Live music in Manchester this week: 6 - 12 Jul
Portland surf-pop, harmony heavy psych-folk and a visit from country troubadour Sturgill Simpson all feature in your guide to Manchester music this week
We dive into the listings to bring you this essential guide to gigs in Manchester this week – plus the latest news on festivals, tour announcements and more. Think we've missed something? Hit up jess@theskinny.co.uk with the details..
Wed 6 July
We begin this week's gig guide with a visit from The Drifting Classroom. Hailing from the opposite end of the East Lancs Road, the five-piece offer a distinctly graceful blend of folk-flecked breeziness and laid-back chamber-pop. Tonight they launch debut album Oubliette (released via Skinny Dog Records) at the Night & Day, with help from local rock'n'rollers Louie Louie.
The Night & Day, 8pm, £5
Thursday 7 July
Seattle's Band of Horses return to Manchester this month, and a very welcome return it is too. Four years on from their last album Mirage Rock, and following frontman Ben Bridwell's recent collaboration with Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine) the Band's latest effort Why Are You OK is a snapshot of everything that first established the band in their Sub Pop heyday: glistening melodies and collegiate indie rock, underscored with a rootsy Americana. Fall in love with 'em all over again.
Albert Hall, 7pm, £22.50
Prefer your indie a little noisier? Step closer, friend, we've got just the thing for you: Portland, Oregeon's wracked garage types The Shivas are here to claim permanent ownership of your eardrums. Current album Better Off Dead (their fifth overall, and third for Calvin Johnson's legendary K Records) shows a more pensive side to their surfy psych, but their live show is a must-see barrage of guitar twang and scuzzy noise – in other words, the perfect way to hail the dawn of the weekend.
Fallow Cafe, 9pm, £8
Of course, there's always the Now Wave Summer Showcase, wherein the local promoting heroes gather three of the finest new acts around, just for you. 'Awww, they shouldn't have,' you sigh bashfully, but if you can turn down the combined majesty of Toronto weirdos Weaves, Perth dreampoppers Methyl Ethel and Leeds oddballs Caro, then you may wish to reconsider what you're doing with your life before a series of George Bailey-esque flashbacks and what-ifs ensues. 'It looks dead good,' is basically what we're saying.
Castle Hotel, 7.30pm, £7
Fri 8 July
There's DIY delights a-plenty at Fuel on Friday: Bristol's self-described "misandrist power hype" trio Towel are in town, mixing the ramshackle with the righteous in gloriously energetic fashion. Notebooks out, indie nerds: Towel feature Roxy of Two White Cranes and Joanna Gruesome fame, so that's pretty cool, right?
They're on tour with Glasgow's tireless lo-fi noiseniks Breakfast Muff, an instrument-swapping trio with the chutzpah of Huggy Bear and the demented imagination of Pavement at their most whacked-out, while Hot Shorts, Rice Milk and Bird Bath round out an excellent bill. Also, it's a mere THREE POUNDS in, and they promise no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Punk as fuck.
Fuel, 8pm, £3
More twisted sounds can be found at Soup Kitchen on the same night, as local psychedelicists Ethan & The Reformation promise "a bigger and better show than ever before" – a bold claim for a band who pride themselves on their blistering live performances. Expect a penchant for oddball post-Beatles pop to collide with face-melting, Hendrix-indebted blues-rock riffs, but don't come back to us with your eyebrows all singed and complain that we didn't warn you.
Soup Kitchen, 7.30pm, £7
Sat 9 July
There's also hints of psych to Foxtales' heavenly folk-rock, although it's the bluegrass tinges and immaculate harmonies that'll get you hooked. They launch their debut EP Spider (released through Run & Hide Records) at Soup Kitchen on Saturday – it surely can't be long before their technicolor tales of lust, love and loss find a wider audience. Support comes from the fragile finger-picking and captivating storytelling of singer-songwriter Chloe Foy, with the enigmatic promise of "special guests" also hanging on the poster.
Soup Kitchen, 7pm, £6
Mon 11 July
Alt country's star may not be shining quite so brightly as it did during a resurgence in the mid-noughties, but that just leaves all the more space for the truly excellent stuff to burn even more brightly. Sturgill Simpson has gained a degree of notoriety for his impressively dusty cover of Nirvana's In Bloom, but latest LP A Sailor's Guide to Earth showcases his own songwriting talents, as whisky-soaked vocals melt into the most sumptuous of melodies with effortless ease. Lovely stuff.
Gorilla, 7pm, £18.50
Sounds of the City
Castlefield Bowl's series of summer shows continues apace! At the time of writing, there's still time to pick up tickets for balladeer James Bay (6 Jul), Dakota hitmakers Stereophonics (7 Jul), evergreen local legends New Order (9 Jul) and indie supergroup The Last Shadow Puppets (10 Jul) – book 'em here.
Castlefield Bowl
Now booking...
White Lies, playing Manchester Albert Hall in November
In somewhat spectacular and unexpected news, electroclash survivor and genuine star Peaches returns to Manchester on Thursday 10 Nov at Gorilla. Warning: this will sell out. Grab tickets here while you still can. This promises to be one for the ages.
It's been a while since we've heard from Ealing post-punkers White Lies, but they storm back into action in October with the release of hugely-anticipated fourth LP Friends. It's followed by a jaunt around the UK, including a stop off in Manchester at the Albert Hall on 25 November. Tickets aren't on sale just yet, but keep an eye on the situation here – they'll be joined by strident popsmiths Ramona Flowers.
Also back in action are The Boxer Rebellion, whose latest album Ocean by Ocean dropped back in November. They drop into Gorilla on 1 December, and you can pick up tickets over here.