The Stills / Prego

@ Manchester Night & Day Cafe

As I naively attempt to defrost from the icy conditions outside with a warm beer, Prego take to the stage. They commence their set with intrigue and promise, as a siren-like sound introduces their first track, but sadly the cracks soon begin to show. Their guitarists and drummer make an impressive sound between them, but it their vocalist (and additional guitarist) who lets things down. They are reminiscent of Biffy Clyro's recent, more commercially successful material, but the voice which accompanies this would not be out of place in a band such as Snow Patrol, or some other band which your Dad feels youthful by listening to. Prego do have some strong moments, but the individual elements that they combine are unfortunately too contrasting to work effectively.

If musicians were merited on their enthusiasm, then The Stills would be playing arena tours by now. Sadly for them, this isn't true, but it is perhaps due more to a lack of recent marketing after the release of their debut album, 'Logic Will Break Your Heart', than it is to their talent. The crowd here tonight is evidently made up devotees who have supported the band throughout their career, but it is nevertheless the singles from their aforementioned debut which receive the greatest response. Their lead singer, Tim Fletcher, leads a trio of guitarists at the front of the stage who elevate themselves on speakers to encourage the crowd to cheer along during the material from the two most recent albums, which makes the bands current status glaringly obvious – they are a forgotten band. However, this isn't to say they are deserved of such neglect. The people here tonight certainly haven't forgotten about The Stills, and The Stills won't forget about them, which, if it is the case at all of their gigs, should hopefully be enough to hear more from them in the future.

Stuart Holmes

Ponies / Little Hero / Forty Million Mexicans / Sal's Paradise

@ Leeds Packhorse

In the upstairs room of the Packhorse the burgundy carpet sticks to my feet and there is a well-meaning heart on my hand. Walking through the modest crowd, the first act, Sal's Paradise, step over the fairy lights that separate the stage from the rest of the room. Front man, Chris Kreinczes, sings with a raw but suppressed intensity that hearkens back to the protest singers of the 60s. He delivers his songs almost like warnings, like he knows something we don't. There are parts I don't understand, probably the most interesting parts. However, I am pretty certain there is something special about this band.

Forty Million Mexicans are actually a five piece university band - who'd've thunk it? Their first song 'Broken Spiders' is undeniably their best; unfortunately after this the songs lacked direction, which seemed to be down to too many ideas not working together. This was also true of the two singers; individually they both had good voices, but choosing to sing together in unison in almost every song became a bit boring. However, they were really happy, and I read recently that other people being happy less than half a mile away from you makes you 42% happier, so thanks for that.

Little Hero might have been immune to this effect as he seemed to be a bit intimidated; a few of the previous bands' fans left just before his slot. He seemed to direct his performance to one man in the room, a fan who knew all the words. One of Little Hero's opening lines was "I have a boss called Tom and he is a nit-wit", which I think he should revise or I'm telling Tom.

Ponies is actually a man; I was hoping for a singing horse. Neigh-vermind. As soon as Ponies started singing it began to snow outside and we roasted marshmallows over a roaring fire and held gloved hands. What I mean to say was that it suddenly became very Christmassy. Although, I did start to wonder whether I had been fooled into going to a Christian Union gig night, as there were a lot of references to the Almighty in the lyrics - "letting the light in" was one line I can remember. I have to admit, I get a bit scared by religion but Ponies soothing voice, and the relaxed atmosphere, along with the blood of Christ that I was drinking helped ease my fears. It was, in all, a pleasant end to the evening.

Holly E E Brain

Stereophonics / The Courteeners

@ Sheffield Arena

Promoting their greatest hits album, Stereophonics rocked a near sold out Sheffield Arena with an array of hits and acoustic numbers. Support came from The Courteeners, a Manchester based indie act whose three quarter of an hour set was massively underwhelming. The band doesn't have a back catalogue worthy of supporting Stereophonics, and this was evident from the moment they stepped on stage. Although their performance wasn't terrible, they won't be a band to grace the Sheffield arena's stage anytime soon.

Stereophonics started their set in blistering fashion, opening with the guitar driven 'Vegas Two Times'. Tonight's set list consisted of both hits and personal favourites, with their performance jam packed with songs from debut album 'Word Gets Around' as well as follow-up 'Performance and Cocktails'. There's a different side to Stereophonics on show tonight, the band deviate from their singles driven performance and include violins and acoustic guitars for the second half of the set. Lead singer Kelly Jones got personal with 'Stop to Fill My Car Up', a soft number about the vocalist's experience with an armed man inside his car. The faster tracks from the set proved the biggest crowd pleasers, as 'Bartender and the thief' and 'Thousand trees' had the 15,000 inside the arena all singing away. The band played for a whopping two hours before closing on the epic 'Dakota', ensuring their gig will go down as one of the performances of the year. They managed to satisfy both the casual and diehard fans with a varied set list, as well as surprising everyone with incredible acoustic renditions of 'You're my star' and 'Handbags & the glad rags'. As far as 2008 goes, The Stereophonics are by far the live act of the year.

Tom Crowther

Herman Dune

@ Manchester Deaf Institute

Often, a Herman Dune gig is a rambling occasion, loosely held together by the magnetic force of front man David Ivar Herman Dune's slightly oddball personality. Tonight, he's more subdued and more professional. He's smartened up his act, wearing a tucked in shirt, tie, trousers and hat rather than the baggy, mismatched, primary colour clothes of old.

It's common to leave a Herman Dune gig feeling as if you've spent some time inside David Ivar's sweetly upside down head, participated in his skewed romances and shared in his cartoonish take on life, but this evening's set is more focused, not at the mercy of wherever David Ivar's easily distracted mind takes it.

Herman Dune's fragile folk, built round David Ivar's high, wiry, slightly vulnerable voice, is beefed up by the John Natchez Bourbon Horn Players, who add loud solos to Herman Dune's quirky songs.

Next Year in Zion, title track of the new album, is a jaunty party tune, horns toot tooting, and On a Saturday is one of the loveliest they've ever made, rasping horns borrowing heavily from Elvis' Always on My Mind and backing singers the Baby Skins swooning in the background like fallen angels.

They still retain a sense of melancholy and rootlessness though, wood blocks clip clopping like horses hooves over Herman Dune's characteristic trotting rhythm on the yearning My Home is Nowhere Without You. Drummer Neman, in a cap and waistcoat, looks like a weary traveller pulling out a saw at the side of the road for the evening's entertainment, hitting it theatrically with a beater for an expressive, rising and falling solo.

Ballad My Baby is Afraid of Sharks and a breakneck rendition of 1, 2, 3, 4 Apple Tree, horns substituted for wispy flutes, show they're still searching for the perfect love affair.

Natalie Bradbury

Twisted Wheel / Underclass / Danny Mahon

@ Manchester Ritz

On this, Twisted Wheel's largest gig in Manchester to date, I notice that there is an evident theme for tonight's gig at The Ritz. As Twisted Wheel's lead singer Jonny Brown tells the crowd towards the end of their set, 'We're just having fun, making music, and telling truth', and this is also the apparent mindset of their chosen support acts.

Unfortunately, as the country is in recession, listening to three Mancunian bands talking about life as it really is on the same night is overkill to say the least. Underclass look and sound like tonight's headliners, but are more melodic, whilst Danny Mahon reminds us that the weather in Manchester in miserable (as if we needed telling twice), but this can easily be remedied by sticking on a CD by one of the city's famous bands. Cynicism aside, both acts mean well in the sentiment of their songs, but having a whole evening of music with similarly down beat subject matter becomes far too repetitive and disheartening.

Twisted Wheel commence an over-stretched set with 'She's A Weapon', which is undeniably several minutes of greatness, but after this the songs morph together more than you would've hoped. Their front man stops his band mates half way through their third or fourth song when a couple of lads start to fight in the mosh pit, and commands that the venue's security put some of their training into action. They continue, but aside from the die hard fans at the front, the rest of the crowd seem to lose interest. The applause after each song is far from rapturous; the whole show feels like too much too soon. The lads are good, but they're not as good as they think, or as good as they've been told. Not yet.

They end their set with their recent single, 'You Stole The Sun' - or at least you think they are going to - but they pause at the end and tune up for one more: a lesser know track called 'My Mates', which is a regrettable decision.

After the performance, a crowd gathers for a Reverend and the Makers-style after show gig, but this just turns out to be Jonny Brown and his acoustic guitar being crowd surfed across the road and back again. This ends a night which showed a highly praised band occasionally being fantastically energetic on stage, but ultimately believing their premature hype and consequently putting on an over ambitious show.

Stuart Holmes

Previous Live Reviews

Live Reviews Archive