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Day: 22 April 2012

Live: The Sunshine Underground @ Club Academy

The Sunshine Underground
Club Academy
14 April
5 Stars

It was hard to know what to expect as my sister and I walked into the subterranean Club Academy (underground…geddit?), yet one thing was for sure: we were the only students (and Londoners) in the building. This realisation set the tone for what was to be one of the best live performances I’ve seen this year: a proper Northern, head nodding, fist pumping, feet-off-the-ground gig.

Before we get to the main event, it’s worth mentioning the support act, Troumaca, an incredible Birmingham five piece whose sound is an entirely fresh and original amalgamation of soul and dub with an unmistakably tropical bass feel. Couple this unique mixture with some of the best sly dance moves I’ve seen in a lead singer for a while, and the result was genius. And nothing, of course, like the act which they preceded.

Having discovered my new musical obsession, we waited with baited breath for TSU to impress. And boy, did they. Front man Craig Wellington casually greeted the crowd with his characteristic cheeky-chap quips, warming us up for a stomping set spanning the greats of their two studio albums. Tunes such as ‘A Warning Sign’ and ‘In Your Arms’ established the bands ability not only to get the crowd nodding but full on body-grooving to Stuart Jones’ incredible riffs, while ‘Put You in Your Place’ and ‘The Way It Is’ reminded of their credentials as forerunners in the indie rock scene.

The pinnacle of the performance came as the opening chords to their seminal song, ‘Borders’, began to echo through the venue. Cue gleefully destructive moshing from a group of four balding, leather-jacket clad men in their forties which did not cease until the band had finally left the stage after the encore. This is perhaps the greatest image of the bands appeal: from North to South, students to seniors, a diverse musical culture continues to prevail within The Sunshine Underground. Especially in Manchester during the Easter holidays.

The Sunshine Underground – Borders

Live: Steel Panther @ Academy 1

Steel Panther
Academy 1
30 March
5 stars

If you’ve never heard of Steel Panther before, things could go either one of two ways. You could completely fall in love with them, and feel like your life has been completed (like myself) or you could find them utterly revolting and ridiculous. However, if you end up feeling the latter, you’d be right – that’s the whole point. Steel Panther make no bones about what they do. Their riffs are straight out of the 80’s, lifting from bands like Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Van Halen and pretty much every other spandex clad hair metal act. Their lyrics aren’t witty or clever- they could be construed as sexist and offensive to pretty much any member of the female species, but that’s the great thing about it, believe me.

Despite having embraced Steel Panther, I still wasn’t completely sure what to expect live, but what I, and every other member of the sold out audience got was nothing short of sublime. The musicianship between all 4 members, even when playing songs like ‘It Won’t Suck Itself’ is truly brilliant. Michael Starr’s vocals are perfect, hitting those wailing highs just like his idol David Lee Roth, if not better. Lead guitarist Satchel, who started out under Paul Gilbert’s wing, has got his sound down to a tee, and even manages to do pelvic thrusts while effortlessly sweeping his way up and down the neck. Then we have Stix and Lexxi, musically less in the limelight, but no less important, Panther are a band consisting of 4 front men.

These songs are meant to be taken seriously, it’s one big joke on the bands like Def Leppard and Rat. But as far as enjoyment at a gig goes, I’ve never had a better one. That’s right, I might go as far to say that Steel Panther’s Balls Out tour was possibly the best gig I’ve ever seen – and I’ve seen Meatloaf live.

Steel Panther – If You Really Really Love Me

Interview: Rival Sons

Supporting Black Stone Cherry, Los Angeles’ classic rockers Rival Sons are gaining great exposure to legions of rock fans, young and old. With much excitement surrounding their debut album, Pressure and Time, I caught up with bassist Robin Everhart to discuss the album and life on the road.

Gaining a lot of comparisons to Led Zeppelin, although a massive compliment, can be a bit frustrating for new bands trying to achieve that classic sound. I asked Robin if he thought people will take Rival Sons for themselves: “I think people will take it as something unique. People need to categorise things – it’d be a lot cooler if they didn’t but we are flattered of course”.

Taking just 20 days to record and mix their debut record, I wondered if this was an intentional choice, and if so, why? “It’s off the cuff, not over thought out. That’s always the death of a lot of albums. They just take way too long and putting us under that time constraint really forced us to go with the gut. We came in right off a tour and only had a month to record before another tour.” Robin continues about current approaches to recording: “It’s like bedroom music now – everyone can make records in their bedroom today and take as long as they want. But when you want to mix it up on the road, how does that relate? We like to keep it exciting”.

With such honed musicians I wondered if there was ever a temptation to indulge in those Zep style solos? “It was a conscious decision to keep the songs bitesize and with our live shows we can do whatever we want. We probably will experiment with the next record. The next one holds a lot of different stuff”.

Touring with Black Stone Cherry till June, I thoroughly recommend turning up to catch these guys. If I’m completely honest, I thought they outplayed their tour buddies. Rival Sons could well be the future of classic Rock n Roll – hardly fresh but they are refreshingly vintage.

Rival Sons – Pressure and Time

Live: The Resurrection of Warehouse Project

Jamie Jones, Carl Craig, Julio Bashmore, Maya Jane Coles and Scuba
8th April
5 stars

Unless you’re a devout Catholic, it’s quite a rare occurrence to find yourself more excited by the prospect of Easter Sunday than Christmas Day.  And, Jesus Christ, I’m very sorry but the title of this year’s ‘Most Anticipated Resurrection’ must go to the revival of Warehouse Project. Following its hiatus from the start of January, Warehouse has evolved, becoming bigger and louder in the process. The rooms are huge, there’s a shitload more people and they do manage to recreate the lovely seedy ambience of Store Street.
Unfortunately, the intimate feeling of the car park under Piccadilly Station will take time to develop in the new venue. It looks like some kind of urban farm arena, complete with familiar bricks, familiar scaffolding, familiar arches and familiar cattle. And a lot more mud.

Given the sheer volume of artists, I’ll start with Julio Bashmore. He was on fairly early but his blend of stompy beats and simple melodies proved to be the perfect entrance music for the gathering mass of people. ‘Around’ went down well, and the only reason I left his set early was to catch Maya Jane Coles in one of the other rooms. I’d say that she took the cake in terms of flawless mixing, every drop was calculated to perfection and when the breakdown of ‘Little One’ kicked in, it felt like Warehouse had never been away at all. Scuba went with the usual mix of deep techno which served well to reinforce the murky atmosphere as the night moved into its early hours. Carl Craig and Jamie Jones capped off the night with some relentlessly hummable grooves and infectious bass. One of them dropped FCL’s ‘Let’s Go’ which is what I was humming all the way in the taxi home.

Overall, Warehouse Project has made a transition to the next level. A few more trips may be required in order to build up the same affection for the new venue, but that’s not a real issue as it’s now the biggest and loudest place in Manchester for fans of any type of electronic music. Easter marked the return of an institution and nobody can doubt the excitement for festivity involving this particular resurrection. Jesus who?