It’s been three years since The Howl And The Hum last properly toured. They play to their biggest ever crowd in Manchester tonight at a largely full Gorilla, for the first night of their new album “Same Mistake Twice” tour.
For the uninitiated, this is a band that launched their fantastic but ironically named first album,“Human Contact”, just as we went into lockdown. Sam Griffiths, lead singer and composer, writes complicated and delicate songs. Their sound swings from quiet and introspective, to soaring and anthemic. they hum, and they howl, but with a consistent undercurrent of melancholy. A happy, clappy band this is not.
Tonight though, Sam is the lead singer of the new 5-piece formation. Matt is on keyboard and saxophone, Dave on drums, Aaron on guitar and violin, with Naomi on bass. Are they still The Howl and the Hum? Oh yes, very much so and more.
(Foreword by Nick Meikle).
First up was Eleanor Moss, given very respectful attention from the crowd. She takes to the stage electric blue acoustic guitar in hand, accompanied by her band mate, Reed, with violin and bow. Her soft spoken voice echoes through the room, and in the brief moments of silence, you could hear a pin drop. Complete silence and a crowd in awe of some stunning music. She thanks the audience, and introduces us to her newest single, and the whole room falls silent once more.
Her voice, eerie in nature, beautifully raspy, swells together perfectly with the finger picking of the guitar, and the (slow tempo), bowing of the violin. Reed introduces himself now, as he arrived from New York earlier that day. His introduction to British culture comes in the form of a Tannoy announcement on a train, calling everyone “their little jellybeans.”
Her next song, an Unofficial collaboration with Wendy Cook, follows. She loved the words of one of her poems, and decided that they’d sound better with a tune, and I can’t help but agree. Her final song comes up, simply named: Sarah Waiting In The Car. A raucous applause closes off her set, as she makes her way for the merch stand, to greet many new fans.
A patient audience await the headliners. An anxious hum fills the room, which changes at the flick of a switch to a howl as the headliners make their way to the stage. A lonely, repeated note fromSam’s guitar ripples through the crowd. And the rest of the band come in full force with the song,
Hall Of Fame. The new addition of a saxophone brings a different level of enjoyment. The Howl & The Hum return to Manchester with a vengeance! Sam welcome everyone to the venue, and jumps straight in to the next song: Hotel Song. A song about being alone in life, and not knowing where to go or what to do. The lyrics, “look at me now, look at me now,” connect with all the long-term fans of this band, as we all see just how far they’ve come.
The enigmatic lead singer thanks everyone for being the largest Manchester crowd they’ve ever played to, while he sorts out some stuff on stage. The next song: Dirt, brings in a fantastic sax solo reminiscent of the 80’s, and lyrics that fans grasp on to instantaneously, as we later find out, the band are playing live for the first time.
A Country & Western style song, (including slide guitar), places itself in the middle of the set, with familiar lyrics to anyone who suffers from Imposter Syndrome, “all your friends hate me, and all my friends hate me.” The first of these lyrics just so happen to be the title of the song Eleanor Moss joins the songwriting credit of their next song, which falls softly upon a silent room: Echo. Song after song after song, fall on to the crowd like autumn leaves on the garden path. Soft, beautiful & elegant.
There’s No Calories On Cocaine. The first single from their most recent album. Every single word is not sung alone. At least one member of the audience matches Sam’s enthusiasm on every word. Of all of their songs, there are no other song that make me feel more emotional than their next two songs, side by side. Hostages & The Only Boy Racer Left On The Island both leave almost no words left unsung by nearly every audience member.
The title track of their most recent album follows, Same Mistake Twice. A quick upbeat melody, accompanied by melancholic lyrics at the start. The lyrics soon change to match the rest of the music, as the whole room vibrates with the saxophone solo. Their apparent last song, is by far their most famous. GodManchester Chinese Bridge. The first song I remember hearing from this fantastic band. Sam’s voice echoes once again through a crowd of familiar faces, singing his words right back to him.
An unsurprising but entirely welcome encore brings the band back to the stage with open arms. Everything Is Not On Fire, is played for the first time live, as their final song. The lead guitarist picks up his violin to accompany Sam’s solemn voice. They lyrics, “Everything Will Be Alright,” reverberate through the hearts of the crowd. What a beautiful & emotional ending to phenomenal gig
WORDS AND PHOTO CREDIT – OWEN MEIKLE-WILLIAMS
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