The act in question was Mono, an instrumental band from Tokyo. They formed in 1999 and have released eleven albums in total, and my favourite is the epic titled ‘Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined’. In 2005 they took the unusual route of releasing a split album with the aforementioned Pelican and restricted the recording to vinyl and only 4000 copies.

They have more of a lush classical sound then their post-rock compatriots. They are seated when they play live, but they are definitely not Westlife as they break into some noisy sonic guitar sounds when the muse takes them. The only remaining band of this ilk who I have still not seen is Built to Spill.

Mono were joint headliners with French post-rockers Alcest, who started originally as a black metal combo before moving into less abrasive territory, and their sound evoked comparisons with My Bloody Valentine.   

Mono on stage. Image Credit asiapacificarts.org

In April 2018 I witnessed the Madrid majesty of the Hinds. They were originally a two-piece called Deers but risked legal action from The Dears so changed the name to their current moniker, but to a degree retained the original as it can be translated in some languages to ‘female deers’. They then morphed into a four-piece and released 4 albums before resorting back to a duo in 2023.

They are firmly in the garage rock domain with lovely harmonies and were terrific fun and had a fine stage banter and presence. My most recent attendance at the venue was in 2025 to see the band again for a second time. In 2019 I had my second sighting of Fontaines DC who were very entertaining again and were supported by Cut the Mustard.

At the final ever Dot to Dot festival later that year I saw Crows who provided some thunderously loud abrasive post-punk. Their latest album ‘Reason Enough’ was recorded in a former Catholic church and convent in Stroud and their lead singer James recently fronted the band Humanist on their arena support slots for Depeche Mode. Finally in May 2024 I saw Maybeshewill, a post-rock band from Leicester who I enjoyed as much as the previous time I had seen them at the Ferret in Preston in 2011.

Now, for the very eagle-eyed (not Cherry!) among you, you will have noted that I have only documented seventeen gigs at the venue, the eighteenth I will document next time in its own specific article, and the reasons for this will then become apparent.

Manchester Venue 191 Gorilla – Part 1

On Whitworth St, directly opposite Manchester Ritz and within a literal stumbling distance from Manchester Oxford Road rail station you will find Manchester Gorilla. The venue is uniquely situated under a railway arch and was previously the arts, theatre and comedy site The Green Room back in the 1980’s. On the comedic front Alan Carr, Steve Coogan and Caroline Aherne graced that stage and James and Doves played early gigs there.

When that business closed the Trof Group took over the running and Gorilla initially opened its doors in 2012. Its future looked extremely perilous during the pandemic, but thankfully a new owner was sourced and that saved the day, and it is now linked to its sister site of Deaf Institute nearby on Oxford Road.

Gorilla. Image Credit discover.ticketmaster.co.uk

There is a tidy little bar at the front of the venue but there is no access from there to the gig space, apart from sometimes being directed by ‘Rock Steady’ to exit gigs through this bar area. The actual entrance is around the corner under the tunnel, and a few stairs brings you into the main room with a 550 capacity. 

It is a well laid out space with a merchandise stall to the left and the extendable/removable stage at the bottom of the room. However, like many other locations it can be arguably too busy when at full capacity, presenting logistical challenges when trying to access the two bars and even move around!  It also has a raised platform at the back of the hall with a smattering of elevated seats.

It generally provides good sound and local lad Johnny Marr talks very warmly about the venue and has actively encouraged his peers to include a touring date there. They have regular club nights with promoters such as Guilty Pleasures and Now Wave.

I have attended eighteen gigs there over the years with my first show being British Sea Power in April 2013. I have now seen them six times in total, and this was my second sighting 11 years after I discovered their unique stagecraft at the Leeds Festival in 2002. I recall them being introduced on stage by 6 music DJ Marc Riley.

Near to the culmination of the set, I nipped to the loos which are positioned behind the stage and encountered a chap dressing up into an eight-foot polar bear outfit. Before you ask, nobody had put anything suspicious in my beer, it was actually a tradition the band had at the stage of their career where a couple of bears would parade around the mosh pit during the encore!   

The bears and the band in action. Image Credit NME.

A month later, I returned as the venue was part of the roster for the sorely missed multi venue Dot to Dot festival. On that particular day I saw the aforementioned Marc Riley faves Teleman. The original germination of the band was the three members Pete Cateermoul and the Sanders brothers, Johnny and Thomas who were part of Pete and the Pirates. After they disbanded, they were joined by drummer Hiro Ama and became Teleman in 2011. I have always thought they have an intriguing sound, and they lived up to that in a live setting.

Also performing were the Wildflowers who were formed in 2012 and based in Brighton and Bristol. The driving force is main songwriter Siddy Bennett and her sister Kit who had an interesting bohemian upbringing via living on boats, caravans or in protest camps. They have a country punk sound and were coined in the early days as ‘Punk Dolly Parton’s’. Their breaking moment was a set they played at South by Southwest festival in Austin Texas that inspired Detroit label Original 1265 Records to sign them up. I could hear diverse elements in their sound ranging from Mamas and Papas to White Stripes.  

Next up was the old troubadours Nada Surf where the gig was completely sold out and they were touring their latest album ‘You Know Who You Are’ and were in as fine form as ever as they have now amassed a quality back catalogue. 

In August 2014 Gill and I headed over to watch Joan As Policewoman, whose stage name was a homage to the 1970’s television cop show called Police Woman starring Angie Dickinson. Her actual name is Joan Wasser who was adopted at a young age and was musically precocious as she had piano lessons at the age of six and violin tutelage at the age of eight. She started her professional musical career in the Boston University Symphony Orchestra.

Joan as Policewoman. Image Credit blogspot.com

Then to paraphrase Neil Young around the time of his commercial peak of recording ‘Harvest’, who was quoted as saying ‘It put me in the middle of the road, travelling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there’. Joan adopted this ethos literally as she was jaded by the classical structure so did a full U-turn and morphed into being a member of various punk bands.

She suffered personal heartache in May 1997 when her fiancé of three years Jeff Buckley accidentally drowned in Memphis. At the time we saw her, she had just released her fourth solo album ‘The Classic’ but surrounded herself with a touring band for the live dates.

In March 2016 I saw Pelican for the second time after their staggeringly loud show a few years before at the Ruby Lounge venue across town. They are classed in the post-metal genre; there is literally a label for everything! They are entirely instrumental and produce long slabs of glorious brutal noise and three of their members are also part of the band Tusk. The show wasn’t as intense as the previous one, but still very good.