Oct 5

Neighbourhood Festival, Various Manchester Venues. 5th October 2024

It’s time again for Neighbourhood Festival. A day out in the autumnal Manchester sunshine, bouncing between venues, trying to see as many bands as humanly possible. As with any one day multi-venue festival, choices must be made, but today is going to be made up with mostly new bands I’ve never seen before, perfect.

We start at Yes, in the Pink Room, which has had a bench installed down one side. Not an important detail, but welcomed all the same. We’re kicking off with Imogen and The Knife. It’s early, I’ve not even had lunch yet, but there’s a decent amount of souls in the room. It’s always tough being first on, but people are quickly jostling for a good view as the band take to the stage wielding brass, I’d not expected that. Its a slightly different sound to what I’d heard when nosing around earlier, explained by Imogen though that this is an intentionally stripped back set. Usually a full band, it’s just her, the piano and horns. I say just, it’s still captivating. Her voice is wonderful. Vulnerable and powerful in equal measure. The horns are lovely too. I’ll admit I was looking forward to hearing the full band, but it’s a lovely start to the day and feels rather special.

Kaiden Nolan next in a pretty busy Bread Shed. I’m in the dark here and ready to be surprised. It takes a while to get going though with some technical hitches. There’s some nasty crackling coming from the speakers, which honestly isn’t unusual in here. It’s always raw, but this does not suit Nolan’s sound. Bright indie pop is tricky to deliver when you’ve got crew wandering around the stage scratching their heads. They still make a good stab of it though and there’s a few decent tunes, that generally get better when the guitars get funky, “we’re getting there Manchester”. I feel bad judging them on the strength of this, but they’re not for me.

Gorilla is already pretty full as we get in for Chloe Slater. She seems pleased “there’s so many of you”. ‘Death Trap’ is a catchy little banger that reminds me of Wet Leg. This is the song that’s brought me here, but it’s not the only one that lands. Atmospheric indie driven by three additional band members who don’t have their name up in lights behind them. I like them. Maybe not as much as the fans down the front that are clearly loving it, but I am a sucker for this sort of sound live.

It’s a bit warm in the Yes basement for Gans. That’s because it’s rammed and that’s because it’s tiny. They blast through a set of bass driven power punk. Ferocious drums and a single bludgeoning guitar. It’s primal. The vocals from the drummer are shouted, screamed and spat, whilst the lad on guitar is a bit more tuneful as a psychotic synths takes the backline before that guitar distortion kicks back in. I’m not sure I’d buy a record, but live they’re fucking excellent. They clearly want more from the crowd, but it’s still only three in the afternoon and there’s zero room to move in here. I can see bugger all to be honest, but I can hear the mild frustration in the guitarists voice. He’s got a point, this isn’t really music to stand still to, it’s the sort of thing you should leave with one shoe and a bloody nose. They try the “everyone get down” trick, but the room misses the drop for everyone to jump back up. Maybe everyone’s still waking up. Still a great set though.

Off to The Ritz next for The Royston Club. They get welcomed like headliners by the rabid crowd and within 5 seconds of the first song it’s bouncing. They’re four lads belting out singalong indie pop. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in here who doesn’t know every single word. I might not pay them attention in passing, but listening to them with a crowd like this chanting “ROYSTON” in the gaps, it’s very enjoyable. People up on shoulders, arms in the air, you know the drill, indie disco euphoria. To prove my point they shoehorn a decent crack at ‘Disco 2000’ into the final song. Matching this for atmosphere, the rest of the bill is going to struggle.

A quick stop in Yes Pink room to see Siobhan Winifred deploy some ethereal alt rock is a nice breather. Bright and shiny with jangly guitars it’s very pleasant and helped by some dedicated fans singing along down the front. It’s not for me though and I feel very old.

An even briefer stop in Deaf Institute for just a couple of songs with Cordelia is next. As many bands as possible remember. It’s very pleasant again, but this is more my thing. Just her voice and an acoustic. It’s folk, but has a bit of an edge and torment.

Across the road Rolla are banging out surly Gallagher inspired rock. Sunglasses, jackets and a ton of attitude. The thick chunky guitars make light work of that nasty sounding speaker earlier and they pack quite a clout. They’re not Oasis, but they want to be. There’s nothing wrong with that and they do what they do very well. It’s closer to Kasabian though really and you can judge for yourself if that’s good thing or bad.

Chappaqua Wrestling in Gorilla. It has got distinctly warmer in here. This lot have got a bit more edge to them, with signs of alt rock grunge riffs. They’ve got the quiet/loud thing down pretty well too and although it gets a bit lost in the mix, I appreciate the layer of synths that does set them apart a little.

A brisk walk up to Deansgate and I’m The Lions Den. I’ve not been here before. It’s a good space, a decent sized upstairs room with a stage high enough that I can see as the room steadily fills up. I’m here for Girlband! who kick off with a grunge jam. I think this might be what I’ve needed all day. A straight up power trio, guitar, bass and drums, they’ve got space in their sound. They’re raw, soulful, difficult to pin down as they open out into expensive Americana, despite being from Nottingham. Three songs in and we switch again for some punky rock n roll with ‘21st Century Suffragette’. They look like they’re having blast and you know what, so am I! They’ve got a lot of ideas and yes some work better than others, but their hit rate is high. ‘Thelma and Louise’ is a garage rock monster and as they say “thank you this is gonna be our last song”, there’s a genuine moan of disappointment from the crowd. This venue was a bit of an arse to get to in relation to the others, but I’m glad I made the effort.

A quick hire bike ride and I’m back in The Bread Shed with FEET. This is the first band I already know today which is pretty good I’d say. They’ve brought the tunes, a tambourine and their name spelt out in giant helium filled letters. There’s something I inherently like about this lot. They’re a gang, does this matter, maybe not but it helps sell the mood of their loose and lovable rock n roll. It’s a retro sound, but every time I see them I’m totally sold. The set feels too short for them though, I really could’ve had another half hour at least.

After one last dash to Manchester Academy (again this is a bit out of the way), it’s time to finish with Pale Waves. Now I’ve liked some of their songs in the past and others not so much, but they’re local and love The Cure, that’s got to be worth a go. I’m instantly made to feel a fool as the set explodes with ‘Perfume’. This is an absolute belter and is followed by ‘Not a Love Song’. The stage is draped in red velvet and there’s chandeliers! Despite that, we’re on the sugary side of goth pop, but that does allow them to unleash some genuine big room bangers. This is a big room after all. These songs are designed for this, for grabbing a crowd by the throat (or hand) and lifting them up. There’s a reason their name is at the top of the poster. ‘Your So Vain’ is the sort of song that alt kids like me in the 90s would have lost their shit to. It’s brilliant. Everything has a big bombastic production which I’m all in for and I can’t help but notice how they stand out from the rest of the day. Maybe it’s the bands I’ve chosen but this is a big polished production in comparison. They do the ‘choose your own song’ thing. The choices being ‘Unwanted’ or ‘Red’. I’m not arsed but the Academy chooses ‘Red’ and fair play, when it kicks in, fuck me it really kicks in. Honestly it wouldn’t be out of place in an arena. They all sound great but the undeniable star of the show is singer Heather, she works the crowd effortlessly. You’ve got to play well, sing well, but to get here and keep climbing you need someone like this and I suspect this lot will keep climbing. They close with ‘Jealousy’, “Manchester this is your last chance” and Manchester does what it does best, goes crazy. I was going to give set of the day to Girlband! but Pale Waves steal it at the death.

I’ll be brutally honest, this hasn’t been the strongest line up and the set splits have been a bit of a nightmare, but I’ve seen 12 artists in 10 hours and you can’t really knock that. Same time next year.