Band on the Wall is one of the few venues I’ve never been to in Manchester. As soon as you walk in, the atmosphere grips you. The 520 capacity venue is one of the finest layouts on the Manchester scene, and the anticipation in the room presents a fitting setting for the return of Jeffrey Lewis and The Voltage.
First up, there was Sergeant Buzfuz. A London-based outfit, who have a long history with Jeffrey, after telling the crowd of their first encounter in a pub in London twenty years ago, to then going on a UK tour together. It’s funny how life goes. There is a punk element to the nature of their tracks, which coincides with elements of folk and psychedelia. Notably, Joe Murphy, the band’s lead singer, stands to the left of the stage, enabling the entire band to be at the forefront of the crowd’s gaze.
The band perform elegantly, and the drummer’s backing vocals are a soothing touch to the assertiveness of the lead singer. The highlight for me was ‘Here Come the Popes’, which is split into several parts. The song begins as an acoustic soothing lullaby of sorts. It’s dreamy, and the singer has you in the palm of his hand. Then, the band all come in, and it hits like lightning. The track is transformed into an utterly joyous groove that has the whole room bouncing. A truly great moment.
Before the gig, Jeffrey commented that we were ‘here to document his degradation’. A statement worthy of a song title or lyric in itself. Jeffrey enters the stage and opens with an acoustic number, honing in on his wide-ranging vocabulary. There are kaleidoscopic murals on the projector screen, the mood is set, and the crowd is ready as the rest of the band enters the stage.
The songs possess a subtle yet prominent groove that builds as each verse passes, and Jeffrey’s use of gritty pedals and feedback with his acoustic guitar is an unfamiliar but very sonically pleasing experience. There are storytelling interludes documented by Jeffrey’s magazines, including one about The Fall, and a reference to the novel of the same name by Camus. Each tale or song combines humour, tragedy and wit in such a unique way that you realise only Jeffrey could write these.
Jeffrey was also on fire with his crowd interactions, which included a hilarious story about an email he received from the late David Berman, which drew a lot of laughter. When introducing one track, he was pleasantly surprised by the Manchester crowd cheering for Zahran Mamdadi, the recently elected mayor of New York. The band then truly shone on Sad Screaming Old Man. It gets a sing-along from sections of the crowd as the band absolutely stomps through this track. Quite possibly my favourite of the night.
The band pledged goodbye as they reached the end of their tour. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. One band member, Mallory, who played a variety of instruments on the night, is due to start a European tour with her band ‘Grasping Straws’ in Copenhagen tomorrow. We wish you all the best, Mallory.
WORDS BY FRANK OLDHAM (Frank and the Beats)
More about Sergeant Buzfuz here
More About Jeffery Lewis here
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