Tag: Manchester Blues Kitchen Bar

2024 Gigs – Part 4

In March I made another pilgrimage to Manchester Band on the Wall where I went to see BDRMM for the second time. I will cover the band in more detail when I review my first sighting of them on what turned out to be a chaotic night at Manchester White Hotel.

I thoroughly enjoyed their set, but the downside was that it was exceedingly busy with no wriggle room to gravitate from your chosen slot. Uncle George, John Dewhurst and Riggers were in tow, and I recall pre-gig drinks at Northern Monk Refectory MCR and Smithfield Market Tavern and pre-gig tucker at Viet Shack.   

Manchester Northern Monk. Image Credit reeceleung.com

Around the time of the Cheltenham Festival and St Patricks Day I was on the way to another gig, and I happened to catch a portion of the House Band at Manchester Blues Kitchen Bar and a segment of the set of a singer/songwriter named Harriet at Manchester Albert Schloss. Later in the year I saw a couple of other acts at Albert Schloss when they had regular daytime gigs taking place to coincide with the student graduation season.

The gig I was indirectly heading towards was at Manchester Albert Hall and was preceded by imbibing a couple of bevvies in the Sir Ralph Abercromby located in an alley right behind the venue. My Albert Hall attendance was to see the Pixies for the fifth time and my ticket was booked prior to realising that they were playing ‘Trompe Le Monde’ and ‘Bossonova’, my least favourite of their albums as my personal highlight of theirs has always been ‘Surfer Rosa’.

Having said all that, it was beneficial to reappraise these records and there is some belting tunes sporadically dotted about on them including on the night fine versions of ‘Velouria’, ‘Allison’ and ‘Planet of Sound’. I have also just clocked that earlier this year they released a live album of the shows on that tour. They were supported by The Pale White who were a three piece from Newcastle who include in their ranks brothers Adam and Jack Hope. 

A small matter of eight days after I returned to the venue to have my latest sweet fix (Some Candy Talking?) of Jesus and Mary Chain. I have in the last month travelled past the 40th anniversary of my attendance at their legendary gig at Clouds in Preston on the 6th of September 1985.

Preston Clouds attached to Preston Odeon approximately 1981. Image Credit facebook.com.

There was a posse of seven gathered in the afore mentioned Sir Ralph Abercromby prior to the show for beers and badinage. They started with a bang with ‘Jamcod’ and ‘Happy When It Rains’ and completed the main set with a flourish of ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ and ‘Just Like Honey’. I also had the veritable treat of finally catching up with fellow local music aficionado Cath Aubergine at the conclusion of the gig. The night as many before it culminated in the Temple of Convenience bar.    

In October I had my final 2024 visit where I saw Public Service Broadcasting performing. They were as ever at a decent level but was probably my least favourite viewing of them across the four times I have witnessed them so far.

There were two appearances at Manchester Ritz, bringing my total there to 37, which places it in third place on my most attended venue list. The first was the Australian band Jet who formed in 2001 and disbanded in 2012 before two separate reformations, the second one preceding this tour. They were playing their original popular first album ‘Get Born’ and it was around 15 years since I saw them previously in the same venue.   

The other gig was with the stellar company of Rick Clegg and his daughter Charlotte and her pal Laura. We went to the newly reopened and revamped Grosvenor pub on Oxford Road with the obligatory visit to the Umami noodle bar close by. The band playing was English Teacher from Leeds, led by the charismatic singer Lily Fontaine. Their debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’ had recently won the 2024 Mercury Prize, thankfully breaking a nine-year stronghold of London-based musicians winning the award. They were a quirky bunch and very enjoyable.

English Teacher. Image Credit nme.com

The final show of the year to reference was at Manchester Night and Day and came to my attention via some musical gurus on Twitter (now X) before I decided like many others to ditch that poisonous platform. Marcus and I attended, and we watched a portion of that night’s Euros 24 match in the boozer beforehand.

The band was the Reds, Pinks and Purples which is the brainchild of Glenn Donaldson who is also a photographer and record collector. He is a prolific singer/songwriter exemplified by writing 200 songs and releasing seven albums in seven years. When he is playing live, he is part of a five-piece band comprised of musicians from his San Francisco home. He has a soothing evocative voice and was one of my favourite gigs of the year. He was supported by Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse band who hail from Kentucky.

2023 Gigs – Part 1

Continuing the theme of previous years, I will now cover the 2023 gigs attended at venues already reviewed in previous blogs. Because I am sure you are desperate to know lets firstly cover the numbers bit! It turned out to be a record breaking year in that I attended 128 gigs in total which also encompassed 70 new venues.

So, I shall start with the familiar haunt of Manchester Academy 2 and cover my 41st and 42nd visits to that venue. In the cold depths of mid-winter in January Marcus and I headed there to witness the Delgados who are a four-piece band from Glasgow who produce some imaginative music. They formed in 1994 before disbanding in 2005 and then subsequently reformed in 2022 hence this comeback tour.

The Delgados. Image Credit nme.com

I had seen them once before on our honeymoon at Dublin Mean Fiddler in 1998 where they were on an excellent double bill with Nottingham’s Six By Seven. I thoroughly enjoyed their current incarnation as they cut an engaging presence on stage in front of a responsive crowd just glad to witness them back on the gig circuit and their tour culminated with a date in their home city.

The other attendance to Academy 2 also involved a further lengthy gap from my first sighting, in this case 20 years and one week exactly from when I witnessed the Northern Irish combo Therapy? at Preston Mill. Now to be fair I have always been fairly ambivalent about this band and their show on the night unfortunately didn’t alter my viewpoint.  

Prior to the gig there was an obligatory visit to the nearby mecca Manchester Big Hands where they periodically have live bands playing at the end of the room. That night I encountered a noisy Warrington psych rock band called Pray for Mojo who earlier in the year had graced the stage at Manchester Psych Fest. In 2022, they had released their debut album titled ‘Welcome to Mojopia’. They were supported by Swamp Kids.  

I shall now return to the Academy complex with a visit to Manchester Club Academy with the more than welcome return of the Raveonettes. The Copenhagen duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo were back on the circuit after a 4 year sabbatical. They were in fine form and played a greatest hits set with my personal highlight being one of their early singles ‘That Great Love Sound’. They were supported by local noiseniks Dr Dr.   

The Raveonettes. Image Credit discogs

Prior to night one of my Mogwai triple bill (over four nights and two cities) Gill and I grabbed a table and had an aperitif in the Manchester Blues Kitchen Bar. The act on stage whilst we primed ourselves for the upcoming aural assault were called Cry Wolf.   

The next gig derived from my very learned musical twitter (I still call it twitter!) pal @parramaterial who recommended Black Doldrums on their latest tour that included a date at Manchester Gullivers. Thus, the troops were enlisted and four of us popped over to have a gander and they were wholly worthy of the effort. Black Doldrums are a North London trio who released their debut album ‘Dead Awake’ in 2022 and they created a hugely enjoyable psych shoegaze cacophony on the night.

Black Doldrums. Image Credit louderthanwar.com

In June I had a foray over to Manchester Didsbury Park Green for the summer festival where a lass called Sally Smith was playing.  The following week another twitter recommendation resulting in four of us attending Manchester Yes Pink Room to watch Screaming Females. Their driving force was Marissa Paternoster who initially formed the band in 2005 at a high school in New Jersey.

Obscure fact time, she was referenced as the 77th greatest guitarist of all time in the Spin magazine in 2012. They released eight albums in total, all on the terrifically named Don Giovanni record label. I happened to catch them and their very decent stagecraft on their final ever tour as they subsequently broke up later in the year. 

The next two gigs to cover took place at Manchester Ritz where Tony Dewhurst, Rick Clegg, Barry Jury and I (Gang of Four) went to watch the Gang of Four who entertained with their angular post-punk sound. In October we managed to purchase tickets to see the Pretenders and the eternally youthful Chrissie Hynde. Unusually, on arrival the queue snaked back to beyond the Sainsburys on the corner, but we managed to enter the establishment just in time for their excellent show and her voice still sounds terrific. She dedicated one song to Johnny Marr, who was in the audience watching on his birthday.