Reviews

The owners of the Manchester Academy could really do with taking that sentiment on board. I mean, I like going to see gigs in a beer-serving shed as much as the next person but if I wanted to then rid myself of it in the freezing cold, I’d go to a festival.

The Ting Tings (c) Karen McBride

But then, there’s something festival-ly about this tour’s line-up, so maybe it’s appropriate that we’re all peeing in potable loos, and proceedings did get off to an almost faultless start with home grown duo The Ting Tings.

One of the guiding motifs of these tours in the past has been that the band who are on first usually tend to do the best in the coming year, and on the basis of their sparky energetic pop, The Ting Tings deserve to have their names emblazoned on t-shirts across the land.

Despite having the shortest set of the evening and front woman Katie having a few problems with a too short microphone lead, songs such as the spirited 'That’s Not My Name' and forthcoming single 'Great DJ' ensured that the night got off to a cracking start.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? (c) Karen McBride

Forget the willfully aggressive name, Does It Offend You, Yeah? don’t come over as being all that offensive. Then again, perhaps this is because despite all the Nu Rave pomp and circumstance, their audience banter just makes them come across like a bunch of primary school teachers attempting to calm down a particularly unruly class of seven year olds. 

Still, despite the numerous sound problems they have with their vast array of equipment doesn’t do them any favours, they can certainly get a crowd going, and after the sixteenth time of them telling us that Manchester is their favourite city to gig in, you actually want to believe them.

Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong are one of those bands whose name - albeit being one which is intensely difficult to remember properly after a can or two - is better than their actual music.

Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong (c) Karen McBride

Not to say that they’re bad per se, they just appear to want to be a good-natured version of The Horrors and who honestly would set that as their musical aim?

Theirs is perfectly inoffensive guitar music made by relatively good looking men in suits who you’d be more than happy to take home to meet your Mum, so it’s a bit of a pity that only the most dedicated will actually be able to remember their songs.

According to the promos shown prior to each band’s performance, The Cribs are "a punk band for the 21st century". And, if by punk, they mean a band who appear to be both physically and mentally incapable of making a sound which doesn’t sound as though their instruments have mortally offended their honour in some way, then I suppose they’ve got a point.

The Cribs (c) Karen McBride

This is blander than bland indie-by-numbers of the highest order, exemplified by the fact that the audience members who aren’t jumping themselves stupid at the front decide that this would be an optimum time for them all to start up their own pockets of conversation.

Apparently, they did play their best known hit 'Hey Scenesters!' at some point during the proceedings, but as time goes by, one song frequently starts to meld into another until they all just sound like the same generic musical mush.

So, with the notable exception of The Ting Tings, it’s safe to say from the evidence of this evening that if these bunch of miscreants are the sound of the youth of today, then I’ll be pretending to middle-aged from now on.