Louder Than War - Indoor Festival

There’s very little that John Robb doesn’t know about the alternative music scene. As a member of The Membranes and Goldblade, writer of numerous books and inspiration behind the Louder Than War online music magazine, John has been there, seen it, done it and written about it, so when I heard he was putting on a day festival in Manchester, I was keen to get over and discover some new bands.

The problem, of course, with any event with more than one stage is which band do I go and see on which stage and perhaps more importantly, who am I going to miss out on?

This was very much going to be a voyage of discovery for me with new bands all the way apart from one of the headliners, Sea Power, who are one of my all-time favourites. I kicked things off with The Dirt, who were better than any opening band has any right to be. I was totally blown away and have been listening to their album Monkey Punch ever since. Northern beat poetry over a drum machine beat with a scuzzy fuzzy shoegaze accompaniment laced with hypnotic garage riffs. The lead singer was soon in the crowd (and he would not be the first of the day) with energy to burn at 4.30 on a Saturday afternoon. Mesmerising stuff.

The Empty Page brought soulful driving rock with touches of grunge and honest songwriting from engaging frontperson Kelly Bishop before I went to see The House of All keep the spirit of The Fall alive, as all of the band (bar one) are ex-members. Loose Articles ramped things up with serious sassy Mancunian feminist pop punk. Before launching into Are You A Welder (which contained hints of the cramps I felt), there was an attempt to find one in the crowd; the nearest we got was a panel beater! This is a serious band who are spreading their message through infectious fun. They finished their set with a definite first for me, getting down in the crowd and getting everyone to engage in a limbo session under the mic lead.

I wasn’t quite ready for the sight of Evil Blizzard when I wandered into the next room. They looked like a cross between The Polyphonic Spree and Slipknot and sounded like a prog rock electronic band. 'Unique' was certainly one word that sprang to mind. I was keen to see The Sick Man of Europe, and they didn’t disappoint.

All dressed in black on a black stage with pinpoints of red light, they delivered a set of brooding darkwave intensity, mixing Bauhaus with Depeche Mode and bringing it bang up to the current time. Pale Blue Eyes shifted trajectory again with a sound that felt like I should have been sitting outside at a summer festival as they delivered a set of gorgeous, sunny, mellow, dreamy indie pop.

The final act of the day for me was the peerless Sea Power, a band I have seen many, many times who never fail to deliver a great live set. I’ve seen them do some unusual and esoteric sets over the years, but this one was a straight-up festival banger set designed to hook in anyone new to their wonderful world. Carrion, Lucifer, Waving Flags and The Great Skua has never sounded better. The band seemed really on it and delighted the crowd, old fans and new alike.

This was a great debut one-day festival, brilliantly curated, and I discovered some new bands that I can’t wait to see again. The only downside was the numerous bands that I missed due to stage clashes. Next time.