#356: JESSY LANZA - LIVE IN MANCHESTER

Canadian Electronic songstress Jessy Lanza returned to Manchester's Soup Kitchen for a 2nd visit supporting her latest album "Oh No" on Hyperdub Records, and was greeted to a sold out show! After an eclectic DJ set from DVA [hi:emotions], Jessy Lanza hit the stage, this time with a live drummer, Tori Tizzard.

Jessy Lanza entered the packed out Soup Kitchen basement stage and began her set with her most solemn tune of the night. A slow, ethereal and dreamy number with high pitched reverb vocals, that made me think of the scene in the Twin Peaks pilot where Julee Cruise sings the theme song! Jessy Lanza now has two full length albums. Her debut "Pull My Hair Back" is slower and dreamier, whilst the new album "Oh No" is much more energetic and playful. She managed to mix the two styles really well. Jessy Lanza transitioned into "5785021" from her debut, with the amazing "Come on and call me" chorus (is that her really number??). Her pounding bass and minimalist beats rumbled delightfully out of Soup Kitchen's fine sound system. "Kathy Lee" gradually added more bounce to the show and got people in the crowd dancing to the Witch House style sound.

As the show went on Jessy Lanza got more and more lively, with her drummer also helping to ramp up the sheer amount of groove in the room. "Never Enough" from the latest album was a massive highlight that saw Jessy Lanza truly lose herself in the music, dancing her ass off across the stage. The crowd were wild and rowdy by this point and Lanza took us on an incredible run of pounding bass, icy cool synths and choppy electro beats. The back to back punch of "V V Violence" into "It Means I Love You" was sensational, and the gems kept coming with "Pull My Hair Back" and "Keep Moving".

Jessy Lanza was soon applauded back on stage for an encore, completing a fabulous evening of vocals and beats that surrounded the senses and got everyone moving. I was fortunate enough to catch her first Soup Kitchen show a couple of years ago, and she was great then but a little on the timid side. The transformation she has made now is night and day, as she beamed with confidence on stage and looked like she was feeling and enjoying every second of it! Jessy Lanza's music isn't just about delivering high grooves and energy, but this Halloween she also managed to deliver such emotional resonance that cut through my soul like Leatherface on one of his killing sprees! 8/10.

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October 26th 2016 @ Soup Kitchen, Manchester

#354: DEATH GRIPS - LIVE IN MANCHESTER

As I entered the sold out Manchester Academy gig room the place was already chock-a-block full of music fans of all creeds. Hip Hoppers, Metalheads, Indie kids, Ravers, Punks and Rockers all united for the most hyped up gig of the year. The giant room was a sea of bodies, and so dark it was hard to recognise anybody. An eerie, droning siren hummed away, creating a sense of nausea and dis-ease amongst the crowd. Slowly the discordant drone gradually escalated in volume. After a few mistaken round of applauses as roadies and sound engineers appeared on stage, eventually the lights went out completely and the trio of Zach Hill (on drums), Flatlander (synthesizers and sampler) and vocalist MC Ride emerged from the ether...

...What followed for the next 90 minutes was a sheer bliss of noisy and violent music. Death Grips blur the lines between Hip Hop, Hardcore, Electronic and Noise, explaining why such a wide array of music fans were in union tonight. The trio blistered through all of their best tunes without a single pause for breath or to talk to the crowd. MC Ride stood tall like a deranged killer in the fog, ranting and screaming maniacally into the microphone. Zach Hill was a force of destruction, battering his kit like it had insulted his mother! The man was a sheer ball of fiery energy throughout and was fascinating to watch, delivering a diverse performance from the Industrial battering ram of 'No Love' to the Black Metal-esque blastbeats on 'Giving Bad People Good Ideas'. Flatlander was perhaps the most focused of the three, combining samples, laptop and synthesizers to create dense layers of noise and waves of wild electronics, piercing eardrums in the process.

The mosh pit was extremely violent and painful tonight, and I've seen plenty of Extreme Metal bands that haven't even managed to conjure up this much chaos! I began the gig slap bang in the middle, and I ended up being swept right to the front and then all over the place. The room became a tornado where bodies would fly and people's belongings soon became lost. I don't think I've ever felt so exhausted at a show and I was soon gasping for air and water! I woke up today with a battered and aching body, with cuts and bruises on my legs and arms, but I'd do it all over again!

Death Grips were absolutely relentless and shredded through just about all the songs a die hard fan could wish for! 'Get Got' and 'Bitch Please' were absolutely thumping, 'Giving Bad People Good Ideas' and 'Come Up & Get Me' were extremely raging, 'I've Seen Footage' offered a rare breather where fans could dance their asses off, 'Guillotine' was a bizarre sing-along anthem, and the finale of '(I've Got) The Fever' certainly left everyone wanting more.

Public Enemy may have warned us not to believe the hype, but I'm sure almost everyone will attest that Death Grips' live show was sheer enjoyment and an experience that was almost too good to be true! 9/10.

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October 16th 2016 @ Manchester Academy.

#328: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - LIVE IN MANCHESTER

First up, apologies to support act GFOTY, because I didn't get to see you. There seemed to be quite a few people having ticket troubles on the door, but that's another story. So go check out GFOTY on the Facebook. 

Animal Collective were originally due to perform at Manchester Academy 2, but because of great ticket sales, it got bumped up to the larger capacity 02 Ritz, which then ended up selling out, so a good move on the promoters part. Considering their latest album "Painting With..." received very divisive and lukewarm reviews, the fact that this concert has sold out is surely a great testament to the amazing legacy and body of music that Animal Collective have created. This doesn't even count all their solo works!

Before they even took the stage, you could firmly tell that you were in the domain of Animal Collective, with the colourful and elaborate set that graced the Ritz stage. There were giant male and female statues, and lots of trippy, colourful lighting and a kaleidoscopic video backdrop to ease the audience into the acid trip they were about to take! With Deakin sadly absent, Panda Bear, Geologist and Avey Tare took the stage to huge applause. Geologist wore his trademark forehead strapped flashlight. Last time I saw them play, Panda Bear played the drums, but this time they got a helping hand from touring drummer Jeremy Hyman. The core trio had an array of synthesisers and pedals in front of them.

As is tradition when Animal Collective tour, they usually like to stick to the album they have just released. When I saw them at Warehouse Project in 2012, they played their previous "Centipede Hz" album in full (incidentally one of the most criminally under-appreciated albums of the decade so far) so I expected to hear the majority of "Painting With..." live. Though the album has received less than favourable reviews, I really enjoyed it, showing the band tackle a more Pop-oriented direction (or at least their version of Pop), but hearing them perform the tracks live only made my appreciation of "Painting With..." increase. Being such an experimental band, it feels like the songs have evolved since their studio incarnations. The group kept the core dynamics of the songs, put explored different effects and synth sounds. Tonally, the spectrum of their sounds were stretched much further, and combined with the psychedelic lighting and videos, it lead to an extremely trippy and hypnotic experience. They also jammed out quite a lot of the songs, and this is where the drummer really shined, stringing together erratic time signatures and bridging together songs without breaks. Whilst the AnCo trio felt a little bit static on stage, barely moving from their spots, the drummer helped to add the momentum and liveliness to the performance.

Though Animal Collective weren't as physically energetic and crazy as when I last saw them rock out The Warehouse Project, what really shined this evening was the incredible vocal harmonies of Avey Tare and Panda Bear. The two work each other so perfectly, often switching between double harmonies and call/response vocals. New songs "Lying On the Grass" and "Summing the Wretch" delivered sublime vocal trade offs. When they played "Daily Routine", one of their greatest songs from 2009's breakthrough album "Merriweather Post Pavilion", the crowd went nuts, and Panda Bear really went crazy on the mic, carrying his voice to every corner of the Ritz. Another huge highlight was their performance of "Floridada" just before the encore. Some people love this song, some said it was the worst they've ever written, but from where I was standing, almost everyone was bouncing up and down and going wild!

Unfortunately after the huge energy of "Floridada", Animal Collective went off stage and came back for an encore. Usually an encore is the most exciting part of a concert where a band bring out the best songs, but this was a rather muted affair where the energy went down and they noodled into wishy washy trippiness for a little too long. Considering the last time I saw them they closed their show with a knockout punch of "My Girls", "Brothersport" and "Peacebone", my expectations were very high, and sadly I ended up leaving the show rather disappointed. My advice for anyone thinking of seeing Animal Collective live is that, yes they will put on a great show with sounds ahead of any of their peers, but absolutely make sure you like their latest album, because you are probably going to hear the whole thing and not a lot else. For a band that have such a rich body of colourful, eclectic and mindblowing music, it seems sad that Animal Collective can so easily turn their back on that legacy. I heard a lot of people after the show groaning that they didn't hear any of their favourite "MPP" or "Strawberry Jam" songs, and to be fair to them they have a right to be upset. Regardless Animal Collective deliver one of the most unique and forward thinking sounds out there, and as the sold out crowd can testify, AnCo is an experience that just cannot be missed! 8/10.

April 13th 2016 at 02 Ritz, Manchester. Photography by Mel Hamilton.