Tag: Murder Capital

Manchester Venues 209 to 210

Alongside many other likeminded music fans, I have always had a strong affiliation with records shops from an early age. Everyone will have their own tale of how they obtained the latest vinyl that they desired in their formative years, either via a local or national chain or somewhere broader based like the bargain basket at Woolworths.

In my youthful days in Preston there was Bradys and also House of Records on the upper floor of the indoor market, though the jewel in the crown was always Action Records down on Church Street where I spent my ready cash. The shop initially opened in 1981 and remains to this day under the tireless stewardship of Gordon Gibson.

I would also at this stage like to take the opportunity to pay homage to Gordon’s comrade in arms Allan Atkinson (Big Al) who worked with him all throughout that period. He passed away a couple of years ago, and I remember chatting to him at many local gigs, he was a thoroughly decent chap and a gentle giant.      

Big Al. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

In relation to Manchester, I have covered Piccadilly Records in extensive detail in previous blogs so in this article will initially concentrate on Manchester Fopp Records. The Fopp story began with an English geezer called Gordon Montgomery opening a one man market stall in Glasgow in 1981 armed with the commendable ethos of competitive pricing.

The name was derived from a 1975 track by funk band The Ohio Players off their third successive platinum selling album ‘Honey’. The bands influence carried forward sufficiently to be sampled/re-recorded by Salt & Pepper, Snoop Dogg and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.  

Fopp’s stature peaked in 2007 with over 100 UK branches after they took over Music Zone. However, soon after they encountered financial difficulties and went into administration before being taken over by HMV but retaining their name. They later moved under the ownership of Canadian record chain Sunrise Records. There are now only six shops remaining in the UK, though a new one was opened in Nottingham in 2024.

Fopp Records Manchester. Image Credit recordshop.directory

The Manchester branch is located on Brown Street, just off the main Market Street shopping area and opposite the Norfolk House blood donor centre. In August 2019 I randomly visited and headed downstairs to purchase the latest Hold Steady release.

Whilst I was perusing their wares, I heard the unmistakeable sound of an electric guitar going through a sound check process. With my interest now piqued I looked around and noticed for the first time that there was a bit of a gather, and it was instantly obvious that there was a band about to play a promo set.

I rapidly checked their website and was pleased to discover the act literally right in front of my eyes was Murder Capital, who I had heard on 6 music radio the previous evening. They are a five piece post punk combo who had formed in Dublin the year before and were promoting their debut album ‘When I Have Fears’ which was only 4 days old.

They had a mean and moody aura about them which I admired, and they could certainly play but their music was admittedly a tad dour for me. The lead singer edged out of the room as the final song began to fade, presumably to prep for the signing session that took place upstairs. They shortly after headed out on a sold out UK and European tour, so I was fortunate to catch them in such a small setting.  

Manchester HMV first opened its doors on Market Street in the 1980’s where it was wedged between Topshop and Thomas Cook with a C&A branch close by. It later moved to its current location within the Arndale Centre. Like many other record shops, they have periodic live acoustic shows, and I attended one there in June 2024.

HMV in 1981. Image Credit manchestereveningnews.co.uk

After queueing up and obtaining my pre-purchased CD with enclosed ticket included, I headed upstairs to where the makeshift stage was located. The band performing was The Mysterines who I had kept a close eye on ever since their excellent debut album ‘Reeling’.

They are Liverpool based and have a powerful lead singer in Lia Metcalfe, who despite having a sore throat belted out the tunes and I very much enjoyed their abbrievated set. Unfortunately, a couple of months later they at very short notice cancelled their headline European tour and have not been heard from since. Hopefully they will reappear at some future point.  

Warrington Festival 2021

This is a particularly exciting blog for me to pen as is it is the first one that involves attending gigs after the fateful March 2020 date. This was not quite my first post pandemic gig but details the first festival I attended when we were allowed to do so again! This year’s Warrington Festival was pushed back from its original date to 04/09/21 but despite the autumnal date the weather gods smiled on us.

I had looked at the Warrington event previously, but this year Marcus and I decided to make an appearance to catch the Saturday bill. Transport options were weighed up because as you know I never drive to a gig and the most feasible was train there and taxi back.

The local train was fine but the Manchester to Warrington leg was extremely busy resulting in us being jammed in between carriages with a worrying lack of mask compliance. It was a huge culture shock and felt more claustrophobic than normal due to the COVID connotations. It was such a welcome relief when the door finally opened at Warrington Central station.

Warrington is a place I have rarely visited despite it being handily placed on the West Coast main line and I always link it geographically with the shopping hell that is IKEA. I can only recall one distinctly average night out years ago and my abiding memory was the plethora of Greenall Whitley pubs!

We sallied over to the venue of Victoria Park, about a 15-minute walk from the station. En route, we grabbed a comfort break in a Wetherspoons hostelry, though no supporting drink was purchased as a protest against their rather shameless Pandemic approach to their staff. As we departed, we noticed there was a Green Day covers band playing at an outdoor stage in an adjacent pub Postern Gate, we listened to one of their jaunty tunes, then headed onwards.

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Warrington Postern Gate. Image Credit tripadvisor.co.uk

On arrival to the site and due to my permanently guilty expression I was obviously subject to a full search, bringing back memories of regularly being refused entry to nightclubs when I was younger! It was a busy site, but it was very well proportioned with three stages at good distances from each other.

We spent much of our time at the Big Top stage. The first band we witnessed was the Big Moon, an all-female 4-piece from London who have previously supported the Pixies on tour. They cut a gentle engaging presence and when they played a Fatboy Slim cover they nearly had me in floods of tears. It wasn’t that track, it could have been any song, it was the realisation at that point that I was back doing something I love after the horrendous period we have all been through. I managed to recalibrate, have a slurp of my overpriced beer and everything was back on an even keel!

Continuing the maudlin theme because as I pen this article, I have just heard of Mark Lanegan’s untimely death at the age of 57. I must say this one has hit me hard, with the same resonance of Grant Hart’s passing, as I was a huge fan of Screaming Trees. I have read his brutal unflinching autobiography detailing his troubled soul and addictions and was fortunate to see him live four times. However, his legacy will live on with his utterly unique vocal delivery and stellar albums such as Dust and Bubblegum. 

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The idiosyncratic Mr Lanegan. Image Credit malapu-pro.com

The next band was the much-vaunted Murder Capital, the post punk group from Dublin. They didn’t quite cut if for me as their music was somewhat dour and directionless, I much prefer their city counterparts Fontaines DC. They were followed by the Gang of Youths from Sydney, Australia. I had been privy to some of their material beforehand and placed them firmly in the Triffids bracket thereby having decent expectations. They had their moments, but the lead singer David Le’aupepe loved himself a little too much, not even in a semi-ironic way!

We grabbed some food and began chatting to a young engaging couple from Stoke. A worrying aspect of the conversation was that they had no firm plan of how they were going to travel home at the end of the day, I wonder where they are now!

The Viola Beach stage was the next port of call where we had earlier seen Lona. The headliners were the Orielles from Halifax and despite their main vocalist Esme Dee Hand-Halford losing her voice early in the show their slightly wonky intelligent sound was as enjoyable as ever.

As we had walked round to the entrance earlier, we had heard the unmistakable summer sounds of the Coral on the Main Stage drifting over the perimeter fence. We caught a smidge of Sam Fender and the days special guest Jake Bugg.    

The main headliners were James and we headed down closer to the front and caught most of their set before heading off to our taxi rendezvous. The traffic on the Warrington streets was chaotic and as a result we were relieved to eventually find our ride. Unfortunately, he then made a wrong turn and diverted us down the M60 instead of the correct M56 route adding an extra 20 miles to the journey. Fair play to him, he took it on the chin and no extra fee was incurred and I subsequently arrived home around midnight.