It’s one of the best days on the gig calendar, Manchester Psych Fest Day! When half the city is taken over by a truly stunning roster of bands. I’ve already had some painful decisions to make with clashes on the bill, but I’ve made my peace with missing Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and Fat Dog. My first stop is at The Ritz to catch Thus Love, an American four-piece who shred through some blistering sunshine fed alt rock. There’s quite a lot going on alongside the guitars, with some wide open 80s synth here and there and some very hooky tunes. It’s early in the day, but they pull a decent crowd filling a good chunk of the Ritz floor.
A few steps over the road (I love these city centre festivals) and I’m in Gorilla for White Flowers. This too is a big open sound, but very different. Much more ethereal thanks in part to the soaring angelic vocals with plenty of reverb. There’s three of them, drums, keyboards and some shoegazey guitar. I saw them a few months ago in Yes and was so impressed I’ve been itching to get in a room with them again. They’ve pulled a decent crowd that clearly love them as much as I do. The only bad point is I want a longer set!
Short sets allow you to pack more in though, so it’s up the road next to Deaf Institute. Where the downstairs space is rammed for Duvet. I know they’re only a few meters away as I can hear them, but I can’t see much of them. The stage is basically the floor in here which makes it less than ideal when it’s busy. I get glimpses of pink hair and sunglasses through the bodies as the room explodes with garage punk venom. It’s raw and pretty simple, but it works. It’s still a little early for the crowd to totally lose the plot, so it’s more head bobbing than limb flying. It gets warm though and the aforementioned singer declares she’s “Getting sweaty”, I’m not surprised, from what I can just about see, she’s putting a shift in. They do fast. They do slow, but when they mix them on a song that might be called or about crop circles they really hit the mark and after one called ‘Cowboy’ they’ve certainly won some new fans, me included.
After a little stroll, I walk into Projekts Skate Park which might sound like an odd gig venue and it is, but it’s got form. I saw Déjà Vega and Acid Dad play here a while back and it was awesome. Today I’m here for The Wytches, arguably one of the more Psych bands on the bill. Loud dirgey stoner rock with an ever present menace, they fill the vacant ramps with a big crowd that’s instantly fired up. We’re technically outside, but encased in concrete with the exposed Mancunian Way above our heads, the sound is immense. They have a sort of surf grunge kinda feel that I’m all for and it goes well with the smoke machine being whipped up by the wind. They’re pretty great, but if you’re not entertained, it’s quite amusing watching people trying to climb smooth curved concrete for a better view.
A total switch next back at Gorilla with Girl Ray. They’re pure disco pop. Not the overly produced sickly stuff, we’re still in indie territory, but the basslines rolls and the guitars are funky. They’re a lot of fun and the lighting guy has their back, hitting the mirrorball lights on point every time they hit a groove and boy do they hit them.
In the time I’ve been inside the clouds have rolled in outside. Which is perhaps apt for the Black Doldrums in The Bread Shed. They are definitely not pop. What they are is fucking loud! I have to take a few steps back to protect my ribs. There’s a girl brilliantly beating the living daylights out of her kit, as a lad with an impressive mullet and tashe combo matches her on bass. The rest it seems is coming from an unassuming man generating a wall of fantastic roadhouse goth guitar and the sort of voice that demands you don’t take your eyes off him. He sounds like Ian Curtis, his vocal cutting through everything else coming at us. The sound in here isn’t the best to be honest. It’s muddy, you can hear the amps buzzing in the speakers before a band even starts, but it still works for them. What it lacks in sound quality it easily makes up for in atmosphere. This is a proper old school venue. There aren’t many places like this left in Manchester, it feels unique and that’s to be treasured. Are Black Doldrums to be treasured? I’m not sure yet, but quite possibly.
Time to camp out in The Ritz for a bit. Newdad are on in the main room. I’ve had their album on repeat this year, but this is my first live outing. Hopes are high and easily met, even with me starting to feel a bit tired. Which is not a good sign with around another five hours to go. This moody shoegaze isn’t exactly the stuff to wake you up, but they do sound great. It’s faithful to the recording and the drummer does attempt to get the crowd going with some communal arm waving. It doesn’t take though. It’s the biggest crowd I’ve seen so far and everyone does get fired up for the cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’, but the chatter around the edges soon resumes. Big crowds = More cunts. It’s a good job the band are loud enough to drown it out, just. The songs are great and they’re undoubtably one of the best bands I see today, but it’s not the best live experience, even once ensconced in the middle of the room. A 50/50 crowd can kill even the best set and sadly that’s what happened. People who talk at gigs should be gaffer-taped to the lighting rig and left there to contemplate their selfish choices.
Did I say I was getting tired? Anyway, with that off my chest, it’s downstairs I go to the smaller room off the smoking corridor. Which is how I remember this on Monday nights in the 90s. Here today you’ll find Cloth. A Scottish three-piece with a tight controlled sound. Generally quite reflective, but when the kick in they sound pretty great. I’m here for the reflective too though. My favourite I think is ‘Ladder’ that does both, building to an epic finale.
After trying to get some air at the door without getting strong-armed by the slightly overbearing Showsec staff, it’s back in to the main room for Baxter Dury. He’s a lot to live up to with me choosing him over Pigsx7, but I’ve seen them a few times before and I’ve quite fancied catching Baxter for a while. I wouldn’t call myself a big fan, but whenever I hear his stuff I’m impressed and so it proves to be with his live set. He’s a showman unsurprisingly. Stalking the stage, throwing poses, stealing the limelight slightly from his band who really should get a lot of the credit. He’s a poet, throwing in the lyrics as the band blast through a solid set of ska, electro krautrock and jazz flecked post punk. He’s certainly entertaining and the shouty cockney delivery is arresting stuff, but I could do without the posturing. He just looks a bit of a dick. ‘Aylesbury Boy’ and ‘Celebrate Me’ are possibly my favourites and both make the set, which I’m pleased about, but they’re not the only songs that catch my ear and I’m gonna have a proper listen to a record or two on the strength of this. So was it the right call? Yes I think so, but I’m not sure I’d pay to see Baxter again. I’m sure he’s not arsed either way.
Back in The Bread Shed for another new band (that’s been the idea today, as many bands I’ve not seen before as possible), this one is Wine Lips, who have packed the place. It’s bouncing, there’s crowd surfing! They remind me a bit of Déjà Vega (second mention for them, not bad seeing as they’re not playing today), King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, plus something much harder like The Chats. There’s a punk snarl on songs like ‘Six Pack’ and that beefy sound in here I mentioned earlier suits them perfectly. They sound absolutely huge. They’re certainly the heaviest band of the day and the entire floor turns into a swarming pit midway through the set and doesn’t let up. This is what I needed a few hours ago to wake up, but it’s very welcome now.
A hop over the road and upstairs at Deaf Institute we find O. the two piece that blew me away in Yes a few months back. As is the custom when there’s only two people on stage, you have to be loud to compensate. I don’t why, but they seem to be the rules and O. certainly don’t break them. Drums and a saxophone fed through a bank of effects, they are absolutely ferocious. “I’m not gonna lie, we’re really tired” they declare, “we’re gonna need some Manchester vibes from you” and Deaf obliges with hollers and a beautiful synchronised collective head bob, which witnessed from my balcony vantage point is quite humorous. They are by far the most unique band I’ve seen today, possibly one of the most unique around full stop, no one sounds like O. The deep bass of that sax is so striking it easily captures the room, everyone is locked, even when things occasional slow down like on ‘Cosmo’ which is haunting, even with the drums still going hell for leather. Tash might be the best drummer of the day too and there’s been some good ones, she’s not just pounding those skins and cymbals, there’s a jazz like deft touch, which elevates they’re sound even more. You can see her feed off the crowd as she switches the timing, never losing Joe, he’s locked in too and together they hit 45 mins of absolute perfection.
The final band of the night is back where we started. The Ritz has got a whole lot busier and hotter. All these bodies are here as the clock ticks into a new day for The Horrors. I think the last time I saw them was in here years ago. They’ve been away a while, but you’d not think so listening to them. It’s a massive sound anyway, but they sound even more fierce than ever. Quite a bit of it I don’t recognise, either because it’s new or I’ve forgotten it, or I’m exhausted. There’s not a bad song though, gothic symphonies paired with darkwave bangers and indie menace. When we get to ‘Still Life’ it’s like the entire day has been leading to this point. It’s one of my ‘when the world is collapsing in on you, this keeps my head above water’ songs. I’ve heard it live before, but it takes my breath away tonight, in a good way and lights the touch paper for a brilliant close to my festival. Welcome back The Horrors, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did and Manchester Psych Fest you’ve outdone yourselves. Take a bow.
O.
Thus Love
White Flowers
Duvet
The Wytches
Girl Ray
Black Doldrums
Newdad
Cloth
Baxter Dury
Wine Lips
The Horrors
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