Tag: Swamp Kids

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.  

Manchester Venues 108 to 109

In the 1990’s the regular pre-gig haunt when visiting the various branches of Manchester Academy was the Jabez Clegg public house. As that establishment gradually declined and subsequently closed, we then discovered the allure of Manchester Big Hands.

The pub is located at the top end of Oxford Road opposite the Red Chilli Chinese restaurant. It opened its doors in 2001 with the concept of creating a NYC dive bar, the kind of equivalent place where you would have expected the Strokes in their early days to have gathered and discussed the concept of their debut album, over a few cold beers!

It has battered low strung sofas where you can babble nonsense with like-minded punters and suits me down to a T. It does remind me somewhat of a bar version of the Raiders/Warehouse nightclub in Preston.  In more recent years it has the welcome addition of a heated outdoor rooftop space which you reach once you have navigated the cramped steps taking you upstairs.

Big Hands bar. Image Credit reddit.com

Some bands tend to attend there post -performance but in that regard, I have only personally seen Tad Kubler of Hold Steady and the 6 music DJ Marc Reilly. They possess a terrific noisy jukebox that at times has free credits available for communal use, though some younger punters are confused by the sheer concept of a jukebox! It became a tradition for a spell to ensure we had played ‘Hells Bell’s by AC/DC before we departed.   

One particular Sunday we were in residence prior to a Meat Puppets show and remarkably our group of three were the only punters in, the DJ had just finished playing a vinyl record and I asked whether they could switch the jukebox on. They willingly complied and the track I had selected ‘Black Math’ by White Stripes came on at ear shattering volume, which they then respectfully only turned it down by a smidge!

They occasionally have bands playing there, and I have been fortunate to randomly catch a few whilst imbibing a couple of pre-gig scoops. The musical acts squeeze into the slightly raised area at the back of the bar and in keeping with the ethos of the establishment they are normally thunderously loud.

Big Hands bar. Image Credit oxfordroadcorridor.com

The first in 2017 prior to a Helmet gig was a three-piece from Oldham called Hopper Propelled Electric and they produced a noisy sludgy sound reminiscent of early Stooges. In 2019 I saw a local band called Lurker and in 2021 saw an act called World without Frontiers. A few weeks ago, prior to a Therapy? gig I saw a couple of bands called Pray for Mojo and Swamp Kids.

In 2018 the original jukebox was stolen and unfortunately was never recovered. This coincided with the death of the bar owner Scott Alexander from cancer at the tragically young age of 43.  He was close friends with the members of Elbow and is thought to be referenced in their song Some Riot in the line of ‘Tall Gentle Boy’. Scott also owned the sister bar Temple of Convenience down near Oxford Road station.

Temple of Convenience Bar. Image Credit manchestersfinest.com

Now I have spoken previously about the merits of this establishment so will not duplicate that here. However, one tale relates to me and Uncle George being outside the Manchester Temple Of Convenience Bar Entrance and encountering a busker called William who asked us to name a tune and George challenged him with two obscure tunes, (so obscure neither of us to this day can recall the songs!). William without batting an eyelid instantly played vibrant versions of those songs to a rapt audience of two punters. For that very reason alone I have allowed him inclusion onto my gig list.