Tag: Pray for Mojo

2024 Gigs – Part 3

I always manage to catch some random performances in venues around Oxford Road train station prior to heading home. One such venue is Manchester Grand Central where in May I saw a band called Level Up, in September I witnessed Throwback, in October I caught Ben from the Block and a month later Warrington act Pray for Mojo. The latter combo provided a pleasing slab of psych rock in the vein of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.  

The other venue in that vicinity is the old stalwart Manchester Thirsty Scholar. I visited the Scholar in August and October where I saw a couple of double acts called Alvin and Rob and Sid and Benny. Jenny Jazz followed at the tail end of October.

My final attendance in December was part of the Year’s End Festival on a monsoon style rainy day where first up on stage were a noisy garage rock band called Redchecks. They are a Welsh act who are now based in Manchester, but somewhat confusingly formed in Glastonbury in 2021.

Scatterchild. Image facebook.com

The other performers were locals Scatterchild who had recently released their debut album ‘An Everyday Landscape’. It was possibly the busiest I have seen the pub in all my visits, and we snuggled into a spot perched on the bar. It turned out be my last gig there prior to the recently rebadging of the hostelry into O’Connells Irish pub, still thankfully staging live music.

Another venue of the Year’s End festival roster was Manchester Retro Bar Downstairs Stage. It was only my third visit to the cellar and as it transpired my last as the venue is now closed for good after a thirty-five-year tenure. It is due to be demolished soon to make way for the Sister regeneration project which aims to generate 10,000 jobs and 1500 new homes.  

Retro however are still aiming to relocate and set up in a new site and are apparently exploring possible locations in this regard. The band on stage were called Wren and they cut a very heavy presence with their noisy sludge metal and it is the kind of music your Granny may love!  

The final festival venue to reference was further down Oxford Road at Manchester Deaf Institute Lodge. The first act I saw was Meelik who were most definitely the first ever band I have seen from Estonia. I then undertook some research on famous bands from the northernmost of the Baltic states and the intriguing name that caught my eye was the punk band called Bedwetters!

Meelik. Image Credit escbubble.com

Meelik fall more into the indie genre and are literally a high school band formed originally by their guitarist, Rain. Confidence in their musical ability was initially gained after winning one of their school song competitions. They had a break from 2011 to 2022 before reforming and entering their national Eurovision Song Contest qualifiers where they obtained a fourth place. On stage they wore school uniforms though they avoided Angus Young comparisons by the virtue of them wearing long pants! They were rather quirky, and I enjoyed the portion that I saw of their set.

The other act was Nadia Sheikh who is a Spanish/British singer and songwriter now based out of London. She self-released a slew of singles prior to obtaining a coveted 19 date support slot for Stereophonics on a sold out tour including dates at Manchester and Cardiff Arena. She had a heartfelt expressive voice which was overlaid over an indie backdrop sound.

There were also acts playing in the Manchester Deaf Institute Music Hall. First up was Kynsy who was probably my favourite performer of the whole day. Outside of her stage non de plume name she is known by her family as Dublin born, now London based lass Ciara Lindsey. She gained her musical stripes as a teen in an all-female rock band before branching out as a solo artist and received many favourable reviews. I liked her soulful voice and heartfelt tunes, and she reminded me of Hatchie.   

Kynsy. Image Credit NME.com

The other artist playing was Orphan Boy, a combo from Cleethorpes but now based in Manchester. Upon sighting them, I had a sense of déjà vu which turned out to be justified as my annals informed me that I had seen them twice before, once at the Wickerman Festival in 2008 and the other at the Mad Ferret in Preston.    

There was one additional visit to the Music Hall in August when I saw Southall, who are sometimes also known as Read Southall, reflecting the founding member who hails from Oklahoma. The sextet is strictly in the country rock mould and have released four albums in total since 2015 and the lead singer also has a likeness to the old crooner Mick Hucknall.

Although I can never reference the latter named without casting my mind back to Mark and Lard’s infantile but humorous Ancient Customs CD in 2010 where the singer, actor and comedian Bernard Wrigley (nicknamed the ‘Bolton Bullfrog’) undertook ‘Two Ronnies’ style readings on top of musical accompaniments with titles such as ‘Humping the Hucknall!

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.