Bank holidays, hey? Nice break from work, laze about a little, try and get stuff done but don’t really make it. If you were in Manchester over the weekend and you did just this, then quite frankly you’re an idiot. What were you doing relaxing when there’s a MAPS festival going on?
The concept is simple. Take one sector of Manchester (The Northern Quarter) and fill the bars there with various gigs and performances, then litter the streets with buskers and live artists. Call it a festival and you have something of an event. Consisting of 16 venues, nearly 250 acts and 3 days of entertainment, a weekend ticket (at the bargain price of £19.50) seemed like the only option. Manchester’s finest (mainly) unsigned bands were out in force, and for anyone wanting to get a nice easy overview of the scene in 2008, this was the only event to consider.
FRIDAY
Dry Bar on Oldham Street is very much the epicentre of the festival. Boasting three stages, the setup is one to please the crowds. With acts alternating on stages one and two, the annoying wait between bands was eradicated completely. And if they’re not to your taste, you can just pop downstairs and see who is on the third stage.
Tonight, a nervy SLOGANEER (Dry Bar Stage 3) show that in the future they could no doubt win the hearts of many. They have a clutch of polished pop tunes that will appeal to anyone who is missing Savage Garden. Alas, that isn’t me, and I found the saccharine heavy set a little sickly. A clean cut band such as this are ill-fitting in a place like Dry Bar.
BLEACHED WAIL (Dry Bar Stage 2) do exactly what a band should try and do at a festival. Wandering past, they caught my attention initially by their stage movements; both guitarist and bassist were lurching around in a dizzying fashion and it looked pretty entertaining. They have lots of ideas in their songs – ranging from good-natured punk to pop choruses right through to ska – and a lot of energy. It often seems the way that the three pieces make the most noise, and this Stoke trio support that theory nicely.
As do ARMRUG (Bar Centro), who impress with their charismatic synth-heavy punk sound. All it takes is a slight subversion on a standard formula to make something all together more interesting, and these light-hearted, angular rock tunes do just that. It’s hard not to be charmed by a song entitled “I Love You, Can I Go Down on You?” especially when it’s both catchy and fun, without once making you cringe. As a band, they look like they’re enjoying themselves in spite of the meagre crowd gathered, and that surely is half of the battle. Had they had the passing trade potential of Dry Bar, then this would have proved to be a very popular set.
No such fears for recently signed KID BRITISH & THE ACTION MANKY (Dry Bar Stage 1) who pull in a hefty crowd for their near headline slot. They have the indie-rock sound that will appeal to those who like their Manc-music traditional, but at the same time they step out of this once in a while. Their cover of Madness’ ‘Our House’ is a lot of fun, and in general they do well when they genre-hopping, with the bits of rap and reggae tinged songs providing the most entertainment.
Since I provided them with glowing platitudes for one of their first gigs last year, THE CIRCUS ELECTRIC (Dry Bar Stage 2) have until now failed to find the set-list that can hold an audience throughout. Tonight, however, with new, heavier numbers like ‘Footstomp’ in tow, they have a well rounded and creative set to offer. The rapped verses are littered with clever bits of wordplay; the words of an openly hapless fellow. It’s not an overused technique; it’s indie-pop with bits of various other influences thrown in. There are some potential chart-slayers in the set, and between them they have both the talent and potential to appeal to many. There’s enough here tonight to make you genuinely look forward to them getting signed.
SATURDAY
Other commitments kept me from jumping into day 2 of the festival until the early evening, meaning missing out on several potentially brilliant afternoon sets. Good words were murmured about DR BUTLER’S MEDICINE HATSTAND BAND and GIDEON CONN (both at Moho), but for me the day started with THE BLACK VELVET BAND (Roadhouse). Not yet releasing their debut album, BVB fill their set predominantly with new songs. Their sound is developing, with some jazzy leanings, but the tales remain gloriously dark. Travelling relatively light on members tonight, their very-alt folk is a raucous display, and the subversions on the songs we know suggest that they don’t plan on getting bored with what they do. Truly one of the best unsigned bands in Manchester.
GONE TIL WINTER (Ruby Lounge) are certainly authentic. It’s a classic metal sound fronted by a pair of the strongest lungs in the city. It’s loud, crashing rock music; rock how rock should sound sometimes – epic, grandiose and just a little bit on the cheesy side. They play very well and put on something of a show; it’s not a genre I tend to care for, but I can see the appeal to those that way inclined.
The arrival of the lap-dancers signify the end of Ruby Lounge’s involvement for the day and it’s onwards to catch OPTIONAL WALLACE (Moho), who fail to stand out in a weekend filled with bands that do. Whilst tight and well-practiced, the songs don’t leap out at you; they’d easily fit into the background of an episode of Smallville. They lack the stage presence and their sound is needlessly Americanised. It feels like they’re on the way to discovering who they are as a band, but for now, it seems shrewd to look elsewhere.
SUNDAY
Whilst many festivals use the last day to calm down, events at MAPS go into overdrive. To try and see everyone you should, it involves much venue-hopping, but luckily my efforts were rewarded on many fronts. First up is BEN McGARVEY (Bay Horse) who looks suspiciously more like a full band than a solo artist. For sore heads, this selection of jangly and heartfelt indie is a nice way to soothe you into the music. Whilst on the whole the songs fail to grab you, there are moments where they completely sweep you away. There are many artists out there doing this kind of thing, and often it’s only chance that makes one stand out from the rest.
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Legging it over to Mint Lounge, I was pleased to find myself early and able to catch the end of THE IMOGEN STYLES set. From what I saw, it’s one man and his laptop producing something in between LCD Soundsystem and Talking Heads. The final song was very well received, as such an eccentric performance should be. Definitely one to check out in full as soon as possible.
An added bonus, really, to the reason that I was there in the first place, AMONGST THE RUSSIANS, who can show The Last Shadow Puppets a thing or two about making melodramatic pop music. Theirs is a sound as complex and unique as Forward Russia’s; try to imagine Hope of the States, with a female vocalist, a screamo violinist, and much more exciting instrumentals. Their songs are breath-taking in their composition and are equally as catchy in their melodies. The battled through sound problems with the vocals to win over a crowd by putting on a show. They get as lost in the songs as they hope you will, and that makes the whole thing very, very inspiring.
RAINBOW TROUT (Moho) are that breed of rock band who manage to be good natured as well as loud. They create the nice contrast of QOTSA style music with relatively gentle vocals that don’t get drowned out by the sound. It’s a ferocious sound with a nice front, and they’re not short of female admirers either. There are some good tunes in there as well – they could certainly prove popular in the future.
Following them, KARMA make less of an impact. They provide formulaic but competently created AOR, which on less innovative days may resonate a little more. But for now, only a couple of songs pass and I’m ready to move on.
MISTY’S BIG ADVENTURE (Mint Lounge) are contenders for set of the day. It’s a show that needs to be seen (so much so, that there is a picture with this review). It’s music that is extremely hard to describe, which is never handy for a reviewer. They are large-scale summery indie music, part-crooned, part spoken word, complete with sax and trumpet. It’s amusing in parts, you can dance to it (and many were) – it seems wrong to keep this band cooped up indoors. They should be out on the streets convincing people to smile. One of the most original bands I’ve seen in quite a while. The good vibes and the loveable songs take you away from a windy Manchester and put you very firmly in your happy place.
Sticking more to the rules are JUNO ASHES (Dry Bar Stage 1) provide indie-rock, power-ballad style. The songs are passionate, based on the classic rock blueprint. It’s a well prepared performance, with a particularly strong performance from the rhythm section. It isn’t the most original music, but it far from embarrasses the genre.
As happens at all festivals, stage times over-run and sometimes you end up seeing something remarkable just by accident. Not so with THIS MORNING CALL (Mint Lounge), who appeared at a time when we were expecting the much recommended SHMOO. They are how I’d imagine Erasure sound circa 2008 – poppy melodies mixed in with electro beats. If you take away the prominence of the synths, hidden underneath is fairly standard indie sound and the songs are unmemorable. They didn’t make me want to dance, or barely tap a foot.
THE BROADCAST (Dry Bar Stage 2) are as dull as their name. It seems a shame to see one of the central stages of the festival bowing out with this dreary, atypical indie, when so many other great bands could have wowed in such a prominent slot. A wise call is to see the festival out downstairs at the Dry Bar Stage 3. DOVESTONE have plenty of potential – they step away from conventional songs and are happy to descend into a jam at a moments notice. They create of the image of cityscapes; epic but frenetic tunes. There were problems with the sound that perhaps prevented the full force shining through, but under better conditions this is a band that may very shine.
To begin a set by passing around a can of ‘Oust’ is perhaps not the most promising, but the downstairs of Dry Bar is in great need of it, the combined smell of warm damp mixed in with being very near the gents had made for less than idea gigging circumstances, but NO LIFE are the perfect distraction. The sound is this; the vocal style of ‘No-one Knows’ by Queens of the Stone Age taken down the dance road with plenty of drums and electro-squealing. It’s how UNKLE should sound by now – it’s urgent, infectious and extremely fucking loud. Quite simply amazing.
This is hopefully the first of many MAPS festivals for the future – it worked well in terms of friendly atmosphere, variety, and the line-ups on the whole were extremely impressive. This was the festival to prove that there is much more to Manchester than The Courteneers. Value for money wise it would be hard to beat, and there was little to make you feel restricted. For a first attempt, the organisers have put on one hell of a show, and hopefully that’ll be their inspiration to make things even better next year.
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