Bands/artists featured below: Priya Thomas, Parisman, The Jim Muir Sideshow, Luke Doucet, Cities In Dust, Thai Bride, The Rifles, Make Good Your Escape, The High Dials, Orson, Liam Frost, The Cazals, The Sunshine Underground, The Scarlet Tuesday, Action Plan, Ivory, Oceansize (more reviews and photos still to come) Priya Thomas (6.10pm, Late Room)
 | | Cities In Dust (8pm, Late Room) |
Touches of Polly Jean, Blondie and Siouxsie come together in the elfin body, shocking white hair and art-school dance of Priya Thomas. Her music hails from the full-on rock and roll side of punk, but it’s her moves, angular yet flowing like a staccato ballet, that really grab your attention. She may not be Canada’s best export but she could stake a claim for the maple leaf’s most active. (Chris Long) Parisman (7pm, 14 Lloyd Street, upstairs) There’s little doubt that Parisman have taken their lead from their fellow townsmen, The Music, but unfortunately they forgotten to add much to it themselves. With the stage presence of a student band and average beats, they are aiming for an electronic Embrace epicness which they may have achieved in levels of sound but not in songwriting. (CL) Jim Muir Sideshow (7.15pm, 14 Lloyd Street, downstairs) Jim Muir Sideshow are the product of a couple of junior doctors and are everything you’d like a doctor to be – slow, ponderous and steady. They suffered badly from atrocious sound levels but failed to help themselves by seeming desperate to play over the top of each other, making their presumably grand acoustica sound like the ramshackle cacophony of the under-rehearsed. (CL) Luke Doucet (7.20pm, Late Room)
 | | The Rifles (8.30pm, 14 Lloyd Street) |
If Luke Doucet had started his show the way he finished it, with a threatening demand for silence while he played, he may have made a more successful impression. Unfortunately, he didn’t, so it wasn’t until his last song that the power of his ‘one mand and his guitar’ act was seen, leaving an audience that had to wonder quite how he’d ever found the guts to write a song, let alone play it live. (CL) Cities In Dust (8pm, Late Room) Angry as a tattooed tiger and powerful as a howling wind, Cities In Dust bring a new meaning to audience participation. With a front man that contorted over his monitors, bounced around the dancefloor, climbed on table-tops and had the bar staff shouting for the audience to cheer, they couldn’t fail to be noticed. It’s about more than the shenanigans though, and the band have the punk spirit running high in their rock. When they come back, seek them out. If you’re lucky, you might just end up with a singer in your lap! (CL) Thai Bride (8.00pm, Walkabout) With plenty of crashing cymbals and tortured vocals, it was difficult to miss the arrival of Thai Bride on stage. But while their music was all angry punch, the band themselves were decidedly lacking in presence, meaning that if it’s angst ridden rock you’re looking for, chances are you may find it done better elsewhere. (Zannah Ingraham) The Rifles (8.30pm, 14 Lloyd Street, upstairs)
 | | Liam Frost (9.15pm, 14 Lloyd Street) |
Just add the word Eton into the band name and you see exactly where this bunch are heading out from. Unfortunately, wearing your influences so proudly on your polo shirt only shows that you are aiming to emulate, not invigorate. Competent as they were, The Rifles were little more than a set of very ordinary boys. (CL) Make Good Your Escape (8.35pm, Walkabout) All energetic riffs and strikingly clear vocals, Make Good Your Escape literally bounded with youthful energy as they took to the stage. While their softer blend of sun drenched indie may go against the current grain of punky British rock, their exceptional vocals mean that with the right track, they may just be a mainstream success story waiting to unfold. (ZI) The High Dials (8.45pm, Late Room) Much is being made of The High Dials in their native Canada, but from their show at the Late Room, it’s hard to see why. Their harmonies may be tight and the jangling guitars pleasant enough, but this isn’t a band that stand out in look or style. They also seem intent on undercutting their own tunes with odd chord changes. They’d been billed as being reminiscent of the Flaming Lips. It takes an awful lot of imagination to see how. (CL) Orson (8.45pm, 14 Lloyd Street, downstairs)
 | | The Sunshine Underground (9.30pm, 14 Lloyd Street) |
Orson had spent the weekend waiting for their slot and having the weight of being one of ITC’s ‘buzz’ bands hanging over them. Sadly and inevitably, they couldn’t live up to the hype, having only Top Man hats, obvious posturing and average rock to offer a packed room. Quite how tired clichés wrapped in blazers made it to be a ‘buzz’ band is anyone’s guess. (CL) Liam Frost (9.15pm, 14 Lloyd Street, upstairs) Having run free and without competition for the best part of five years, Damon Gough finally needs to be worried. In Liam Frost, Manchester has a new singer songwriter of formidable talent, capable of releasing the dark and light of the soul with beguiling ease and beauty. He’s also a disarmingly at ease showman and a Guy Garvey-style charmer to boot. The acoustic crown of this city could be about to shift. (CL) The Cazals (9.20pm, Walkabout) With a frontman who looks like a slightly creepy uncle and an unusual mix of gravely vocals and quirky beats, the Cazals are certainly a sight to behold. At their best, you could truly believe that their own blend of seedy rock has something new to offer current British music scene, but at worst, they risk gravelling off the Richter scale entirely. (ZI) The Sunshine Underground (9.30pm, 14 Lloyd Street, downstairs)
 | | Oceansize (10.45pm, M2) |
The Sunhine Underground make stand-up rollicking rock and roll that bursts straight from the heart, the soul and the dole queue. This is a band so desperate for their chance in the spotlight, so much so that they’ve even allegedly resorted to nicking instruments, and their hunger burns as brightly as their talent. If they keep up this sort of energy, they might just get a chance to buy some gear of their own or at least pay for the stuff they already have. (CL) The Scarlet Tuesday (10pm, 14 Lloyd Street, upstairs) The best way of describing The Scarlet Tuesday’s abilities is simply to say that they began their set playing to a full room and within five minutes, there was about ten people left. You couldn’t help but pity them but then, given that their music sounded the wrong side of cacophonous and featured a singer who seemed to be singing with a different band completely. A poor inclusion on the official programme. (CL) Action Plan (10.00pm, Walkabout) Whether it was a touch of the Monday blues or the fact that the masses were simply exhausted from the weekend’s musical antics, it seemed that barely a soul was left to witness the final set of the night. With their earthy drums and full throttle pace, Action Plan have a knack of making you feel as though you’re standing still at the centre of a rising stampede. But with few left to hear them, the night went out with more of a whimper than a bang. (ZI) Ivory (10.15pm, 14 Lloyd Street, downstairs) Does grime need another hero? If Ivory have anything to do with it, it does, and the substantial crowd rocking to the beats and treats that the raw drum and bass, hip-hop blatantly British hybrid served up certainly seemed to agree. With unusual samples and occasional rock riffs, they also showed they’ve got plenty of imagination too. (CL) Oceansize (10.45pm, M2) What better way to finish In The City by indulging an old favourite? The soaring golden punch of Oceansize’s triple guitar assault is fast becoming a civic treasure around these parts and in the new material from Everyone Into Position, they have added strength to already solid cannon of work. Lead singer Mike Vennart led from the front, contorting around his guitar and bashing out every last sound, while his band following his lead. Quite simply, belting. (CL) |
