My psychic skills told me
that the majjority of the 150 or so crowd were thinking "are
Toni & Guy having a January sale?" As The Cooper
Temple Clause lookalikes The Honeymoon Machine strolled on
to the stage and produced keyboard influenced indie that
is a mixture between the aformentioned band and The Libertines.
However, the audience judged them on their music rather than
their looks and gave The Barfly a far better reception.
Wolverhampton songstress Carina Round graced
Manchester tonight for part of her current UK tour to promote
new self-funded album "The Disconnected." The gathered
audience was thanked for digging to find this artists work,
and for nicely filling the venue.
Barfly was an apt name for the opening
band tonight as 505 of the growing crowd lingered with an
arm on the bar like Les Battersby or stayed close to it,
as the sprightly Suede meets Supergrass style indie rockers
swept through a pleasing set. The geology influenced track
'Searching For The Sun' managed to woo the audience into
a bit of toe tapping. However, pleas from the front man that
the area around the stage was " not toxic" went
unheeded.
My psychic skills told me that the majority
of the 150 or so crowd were thinking "are Toni & Guy
having a January sale?" As The Cooper Temple Clause
lookalikes The Honeymoon Machine strolled on to the stage
and produced keyboard influenced indie that is a mixture
between the aformentioned band and The Libertines. However,
the audience judged them on their music rather than their
looks and gave The Barfly a far better reception.
A modest Carina ventured out onto the stage
coyly stating "There's so many of you," which gained
an appreciative smile from the crowd gathered in the intimate
venue. Dressed in a conservative but classy black suit, she
appeared as modest as her opening songs "Shoot" and "Motel
74" which both struck the mood with the audience.
New single "Lacuna" struck a welcome response, with most of the relaxed
audience (appearing to expect a sitting down gig) joining in enigmatically.
Carina flitted from acoustic to electric
guitar and back again as though indecisive like a child in
a sweet shop, and equally familiar "Into My Blood" showed
just what she can do on vocals. Her unpredictable style is
one part soft mellow vocals, lulling you into a sense of
security, and another part ear piercing screams and tuneful
expressions of anger, as though swapping the singer on stage.
Her musicians (double bassist, guitarist, and drummer) all
just carry on as though this is a normal occurrence and are
not deterred.
"Elegy" and "Let It Fall" were
charismatic performances, indicating the night was coming
to a close, with Carina swishing off stage confidently as
though she herself owned it, to positive applause and cheers
from the crowd, who continued the appreciation, whilst wishing
for more.
Five minutes had not passed before we got our wish, as the band headed back
for one more song. "Monument" proved to be an epic performance, with
plenty of the screams, riffs and not a part of the stage left untouched by
the singer, whose unpredictable dancing did not leave a part of the stage untouched,
with Carina only returning to the microphone when it was her turn to sing,
between the instrumental parts, which gave the musicians a chance to shine.
A mesmerising night and a singer you should certainly be hearing more of in
the future.
David Adair & Katherine Tomlinson
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