BAND ON THE WALL - "A LONG PLAYER"

Band on the Wall is a Manchester institution that has played host to a dizzying array of bands and artists (if you don’t know the full story go here or here).

More than simply a live music venue, it has sadly been closed for the last three years but should be re-opening in Spring 2009, on the same site in the Northern Quarter but with expanded facilities.
Tonight a celebration event was held at Manchester’s Town Hall in advance of that opening to which yours truly blagged an invitation. The event was aimed at sponsors and those with influence or deep pockets. Sadly I possess none of these. But I did enjoy the free Tuborg and came away with a BOTW mouse mat.

However if you have spare cash or bags of influence please consider BOTW and go here.

I last went to BOTW in.....and this is why ticket stubs are so important. Without them you rely on memory. Hmmmm. 2004? 2005?

Anyway The Earlies were headlining and Working For a Nuclear Free City and The Longcut were supporting. Came in mid-set for WFANFC and remember being annoyed at missing out - excellent stuff, only topped by an impassioned performance by The Longcut. A shouting drummer-singer! He drums, he shouts, they play loudly. Unfortunately next came The Earlies. This was around the time their first album came out - and their performance was greeted as a combination of album launch party-cum-homecoming ticker tape parade.

Sorry - but I hated it. I thought they were dull, the material was poor (the 'best' song by a mile was a cover of Rachel Stevens' Sweet Dreams My LA-ex) and the sound a mess. Yet the crowd lapped it up - clearly their families were in that night. I was so shocked I stopped Stuart from The Longcut and told him they were ten times - no a hundred times better. He agreed. Some old tracks from both bands.

THE KISS OFF (Demo)

THE LAST ACT OF A DESPERATE MAN

The Longcut

A Call and Response [BUY]

OVER

Working For a Nuclear Free City

Working For a Nuclear Free City [BUY]

WFANFC are playing The Irish Club in Chorlton, Manchester tomorrow 6 June [INFO] and The Longcut are playing The Deaf Institute, Manchester on Friday 20 June [BUY TICKETS].