Northwest Gig Highlights – July 2014

Festivals have got a hell of a lot to answer for. Whether it’s simply their musical drawbacks (short sets, no sound checks, the fact that large-scale speaker systems and high winds don’t mix) or the fact that the major ones, at least, seem to market themselves as excuses for a serious bender first and as music events second, they’ve nevertheless grown so popular that they tend to dominate the schedules for touring artists through the summer months, leaving townies – to be fair, usually spoiled for three-quarters of the year – facing a few gigless weeks.

This July, though, is an unusually strong one across the Northwest. The early pace-setters are The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who’ve just dropped their third full-length, Days of Abandon, to richly deserved critical acclaim; they’ll be at the Ruby Lounge on the 2 Jul, with a new lineup that includes Jen Goma from A Sunny Day in Glasgow and formidable support from Fear of Men. A day later, the considerably less demure Sleigh Bells play their first Manchester show for nearly two and a half years over at Gorilla; it’ll also be their most intimate since they played the Deaf Institute shortly after their debut dropped. They’ll be belatedly playing tracks from the superb Bitter Rivals; expect a sweatfest and very, very loud guitars. We certainly can’t imagine they’ll be booked across town at the Manchester Cathedral any time soon, but a man who should be considerably more comfortable in such gorgeous surroundings is Conor Oberst, who’s just delivered another wonderful solo album, Upside Down Mountain. He’s there on the 8th, assuming you’re happy to miss the first World Cup semi-final, with support from Dawes, who will also serve as his backing band.

If something on a bigger scale’s your bag, you can catch Pixies – minus Kim Deal, alas – at the Castlefield Bowl on 10 Jul; hopefully, there’ll be minimal material from the decidedly lopsided Indie Cindy, but either way, how often do you get the opportunity to see a seminal indie rock group play amid Roman ruins?

Speaking of indie rock, The Cribs, now ten years old as a band, are fast becoming old hands themselves – not that it’s slowing them down at all. They’re supposed to be working on a pair of new albums, but just seven months after last December’s Cribsmas shows apparently saw them bid farewell to the stage for the foreseeable future, they’re back playing a slew of festivals; you can catch an intimate warm-up show at Liverpool’s East Village Arts Club on 11 Jun.

Back in Manchester, you’re spoiled for choice the following day. Tame Impala take the stage at the beautiful Albert Hall; it’s sold out, though, which might make Slow Club’s show at Gorilla a cheaper bet and perhaps, given the promise of the singles we’ve heard from Complete Surrender so far, a better one. Either way, you’ll be getting out of the house and away from the damp squib that is the World Cup third place play-off; you could even do both, if you catch the Sheffield duo at the Kazimier on Wednesday 8 Jul.

There’s plenty to get stuck into on the hip-hop front, too; first up, the customary summer dose of Wu-Tang – take your pick from Method Man and Redman at Manchester’s Ritz on 18 Jul, or Ghostface Killah playing an intimate solo show at the Kazimier four days earlier (14 Jul). Over at the East Village Arts Club, meanwhile, you can catch Immortal Technique’s State Terrorism tour on the 23 Jul.

Those of a mellower disposition might want to head down to the Arts Club on 20 Jul for a rare treat in the form of Kilsyth indie rockers The Twilight Sad playing their terrific debut, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, front to back. If that’s your bag, you might also want to catch Owen Pallett at the Deaf Institute a little earlier in the month, on 15 Jul; he’s currently on tour with Arcade Fire, but in truth, his fantastic new In Conflict LP is light years ahead of Reflektor.

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Do Not Miss

Kult Country
The Eagle Inn, Salford, Friday 4 July


This year’s Independence Day sees three quality things come together on the Manchester/ Salford border. Kult Country are one of Sways Records’ finest; given the sheer strength of their roster, that’s a bold statement, but one the band should back up when their long-awaited debut record finally drops. For now, you can check out their brand of washed-out, scuzzy psychedelia in the form of new single Trembling Moon, as well as excellent debut cut Slowdown; they’ll be arriving off the back of a rapturously received set at Liverpool Psych Fest.

The second component of the hat-trick is promoters Now Wave, but the clincher is the venue. The Eagle Inn is an old Joseph Holt house, tucked away incongruously in an industrial estate and just yards from Elbow’s Blueprint Studios. It’s been taken over by the minds behind the Northern Quarter’s Castle Hotel, and looks set to follow in its footsteps – as well of those of Gullivers – in offering top-drawer ale and even better live shows on a regular basis.