Tag: Manchester Soup Kitchen

Manchester 74 Soup Kitchen – Part 2

I recall being sat in the Soup Kitchen bar in early 2017 when I knew that we would soon be relocating to Manchester, in the background I could hear the distinctive intro theme song to Marc Reilly’s 6 music show and for some odd reason that very event made the upcoming move feel infinitely more authentic!  

In Feb 2015 I unearthed a diamond when we saw Ex-Hex there, coincidentally my 550th gig. They are an all-female garage rock trio from Washington DC and had just released their terrific debut album ‘Rips’.  Uncle George’s reaction was priceless, he watched silently for the first three tracks and then spun round and exclaimed ‘where the hell did you find this lot Jim?’. The justification for his infectious enthusiasm was due to a compelling performance by the band, inciting memories of previous forbearers The Runaways and the Slits.

Ex-Hex. Image Credit The Daily Telegraph

They had supported the legendary Rocket from the Crypt and I also saw them on a later tour double billing with the Jacuzzi Boys. On this night they were supported by Princess, an arty American band who could be loosely labelled in the ‘math rock’ category.

The next band on the roster was The Cheatahs, who unusually had Canadian, American and German members but were based in London! I had first picked up on them via their excellent self-titled debut album evoking highly favourable comparisons to the seminal Sugar album ‘Copper Blue’. After releasing their second album, they sadly disbanded in 2016.

For the first half of the gig the sound was shambolic as it could not cope with their sonic attack. The second half was very enjoyable and perhaps their finest track ‘The Swan’ was especially glorious. They were supported by a Brighton psychedelic rock band called Novella.  

The Cheatahs. Image Credit Genius

In May 2016, Babeheaven were on the roster. The London duo produced introspective electronic pop music and finally issued their debut album in 2020 called ‘Home for Now’. Later that year I witnessed Trudy and the Romance, a three piece from Liverpool, previously they were simply called Trudy. They were perhaps best quantified in the country blues bracket. 

In February 2017 the weather gods did not smile on us as there was a huge storm that evening, but we just about managed to navigate into and out of Manchester on the infrequent trains left available. I am glad we did because Julia Jacklin was excellent with her uniquely soothing voice. She was brought up in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney in Australia which we have fortunately had a chance to visit. She deservingly now receives a lot of radio airplay.

I then saw Jakl (Hughie Gavin) who was a singer/songwriter from Margate. I have just read a story about him where his dad was hospitalised with a Covid coma, he wrote a specific song and played to him every day, his father woke up a week later and sang the melody of the song back to his son as it was the only thing he could recall when he was in the coma.

Next up was multi-instrumentalist Jacob Allen who was originally a bedroom recording artist from South London who plays under the stage name of Puma Blue. He was followed six months later by Fizzy Blood, an indie rock band from Leeds.

I made two further visits in 2019, the first being a six-piece synth band from Manchester called Mealtime. They were in the LCD Soundsystem mould and have been garnered quite a bit of media attention since then.

The second was a four-piece named Two Weeks in Nashville, whose sound leaned heavily into the 1970’s genre. Their moniker derived from an inspirational holiday they took in Tennessee’s capital city which reinvigorated their musical ambitions. My latest attendance was on 02/04/22 as part of the Fair Play Festival to see a local artist called Tyler Crude.

Manchester Venue 74 Soup Kitchen – Part 1

The Soup Kitchen which has recently been rebranded simply as Soup resides deep in the Northern Quarter on Spear St, within stumbling distance of the Night and Day venue. During the Covid apocalypse an eminently sensible decision was made to pedestrianise the nearby Stevenson Square area to create a European style outdoor seating vibe and thankfully this ethos has been retained post-pandemic.

Manchester Soup Kitchen. Image Credit Pinterest.

The upstairs room is laid out in a canteen style with long wooden benches to create a communal atmosphere. It has decent but slightly overpriced tucker available and has a plethora of craft ales to imbibe. Downstairs resides the venue with a small bar to the right and stage to the left with a 150 capacity. When approaching the room limit, it can get very busy down in the slightly damp cellar setting.  The unisex toilets would be best quantified in the ‘basic’ category, but it all adds to the grungy allure of the place. They have a lot of upcoming bands and DJ’s who frequent their busy live roster.

I have attended Soup fourteen times in total and first heard of the venue when the much-hyped Milk Music from Washington DC played there on 17/05/12. They had only released a couple of early singles by this stage, and they had an engaging slacker vibe about them, despite the venue only being half full. There was little audience participation until they somewhat oddly woke from the slumber on the last song to create an impromptu mosh pit!

I must say since this gig the band completely dropped off my radar until I began researching this article and was surprised to find they are still in existence. I am just now listening to their debut album ‘Cruise Your Illusion’ which has shades of Neil Young, Dinosaur Jr and Meat Puppets therein which sounds like a tidy combination to me. They were supported on the night by an appearance from Eagulls who I cited in last week’s Beacons Festival review. They were my only two viewings of the Leeds based band, coincidentally within a couple of months of each other.

Milk Music. Image Credit VICE.

Many of my attendances have been part of multi event wristband events such as Dot to Dot or Off the Record festivals and one such appearance was a couple of years later to see Remember Remember. The Glasgow band was initially the brainchild of Graeme Rowland who released a 2008 album with participation from other collaborators. By the time I witnessed them in 2014 they had morphed into a seven-piece band and had just released their third album ‘Forgetting the Present’, before they subsequently split the following year.

They were on Rock Action roster run by Mogwai, with whom they had supported. They were also in the fully instrumental post-rock genre, but they were of a gentler variation than their label counterparts and I enjoyed their show.

A year later I saw Worriedaboutsatan from Bradford, their name deriving from a track by Belgium band Deus. They were formed by Gavin Millar around 2006, before being joined by Leeds College of Music pal Tom Ragsdale. They have a crossover post-rock/electronic template and have supported luminaries such as 65daysofstatic and Maybeshewill. They garnered considerable radio airplay, and their music has also somewhat bizarrely been featured on Coronation Street!