First band up tonight are The Blueslide Circle from the newest mecca of musical accomplishment, Hull. By all accounts, this is their first gig anywhere other than their native East Yorkshire and encouraged by a handful of loyal supporters, they bang out a set of raucous, energetic rock and roll. What strikes you right away with The Blueslide Circle is how accomplished each individual member is at their respective art. Songs fly along with desire and intent and the inter-band banter on stage gives them a real character which, rather than being standoffish for the audience, makes the group likable and quite charming. Half an hour or so later, the band finishes with their most catchy number, a real riff-fest that jumps around in tempo and climaxes in a bellowing chant between the members. Hopefully next time they play here, they’ll get a later slot and get seen by a few more but for the handful that were there, they were a real treat. Next up were The Day-Glo Carousel, a band who’ve done the rounds for a couple of years now. The group certainly have no shame in carrying all the traits of what is regarded by the narrow-minded as ‘the Manchester sound’ well and truly on their collective sleeve. However, this unfortunately means that for TDGC, their set consists wholly and squarely of the type of indie regarded by many as middle of the road. Songs come and go at a pedestrian pace and the raspy vocals do little to really kick up much of a fuss, which is a shame as there are flourishes in the band’s music that can be enjoyable. Final band, Aura 4 hit the stage complete with atmospheric keyboards and continued to play a set of more beat driven rock, which is much more interesting and enjoyable. The group are technically very tight and have obviously got a few gigs under their belts. Although they are lacking a killer song as the majority of their set merges into one, Aura 4 have the makings of a decent rock group. Unfortunately for them though, the same can be said for hundreds of other bands in Manchester. |
