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Bad Manners Saturday 13th June
Kobra And The Lotus Thursday 25th June (Ruby Lounge)
Jace Everett Friday 26th June
Bleed From Within Thursday 2 July
Black Grape Friday 3rd July
Snakecharmer Saturday 4th July
Jimmy Cliff Saturday 18th July
As the rest of the band re-appear for the
encore, there is a brief moment to ponder
Villagers as an entity. It would be presumptuous
and pompous to suggest that they encapsulate
any great cultural significance, but in many ways
they are achieving something important. With
the rise of Mumford & Sons and their ilk, “indie
folk”, or whatever you choose to call it, quickly
seemed to lose its relevance and credibility.
This was unfair considering the ingenuity
and talent of certain artists who fall into this
categorisation, and that is where Villagers
come in: a band that specialise in fantastically
subtle music, and who are also unashamed to
operate within a genre lambasted by many. In a
way they are helping wrestle back the term folk
from the bastard-swine of Mumford and their
offspring, and that is a worthy cause in my book.
Alastair Dunn
KANO
Mordred Thursday 6th August
My Nu Leng – Rich Furness
Hot Plate @ Camp and Furnace
Sugarhill Gang Saturday 8th August
BLUE ROSE CODE
Mellowtone @ Leaf
Mostly Autumn Saturday 12th September
GZA Thursday 17th September
Public Image Ltd Staurday 19th September
Wheatus Wednesday 30th September
Buzzcocks Saturday 10th October
Gary Numan Saturday 24th October
Peter Hook & The Light Friday 30th October
Heaven 17 Sunday 31st October
Dan Baird & Homemade Sin Sunday 31st October
The Wedding Present Saturday 14th November
Portico Thursday 19th November
Aynsley Lister Friday 4th December
New Model Army Saturday 5th December
Big Country Saturday 12th December
For full listings check out: www.manchesteracademy.net
getting things whipped up for the evening’s
main event.
Considering it’s been an entire decade
since he last played a club show, the musical
landscape could not be riper for Kano’s return.
His set may be short and sweet, but within
about half an hour he squeezes in classics
like Ps And Qs as well as new heavy hitter
New Banger and starts a mosh pit as heavy as
anything a hardcore gig could provide. In fact, it
gets so rowdy there is genuine concern that the
barriers could collapse and the sound system
get damaged. So of course everyone gets
wilder – what else would you expect from music
so staunchly anti-authoritarian? Alas, it’s all over
so quickly that when our headliner walks off
stage (after a second rendition of New Banger)
everyone is left wondering what to do. The
answer is obvious: hit the after party. No one
could go home readily after a night like that.
Laurie Cheeseman / @lauriecheeseman
Oxford Road, Manchester
M13 9PR • Tel: 0161 275 2930
Grime is on the ascent once more: Skepta is
rolling with Yeezy, the Boxed crew are critical
darlings, and Dizzee Rascal has finally stopped
making pop music. It’s moving back to the dank
warehouses where it’s best suited to and has
stopped aping American rap music quite so
much. It’s dance music again. So what better
time for KANO to return to the arena that made
him: the club night.
The most awkward part of any night out is
that indeterminate period as you walk in and
the music is loud but no one knows whether or
not it’s acceptable to dance yet. It takes a certain
kind of DJ to make you forget it’s only eleven,
make you forget you are one of about 25 people
in a cavernous, dark room and actually get feet
moving. Liverpool stalwart RICH FURNESS is
one of those people, dropping tune after tune
(Ghetto Kyote being a particular crowd-pleaser),
easing a hesitant crowd into the dance.
Following up one of the best sets at last
year’s Baltic Block Party was never going to be
an easy task, but certified dons MY NU LENG
take it in their stride, shape-shifting according
to the crowd’s whims. Their sound may be
indescribable (a bit house, a little garage and
more than a touch of grime) but the constant
throbbing bass holds everything together,
even as they swerve from Flava D’s In The
Dance to stone-cold Dizzee classic Stop Dat.
One point that must be made is the awkward
pacing of the set interrupted the otherwise
top-dollar vibes: swerving from 2-stepping
garage to shuffling deep(ish) house and back
again doesn’t make sense when the crowd
are clearly not there for anything other than
full-pelt tunes. All is forgiven, however, when
they finally bring out the big guns: their own
production for Newham Generals (Levels) and
their own certified banger, Masterplan, finally
It’s a civilised affair in Leaf’s upstairs room
this evening, as diehard fans and curious
newcomers alike drink tea under mirror balls
and await the arrival of BLUE ROSE CODE – the
moniker of Edinburgh-born songwriter Ross
Wilson.
Wilson, on a return to one of his favourite
cities as part of a lengthy spring tour, makes an
understated entrance as he drifts onto and then
hangs around at the back of the stage.
There’s no intro or greeting. Instead, he
starts playing up and down the guitar, almost
jamming an impromptu introduction on his
own. He eventually finds his way down stage to
the microphone, and gently lifts himself into the
first song, In The Morning – Part Two, a new song,
with its intricately picked guitar line floating out
with ring [