What better way to spend the bank holiday that undertaking your own whistle stop of some of the billions of bands from the Manchester area (and beyond?). This is the first Hungry Pigeon festival, building on the good work done by MAPS last year. Numerous bars in the Northern Quarter of the city centre opened their doors for a mixed bag of gigs designed to serve the most eclectic of tastes. It’s a fine opportunity to catch up on bands you’ve been admiring for a while, and to stumble into some new favourites by pure chance.
The biggest dilemma is deciding where to be and when. With all the venues in easy walking distance, it really is an indoor festival. The weather held out in glorious fashion for the entire weekend, making those between bar treks all the more pleasurable. What follows is one person’s meanderings through the festival – with a line-up as vast as that of Hungry Pigeon, a thousand different weekends could have been had. The bands reviewed were seen through chance, or having an interesting name, or being right near to a band I already wanted to see. I’ve no doubt missed some treats, and also avoided some horrors, but throughout I’ve enjoyed a happy atmosphere and a worthy celebration of the rich music scene in this city.
With under-18 gigs, bargain weekend wristbands and free shows occurring, there was an all welcome feel to the event. This is clearly the finest of the urban festivals happening in Manchester and long may it continue. Whilst In The City is cluttered with industry types and the smell of band desperation, this one is all about the music.
FRIDAY:
THE FORGES (Urbis) are versatile indie-rockers, providing more than the stereotypical Manc sound. Their set ranges from The Music indie with rhythm style, to lively classic rock. It’s conventional enough to please the radio stations, but with enough of a subversion to attract the attentions of the more cynical press. There are outbreaks of dancing on the ground floor of the museum, and with the right opportunities you can see how they could be very popular indeed.
One thing that is apparent throughout the weekend is that bands are mixing their influences and coming out with some interesting hybrids of sounds. ROOK & THE RAVENS (Urbis) have to be defined on a song by song basis. It’s all based around guitar music, but they orbit various influences throughout their engaging set. It’s kind of prog-indie – one moment shoe-gazing, the next going for Neil Young style summery sing-a-long style tunes, then leaping through angst on the way to an alt-folk section. This is done rather seamlessly and works very well. An early highlight.
Live action back-drops might be the future. The stage at Joe’s Bar is right in front of the kitchen, which was partitioned off by think black cloth, meaning that throughout
BEAT FICTION’s set we were treated to the sight of a lady cooking pies in the background, which was strangely compelling in itself. Projections should be a thing of the past if this catches on. Beat Fiction are an alright punk rock act, snotty like Green Day with the rebellious streak of The Clash, but sounding on the whole more like The Ramones. There’s nothing particularly new to see here, but there’s nothing to sneer at either. They’re a bit rough around the edges, and their bassist seemed to have some issues with hitting the high notes, but they didn’t bore.
A personal favourite from last years MAPS festival, RAINBOW TROUT (Night and Day) had a more prominent slot this time and didn’t disappoint. One of the best bands hiding out in Manchester right now, they played a few new songs suggesting a bluesier direction that sits very nicely with the more aggressive likes of ‘I Love You Too’ and ‘Rocking Chair.’ They’re on the cusp of being a rock ‘n’ soul act, each show containing some breath-taking moments of ferocity and romanticism. There’s an album in the offing, apparently, which from this performance is something to look forward to. Can’t gush enough about this band.
SATURDAY:
Anyone hosting an outdoor stage in Britain in May is taking a gamble with the potential weather consequences, but for the first time in weeks the sun shone on Manchester as the centrepiece for Hungry Pigeon got underway in Piccadilly Gardens. Local favourites WHISKEY CATS are repeat crowd pleasers with their twisted acoustic rockabilly style that demands dancing from anyone. They’re a good time party band, complete with fun sax solos and infectious choruses, and ensured that the sun was shining on the stage as well as around it. As the set progressed, more people were getting into it, and a ‘real’ festival atmosphere starts to set in despite the concrete in every direction. The weather gamble paid off in style.
From the light to the dark, then, heading over to Moho to catch MANTRIC HATTERS (Moho Stage 2) in near pitch blackness. A funky muso metal act with a grasp of what their doing, they provide a set not disinteresting and full of neat little tricks and even an ambitious Hendrix cover, which they managed to pull off. They can certainly play, but their set did tail off to the end. They have plenty going for them and by the time the festival comes around next year, they could have progressed into something amazing. Less impressively playing to a crowd of ten next door THE GIFT (Moho Stage 1) do a line in well constructed but totally charmless angst-rock. The few that are there don’t seem to be enjoying themselves and the lacklustre applause echoes around the room.
THE CRASH-MATS (former The Knuckleheads) thankfully aren’t taking themselves as seriously. They bookend their set with covers of the Saved By The Bell and Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme tunes and in between, it’s all tongue-in-cheek punk backed with some storming drumming. THINGUMABOB & THE THINGUMAJICS (Blink) on the other hand make me feel unduly cynical. They’re a chipper, quirky pop outfit, complete with comedy moustaches, top hats and Hawaiian shirts. They make fun seaside sounding music with tiny instruments and ukulele solos. They roused the crowd with their series of optimistic numbers, conducting boy-girl sing-offs and drum marching through the audience at the end of their makes them far from run of the mill. They were extremely well received, but there are quite a few bands like this at the moment (not least Misty’s Big Adventure, who were playing later on the same stage), and there’s only so many times quirky can remain quirky. As I said, I’m unduly cynical, and the sizable audience seemed to love it much more than I did.
CARJACK MALLONE (Urbis) brought together perhaps the strangest crowd make-up of the festival, with a distinctly scally moshpit surrounded by the sort of people you’d expect to see gathered to watch a perfectly average rock act. There was nothing discerning about the set beyond the sight of people being given shoulder lifts around the room and women being grabbed at by over-enthusiastic pissheads. A peculiar moment.
|
The room fills out for the arrival of NINE BLACK ALPS, the official festival headliners. Having tasted fame and the subsequent backlash, they are keen to move on to a new chapter and blast a series of their rockier numbers, both old and new. It’s their old singles that are received the best, of course, and of the new stuff there is nothing to suggest they’ve reinvented the wheel. It’s certainly not clear how they’ll attract new fans with their new songs, but Manchester still regards them kindly, as it does any band who stepped into the limelight. Overall, it was a lively but one dimensional set, which seemed bland when compared with some of the more engaging talent on display across the city over the weekend.
For example, NO LIFE (Roadhouse), who last year were playing in the stench of the downstairs room at Dry Bar, right at the end of the Sunday programme. This Saturday night slot is much more celebratory and a packed Roadhouse is rocked by a wall of dirty-beat led monsters that skirt neatly around the brown noise throughout. Its filthy dance rock, both infectious and astonishingly loud, massive grins slapped firmly on their faces. They apologise for being more pissed than prepared, but there are no apologies necessary. This sort of set could get dance-indie crossovers out of its squeaky disco trough, growing some serious balls and becoming much more enjoyable. By all means and rights, this band are destined to go places.
SUNDAY:
With nowhere particularly to go in mind at the time, a chance trip into the Night and Day Café yielded the unexpected. THOMAS TRUAX is a man of gadgets reminiscent of Back to the Future. An evil genius dressed as a one man band, he creates his loops on what looks like the contents of a junk shop, and predominantly plays music from the films of David Lynch. Specialist. In and amongst the novelty are some well performed and affecting tunes, which is something that can be lost in acts of this nature. A clear crowd-pleaser, Truax ditches the mics for a while and marches around (and on) the bar, at one point completing a chorus whilst spinning around in circles. The gloom of the music is contrasted by the enthusiasm of the performance and it’s hard not to be impressed. Definitely worth checking out at least once, for it’s something that needs to be seen to be believed.
BLEACHED WAIL (Urbis) were another band I first encountered at MAPS last year. Tonight they ditch several of their strong older tracks in favour of some new ones, all which show them growing into a chart-bothering indie monster. They have an ear for a tune, showmanship and more than enough anthems in their armoury to make a classic debut album. Their take on angular, danceable guitar music is infectious from the first listen, and many gather around looking impressed. It’s an energetic performance which suggests that they’re destined for bigger stages in the future. Of all the bands seen this weekend, Bleached Wail are the ones who look the most like they’ll make it.
Also with mainstream potential tonight are THE VOID (Moho Stage One), who perform interesting enough indie rock ’n’ roll reminiscent of The Coral when they first came out. There’s nothing mind-blowing about them, but it’s a lively show and they play their tunes well, and you can see how people could be interested.
Next door, MAN MADES can congratulate themselves on winning over a crowd progressively. Playing to a sparsely populated Moho Stage Two at first, by the end of their funk set, the room has filled out and the response is rapturous. People were lured in by a strong party set, complete with break dancing, solos and the sight of a band having a really good time. They build songs up nicely, tunes that are easy to listen to and even easier to get lost in. The vocals and the dancing are effectively backed up by a three piece backing band, who dictate the rhythm flawlessly and give it the rock-funk edge. An unexpected surprise and one of the joys of events like Hungry Pigeon.
What goes up must come down, and the penance for a good party band seemed to be DIRTY AVENUE (Moho Stage One), who provide an element of pain and suffering to the evening, with sweeping but vacuous songs of hurt. It’s diluted MOR type stuff and definitely fares badly when placed next to the vibrancy of Man Mades.
Needing a pick-me-up, the evening finished at The Bay Horse for DR BUTLER’S MEDICINE HAT STAND BAND, who take you back in time to perform Victorian popular numbers featuring wash-boards and penny farthings. It’s not something you get to see every day, and it’s a relaxing end to an evening, and the closest music gets to time travel.
It’s been a quality festival this year, and anyone can find a line-up to suit them in and amongst the plethora of bands available. Enjoyment of this festival to its peak may require extensive Myspace searching and planning, but just ambling around and seeing what’s out there does just as well. This weekend can’t be far off becoming a staple in the Manchester music calendar. Hungry Pigeon is more than enough to satiate anyone’s appetite.
|
