Tag: Preston Ferret

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.

Preston Venue 60 The Ferret – Part 4

The stage in the Preston Ferret is immediately to your right as you enter the building prior to accessing the bar. There are stairs taking you upstairs to the loos and there is a standing capacity of around 200 and you normally have an excellent unrestricted view of the bands from wherever you positioned, even when it is packed. The stage was originally placed to the left before being moved and my personal preference was its first positioning as it felt to me to be a more aesthetically pleasing lay out as it was further from the entrance door, but that is just my humble opinion.

The current stage position. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

In June 2015 after a long emotional day at my Uncle Danny’s funeral we sought some musical solace and the first act was a terrific post rock band from Guadalajara called Polar Dream, a lazy journalistic term could be to quantify them as a ‘Mexican Mogwai’, though they additionally incorporate drone, Latin, Indian and Turkish shades into their mix.  The South American theme continued with the intriguing atmospheric guitar shades of Fauno, a forward-thinking band who were a key influencer in the music scene in Brazil.

My final gig visit of 2015 was to see Bobbie Peru again with the other band being Pete Bentham and The Dinner Ladies. The latter are an art punk ‘Kitchencore’ combo with the Dinnerettes (Peggy Bread and Patti Cakes) in their ranks and idiosyncratic song titles such as Sensitive Lorry Drivers, Rude Statues and Goth Postmen. In February 2016 I caught a band called Young Recreation.

Polar Dream. Image Credit gigseekr.com

A couple of months later, I saw Flight of Arrows who are a four piece whose members are split between Preston and Sheffield. They had performed at Kendal Calling and bagged support spots with the Strypes and 1975.

The headline act was Vyrll Society from Liverpool who formed in 2013 and were originally named Dirty Rivers. They were highly touted but from a personal viewpoint they left me a bit cold. A couple of years later they released their anticipated debut album ‘Course of the Satellite’ containing the single ‘Andrei Rublev’ in a cultural nod to the famous Russian painter and not the tennis player with an almost identical name! That coincided with headlining a UK tour culminating in a sold-out hometown gig. It came as a surprise then that shortly after the front man Michael Ellis called it quits citing the old chestnut of ‘creative differences’, it is unclear whether the band is still operational.

Vyrll Society. Image Credit dansendeberen.be

 In June 2016 my next appearance featured the band Jordan Allen, who started out as a solo artist. They had an Arctic Monkeys feel about them and a couple of years later they had the privilege of playing at the historic St Johns Minster in the city alongside the Sherlocks.

Later that year I witnessed a rather good math rock outfit called Chiyoda Ku. The band members initially met at the age of 16 at the Academy of Music and Sound in Exeter and honed their live craft at the Stag and Hounds in Bristol. The venue actively encouraged and provided a platform for the more musically obtuse bands, possibly due to its proximity to the ArcTanGent festival site at Fernhill Farm on the outskirts of the city. My next appearance was three months later where I saw local artists Notes and Donnie Williams.

My forty second and as it stands currently my latest visit was in August 2017, a month before we relocated to Manchester. Appropriately it was a full bill and commenced with The Kut (known as Princess Maha) who is a gritty London based multi-instrumentalist. Her musical career commenced in 2005 and she had a very gradual rise through the ranks starting with appearances at the London Olympic and Paralympic games in 2012.

In November 2020 she had a speculative shot for a Christmas No 1 single with ‘Waiting for Christmas’ in aid of Red Cross, where she eventually reached No 10. The success continued with her second album GRIT which achieved a No 1 position in the Official UK Rock Album chart. 

Next up was Black Mamba, a heavy metal band based in the city. They were followed by Blackpool band Sin Circus, spearheaded by singer Vicky Spencer who subsequently released their debut album VII during the pandemic all based around the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins. The headline act was another local rock combo called Twisted Obsession who were in the Metallica mould.

So, this completes my review of the 60 Preston venues I have visited thus far, until I find some new ones to frequent!