Scene Report: Manchester October 2006
By: Gareth Roberts
It's been a busy month up here in Manchester. The start of October saw the NME endorsed Klaxons (pictured) / Shitdisco / Datarock road show hit town, and suffice to say it was a messy night, completed (I'm somewhat ashamed to say) by yours truly waving a glow stick around like some sort of idiot.
The next evening it was back to the same venue for The Long Blondes, who put on a rip roaring performance which further ridiculed the whispers from some quarters that they can't cut the mustard live. Support act 1990s also did their growing reputation no harm by delivering a glorious set - the new Rolling Stones anyone? I know, that's ridiculous, but still... good.
In further goings on, The Warehouse Project finally swung its doors open, Public Enemy performing on the opening night followed by a sold out Saturday show which included the likes of a Doves DJ set amongst its attractions.
Then for me it was off to Barcelona for a week, what a place! However, the week in Catalonia got off to a rather disappointing start when after trekking across the city to a rather desolate area in search of the Razzmatazz venue, we managed to get lost and subsequently arrived too late for the Forward Russia gig, thanks in no small part to my inability to speak the Spanish lingo I might add.
Things picked up at the Rockdelux (Spain's premier music mag) weekend at the Sala Apollo, where I very much enjoyed the likes of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Final Fantasy and folk pioneers Tunng. After that it was back to the Razzmatazz for a night on the tiles. For those that don't know, the Razzmatazz plays host every weekend to around 5000 Spanish revellers, and as you would expect, it was an evening to remember. After queuing for around an hour and a half, we made it inside at 4.30am and stayed until the early hours, it was quite an experience seeing a few thousand Spaniards singing along to every word of 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor', I can tell you!
If only there were more places like that (if any?) in the UK. The coming week sees the likes of Bricolage and The Young Knives hit town, then the highlight (for me) of the Manchester music calendar, 'In The City 2006.', a full report of which will feature next month. Adios amigos!