Manchester’s popular D-Percussion is celebrating its 10th anniversary by ceasing to exist; something that will be much mourned by music fans in the region.
This year saw hoards of people being turned away at the gate, and those that made it in faced with an over-subscribed festival, ailed by a fractious atmosphere and lengthy toilet queues. Or maybe I am merely being miserable because I was hungover.
However, the festival has provided much needed exposure for many bands over the years, and to get on the bill was something many a Manchester band aspired to.
Musically diverse, there was something for everyone, and that may be part of the problem – with so many genres represented, the festival may have become too popular for it’s venue, and seemingly unworkable as a free event.
XFM’s heavy involvement this year means that it has been better publicised than ever, and it appeared that a large proportion of the North West descended upon the Castlefield Arena for the last event.
Luckily THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND are here to give it a good send-off. In and amongst the raft of identikit bands that have been hyped and underwhelming over the past year or so (The Holloways, Larrakin Love and The Twang to name but three), there is something very refreshing about a band slowly making their mark with a compelling live show.
Album ‘Raise the Alarm’ appeared with little fanfare last year, and The Sunshine Underground have been touring relentlessly for the past eighteen months, picking up fans where-ever they go. Their recent Glastonbury performance left many converted, and you get the impression that this is the way this band are forging themselves a career. Many times over the course of the day people have said to me that they haven’t heard of them before, but by the end of the night they’re dancing like hardcore fans.
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As such the band haven’t celebrated great chart success, but tonight the singles ‘Borders,’ ‘Panic Attack’ and ‘Put You in Your Place’ are delivered and received as the anthems they could so easily be. A couple of new tracks suggest the future is bright, and hopefully filled with cow-bells.
It’s the sing-a-long element that makes them special – repeated hooks that people can apply to themselves and scream along to (“I used to think that these things happen for a reason” and the opening words of the set “I’m on top, don’t try to stop me now” being the obvious examples) that inspires you to enjoy yourself.
Everyone loves a band that they can connect to and The Sunshine Underground have the common touch; a band for anyone, not caught up in their own literary references or hidden agendas. It’s good, pretty clean fun.
To create a festival atmosphere in Manchester city centre is not an easy task, and the aforementioned problems appear to dissipate in an amongst this rousing set. In years to come, it is possible that The Sunshine Underground will be celebrated as forerunners of our music scenes. Yorkshire may have produced some highly successful bands in recent years, but these silent assassins are clearly the most compelling.
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