Manchester Music is alive and well…

Think of Manchester music and The Smiths, Joy Division, Happy Mondays and Stone Roses will pop out as the most iconic; post-punk, Factory records and the Hacienda…

I wish I could have been in my teens in those days and turn green with envy when I talk to colleagues who joined in the drug fuelled funtimes and true pride of the Manchester Music Scene. The only links I really have with those bands are dancing along to them among the hoards of other Mancunians my age who are deluded enough to think that they were part of it (no, you were not even a sperm then Mr Bezdance). Go to any ‘indie’ club in Manchester now and you are guaranteed to hear at least one hit of each of the bands listed above, so much so that songs that I love I now hate – cool has become cliche.

It seems we feel the need to always step back into the past to feel any sense of pride in Manchester Music, but I find now that looking back is getting a bit old. The excitement has gone, we’ve heard it all now and yeah, a blast from the past is always welcome but when you hear the same old, same old every week, it gets tired.

What now? Doves recently performed their final gig in the dark and dingy basement beneath the arches of Picadilly Station spelling the end of another great Manchester band. Oasis are over, The Courteeeners are promising at times but in my opinion were a massive let down at this year’s Glastonbury festival and Ian Brown and Mr Scruff are still kicking around – nothing all that exciting though. There’s always Elbow, not a bad word against those lads. Perhaps I am asking for too much – I want another Hacienda, another time of change, but I’ll have to settle with the pill popping dungeon that is the Warehouse Project and gigs in shitholes of the Northern Quarter.

Last night turned this disgustingly OTT pessimism into a heartwarming reassurance that Manchester is proud of it’s musicians and its musicians are proud of Manchester. Whos’s to blame? Damon ‘Badly Drawn Boy’ Gough. He comes and goes and has in his past been slated by critics for talking rather than singing onstage, not putting much into his performance and with recent albums, been criticised for sounding ‘too mainstream’. I disagree. I think he’s the dogs bollocks.

The gig (which felt more like an intimate concert) was at the Royal Northern College of Music. I was at first a little miffed at arriving much earlier than anticipated when I could have had another drink or three, but the miffedness soon fluttered away when I heard the feel-good support band ‘The Candle Thieves’ – complete with plinky plonky mini piano, glockenspiel, beautiful vocals, red balloons, a teddy bear and an inflatable shark. The twosome from Peterborough used the empty seats (of those still “pissing about outside”) to provide us with a perfect amount of audience participation as they handed out drums and shakey eggs etc. Just lovely.

I have to admit, despite calling myself a Badly Drawn Boy fan (I’ve seen him play a loads of times in Manchester and at a converted old cinema in Stockport), I have’t yet had the chance to listen to his new album, the first of a trilogy named It’s What I’m Thinking. If last night was anything to go by though, I’ll be downloading it today (legally of course). Damon complained that he couldn’t see his audience but made it more than clear that he was extremely glad to be back in his home town – a feeling I get everytime I see him play here, it certainly is special to him and what I love about that is that he shows it. Starting off alone on an acoustic, he played a number of old and a few rare tracks that I hadn’t heard live before taken from EPs before the ‘Hour of the Bewilderbeast’ and his Mercury Music Award. There was no setlist – just the lyrics of the songs he had written but couldn’t remember – but then remembered that he did remember the words – “as you can tell it’s not exactly a Greatest hits”. Nobody had any quarms about that.

It’s only when I see Badly Drawn Boy live that I realise how much I miss him when he takes long periods off (excuses include the fact that his kitchen was “fucked” and so he couldn’t write). He is never too tryhard and when he sings his lyrics in that smooth, comforting voice it feels like he’s telling a story before bedtime. The thing with Damon Gough is that unlike many musicians, he comes across as completely normal, a family man, a hobo who made it. His uniform of ill-fitting trousers, a t-shirt and tweed jacket and of course the iconic ‘teacosy’ beanie hat say it all really – no frills. He chats to the audience as he would with a group of mates in the pub – but never too much, just enough to keep us humoured with his awful jokes, “This one got to Number 1 in 45 countries. Nah, Number 45 in 1 country”. The poor man puts himself down so much throughout the set, saying he’s “funny like that”, but as someone who knows damn well how horrible it is to never be satisfied with anything I do, my heart went out to him as he went on to play songs from the new album but shaked his head throughout and repeatedly apologised for messing up. We wouldn’t have noticed – the boy needs a wee confidence boost, but then he wouldn’t be who he is.

The highlights for me were two massively cute duets with his 9 year old daughter Edie, who provided both vocals and a piano solo to great applause, and towards the end and backed by a full band including Doves keyboardist, he played a couple of requests ‘Born in the UK’ and after a quick fag break, my favourite, ‘Silent Sigh’. His piano playing astounds me (though he would say he’s shit). He seemed as though he wanted the night to go on and on – surrounded by friends, family and adoring fans, he and his band left the stage. The applause didn’t stop, and what seemed like an impromptu performance was introduced as “the song I heard when I was 14 that made me know what I wanted to do”. I couldn’t tell if he was crying a little, but I wouldn’t have been surprised at all – it felt like it meant a lot. Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Thunderroad’ ended the night perfectly and I left feeling a warm wave of refreshed love of Manchester and its wonderfully unpretentious musicians.

http://badlydrawn.muronia.com/

http://www.thecandlethieves.com/

P.S

This is my first attempt at writing a thing about music, so please forgive me if it’s utter rubbish. Thanks.

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  I used to live in Manchester, and used to goto Record Peddler, friends of mine Mark, and Alan Nichols used to run the Shop, all the Bands used to nip into the Shop, 70’s and 80’s were prob the best times for music, i used to snap up lots of rare stuff from the shop, 3 inch cd’s some i still have, the Shop had whatwas named the Factory collection, this was everything that was produced by Factory Records, all the Bands of Manchester, and i mean all, if there was a promo item that came with a cd, it could be anything from a pair of plastic lips to Prince the sign, they had it all, the Factory collection was in the shop, some items were on display to taunt all the collectors, many hundreds of pounds would be offered to Mark, and he would wait until the time was right, a bit like the stock exchange i suppose, Alan who was Marks friend, started doing record fairs to bring in more money, he was a walking genius of music, if you want to learn the culture of Music from Manchester he is the guy to speak to, he still does record fairs and now lives in London, and does is fair at Grenwich you can’t miss the Fair, i think it’s sat and sunday, i think its a large church, just ask anyone where the record fair is, its right on the corner just before you walk down to see all the naval boats, Nip in and say hello, we used to go to concerts in Manchester then jump out into the car, and try and guess which Hotel Bowie would be going to, and we would hang out to try and chat with the Artist and get a few pictures, I was really there when the Sex Pistols were at the Lesser free trade Hall, one of the supporting bands were my friends from school, they used to nip up to london and try to get to see Bowies Then Manager Ken Pitt, on one occasion it paid of, they got to see Ken, and in walked Bowie, they came back with Pictures of David Bowie sat on a counch with the lads, they were unbelivable images, it was then that there carrer really set of, Mike Rossi who was an excellent Guitarist, and still is,stole the limelight, the Band Slaughter & The Dogs was born, still performing, just google the name and you’ll find the Manchester punk band. Mick Ronson appeared on one of there early tracks, Bowies Guitarist, sadly Mick passed away a few years ago at 53 years of age, sadly missed, Yep i was there at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, and you know what, punk could be quite villant at the time, we went in the Hall, armed with a stereo tape recording machine, i think It ws the Buzzcocks, and then our Band Slaughter & The Dogs, i’d set up my mikes infront of the stage, no probs, but just before the Pistols came out, some Cotney guys started to kick off, and we got chased off and out, running down Oxford road i think it was, with two mics bouncing on the floor, sadly we missed the Pistols, but to be true to our Band, i always thought they were crap. ha ha, Oasis, My Daughter used to hang out at United Training ground, and then on to Citys Training Ground, where Noel used to wash cars, many times she used to run and get Noel some Chippy, maybe a pie, and just look at them now, prob one of the world richest Bands. i could chat forever but i sufer from Neuropathic pain, and my levels are shooting up as i write, so that’s all for now folks, and i would just like to say, i don’t think you can beet Manchester Bands, there sounds were so unique, bye……