Eleven venues across the Northern Quarter hosted three nights of brand-new talent from across the world, as part of the festival portion of Beyond the Music, a conference focussed on gathering key music industry change-makers and influencers to discuss the future of the music industry and giving a platform to grassroots artists from across the UK and beyond.
We attended just a handful of the incredible performances, here’s how they went:
Image credit: Hobbsy
Thursday
We caught three acts across the first evening, starting with Divorce Finance at Peer Hat – a plunge into snarling punk and thundering drums. The Leeds five-piece shook the walls of Peer Hat, with frontman Mr Discipline bringing a dark but mesmerising energy soaked up by the audience.
The second show of the night took place at Castle Hotel, with a complete vibe shift for dream-pop duo Teleshopping. Flowing lyrics with soul bending sounds that echo throughout the bottom floor of The Castle Hotel, with hints of both serenity and heart-pumping highs. The Salford-based duo delivered a heartfelt performance.
The final act of the night was in a packed-out Band on the Wall. Manchester students Westside Cowboy were playing the bar stage, with immediate huge reception. Having just announced a support slot for Mercury Prize winner English Teacher, Westside Cowboy are on an upward trajectory, all without even releasing a single song, and this gig proved that. Presenting uplifting yet heartfelt tracks, the obviously close group of friends just seems to be enjoying themselves, which echoed into the audience.
Friday
Starting off Friday’s performances was ex-Manchester resident Lucy Deakin, the bedroom turned alt pop artist that is making waves across the Atlantic in her new home of LA. She was back in familiar territory to promote her latest EP, bringing hard hitting synth lines and head strong lyrics to Soup in NQ.
Staying at SOUP to catch newly reformed Honey Motel, a Liverpool-based four piece giving strong baselines and bold vocal lines. A big crowd flowed in pretty quickly, with plenty of fans filming and singing along, having eagerly awaiting their return after a short hiatus and band member change.
Heading over to Castle Hotel for the next two performance, first up was George Lawson; who certainly brought the energy straight off the bat. The indie-rock pop front man had unbeatable stage presence, making the small back room of Castle Hotel feel like an arena show. Backed by an incredibly tight band, his set of genre-hopping originals flowed seamlessly with tasteful references to pop royalty Harry Styles and Sabrina Carpenter.
Finishing off the Castle Hotel’s bill for the evening was Pippa Crossland, a talented singer-songwriter who immediately enchanted her audience with her bubbly personality and vocal prowess. Her set consisted of emotional yet upbeat originals from her recent releases, covering everything someone in their early 20s can relate to, from heartbreak to homesickness.
If there was one band for whom homesickness was clearly no issue, it’d be BBC Introducing tipped locals Martial Arts who headlined the Rodeo stage at 33 Oldham Street. From uplifting single ‘Warsaw’ (heard blasting through Aviva studios’ speakers before Aitch’s opening Q&A no less) to finale ‘Triumph,’ their set saw plenty of pacing and teetering on the stage edge with serious intent. The Withington guitar band’s motorik, sprawling post-punk energy will surely see them strutting around much bigger stages before long.
It’s hard to believe just an hour or so before, a lone Blossom Caldrone (“Usually I have a band with me”) poised behind her keyboard, was serenading the same audience whilst, she tells us, nursing a sore head from the night before; her stunning delicate vocals take centre stage with the no-nonsense style of Lily Allen or Kate Nash and friendly chit-chat.
Across Stevenson Square, under the bright lights of Aatma at Manchester’s own Melodic record label showcase, chat may be low on the agenda for Stoke-On-Trent trio Formal Sppeedwear (no typo, that’s how it’s spelt), but they more than make up for it with ample tuning and funky bass-led Talking Heads stomp from their self-titled EP which a small group of po-going punters (including punk-trio Yaang) embrace at the front with wild abandon.
It’s the perfect precursor to one of the Band on the Wall’s late-night highlights; London duo Human Interest, who perform tonight as a four-piece, bringing their punchy, rolling, slacker rock and roll to the venue’s bar stage, doused in red light and filling the Manchester atmosphere with fuzz like The Raveonettes playing inside a photography dark room
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