Luke Haines and Peter Buck took to a packed out Gorilla in Manchester on Monday evening. Perhaps one of the least popular nights to head out into a chilly Manchester, the band proved their popularity by playing to one of the busiest audiences I have seen at this renowned live music haunt.
Support came from Manchester’s very own LoneLady who took to the stage with her band and warmed up the audience with her post-punk lo-fi inspired tracks. LoneLady is supporting on this tour at a number of locations including Leeds and Birmingham, and it is clear from the crowd’s reaction that many have headed out just to support this local talent who treated fans to tracks from her third studio album ‘Former Things’.
Haines, most notable for his work with The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder, and Buck formally of world renowned REM (co-founder and lead guitarist) teamed up back in 2020 and released ‘Beat Poetry for Survivalists’ which was received favourably by critics.
The set-list featured a number of songs from the 2020 release, with the five piece band opening with upbeat numbers ’45 Revolutions’, ‘The British Army on LSD’ a song highlighting the use of drugs in the Third Reich, with a punchy chorus sung in Haines unique drawl. The far fetched song titles continued with ‘The Last of the Legendary Big Foot Hunters’ and ‘The Skies Are Full of Insane Machines’ are perhaps more entertaining than the songs themselves.
It was a treat to see Peter Buck play guitar at such an intimate venue and the band have certainly formed quite a following, with their tour continuing across the UK, finishing in London on the 22nd of February.
