It just seems that Annie Hardy has the sort of kooky voice and pretty ‘girl next door’ looks designed to drive sex-starved red-blooded Mancunian boys wild with rage or lust. Had these boys really turned up to the right event? Surely the lap-dancing club was around the corner! Momentarily disarmed, Giant Drag nevertheless gamely fought back with a bunch of withering looks, sarcastic comments and a set of songs that gradually found a snarl as the night progressed, and, like the rest of the musical twosomes in music at the moment, had the sort of chops and moves that more than made up for their lack of stage numbers. However, unlike indie-rock duos like Two Gallants or Viva Voce, Annie Hardy and Micah Calabrese didn’t bludgeon, they insidiously worked their magic like all the best 4AD bands or My Bloody Valentine used to. There were great versions of Kevin is Gay and Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game, but the best song was This Isn’t It with it’s withering refrain, “Love love, love, this isn’t it; love, love, love you wouldn’t know it if it hit you”, the perfect retort to this bone-headed audience, who really were a giant drag, unlike Giant Drag who kicked against the pricks and came out of it with honour very much intact. |
