For the past two decades, Sounds From The Other City has been spotlighting the Salford music scene, aiming to shift the focus from Manchester to its oft-overlooked neighbour. In the process, the festival has unearthed talent such as Black Country, New Road, black midi, and alt-J in their early days, making it the perfect place to witness the next big thing. This year’s line-up was impressive in itself, seeing over 100 artists perform across seventeen stages on May’s first bank holiday Sunday. This year, the festival took on a Medieval theme, complete with signs reading “dance like it’s 1374” and “peasants revolt” across its venues.
Opening the day at Maxwell Hall was jasmine.4.t., and while her soft-toned music should have eased attendees into the afternoon, its devastating lyrical content discussing her experience as a transgender woman denied any hopes that the day would start soothingly. After appearances at BBC Radio 6 Music Festival and Reading & Leeds last year, the crowd knew how to handle it, standing in reverent silence during the slower tracks. “This goes out to all of you guys”, Jasmine said to introduce ‘Find Ur Ppl’, a song about finding queer camaraderie in the Manchester community. A sense of community infused her whole set, and the rest of the day, and Jasmine further embraced this by joining the crowd as she closed her set with ‘Did U No’.
A short walk across The Green saw Cusk performing their first live set since the release of their debut single ‘Blu Tac Piano’. Appearing in a stripped-back form with no drummer and Max Winter of thredd on guitar, multi-instrumentalists Esmé Creed-Miles and Evie Hilyer-Ziegler enraptured the audience in the all-seated Peel Hall. ‘Blu Tac Piano’ provided their opening song, and Creed-Miles vocals reached a wail by its end. The rest of the set was made up of “songs that will be released in the summer hopefully”, and on-stage chatter that didn’t always land. Hilyer-Ziegler’s question “any updates on the game?”— assumedly Manchester United versus Liverpool — was met with silence, to which she comedically responded with: “wrong crowd?”
Returning to Maxwell Hall, Bathing Suits provided something entirely different. The band make the kind of music that cannot be replicated, or even put into words: a blistering onslaught of nonstop noise, screeching guitars, techno beats, and blinding lights that can make half an hour pass in what feels like a matter of seconds. It’s impossible to stay still to Bathing Suits, even if no particular way of moving could ever encapsulate the sounds they transmit. Their singer does a good job of it, though, and ‘Lousy Havoc’ saw Freyja Bleving falling to the floor to writhe relentlessly around the stage as one guitarist ran a Corona bottle down the strings of his guitar.
“I’m so warm”, Blevins claimed, before removing a confining shirt and informing the crowd “this next one’s about being a freak”. For their final song, the closing track of debut EP KILL Bathing Suits, Blevins went even further, deciding “I’m going to take my jeans off for this one” and stripping down to underwear. ‘Empathy’ is a seven-minute highlight on the EP, and its effects were multiplied live as Blevins became a hypnotic presence, aided by a wind machine strategically pointing upwards. The band’s live set perfectly condensed their chaotic energy into a half-hour performance, and it was thrilling to see such a brilliant new band on a big stage, facing the crowd they deserve.
Another brilliant new band on the festival’s line-up was Blue Bendy, a London-based six-piece who have quickly become a staple in the famed Windmill scene. With a debut album named So Medieval, it only made sense that they appeared at this year’s edition of Sounds From The Other City, amidst the picturesque stained glass windows of St Philip’s Church.
“Shh, we’re in a church”, frontman Arthur Nolan commanded as he sauntered on stage, although the audience initially seemed to take his word as gospel. Evidently not pleased with the crowd’s reaction, Nolan complained “I thought indie music was a religious sect here”, but by the end of a set which combined new material and discography highlights, his tone had changed to one of praise. “Thank you very much, it was an indulgence we appreciate”, he lauded, before turning to face the altar and posing with his arms out like Christ on the cross.
Just down the road was The Old Pint Pot, a favourite pub of many Salford locals which hosted a line-up curated by none other than jasmine.4.t for the day. After her support slot at Jasmine’s Manchester headline show in November, Pem brought her hypnotic tremolo to the stage for a set which brought tears to the eye. Her cellist was equally as enrapturing as she was, sometimes using her instrument with similar effect to a guitar, and sometimes to its full effect, bowing the strings with force.
Unlike other day festivals, the schedule at Sounds From The Other City didn’t stop before midnight. Continuing at Islington Mill across their events and gallery spaces, DJ Stacy Bee brought a set filled with R&B hits, inviting previous performer Zolatec onstage to play a steel drum. Jase Jeffrey, founder of the Bent Hedonism record label and events company who helped curate the events space stage, took over with a set filled with warbling speed garage, before electro-pop duo samxemma had the crowd on their feet for one last bout of fun in the gallery space.
The best thing about Sounds From The Other City was the sheer range and diversity on offer: it’s the only place you could possibly witness Bailey J Mills dressed as a peasant woman, seducing a bald man who had previously been crowned Queen Carl, and understand that it makes sense. Joy was in the air throughout the day and night, infecting attendees like a Medieval plague. All in all, it’s easy to see why locals refer to Sounds From The Other City as Salford Christmas.
