WORDS AND IMAGES BILLY SEAGRAVE
After what has seemed like a lifetime, Blood Red Shoes, finally get to return to Manchester. It was great to get up close and personal in the compact surroundings of the Manchester Academy 3.
Supporting tonight’s host for the whole tour is CIEL. They are an alt-pop band from Brighton, with members from The Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. CIEL met on the South Coast of England where they distilled their differing influences into grunge-pop finery. Early on the band caught the eye of BBC 6’s Steve Lamacq who included them as a spotlight artist on his show. They gained further radio plays across the UK and US (BBC 6 Music).
Taking to the rather dimly lit stage completely swathed in green light for the first half of the set, it was a slow burner for the gathering crowd. As the set developed the trio showcased a real trance like togetherness, that clearly began to resonate with the crowd, I am sure we will be seeing them over the coming months entering festivals up and down the country, before returning to Manchester for their own headline gigs later in the year.
Headliners Blood Red Shoes – Laura-Mary Carter on guitar and Steven Ansell on drums – were influenced by American underground garage and punk, before developing their own idiosyncratic noise pop, with its bouncing rhythms and catchy lyrics. The place is about 2/3 full and there is a real warm atmosphere as they take to the stage. Opening with ‘Elijah’ and straight into ‘Morbid Fascination’, its clear the room is full of fans that have clearly missed their taste on Blood Red Shoes. There’s air-punching and chanted lyrics; the mosh pit is jumping.
The band seemed to put everything into this small gig. Belting out their new songs with such energy and gusto, ensuring that everyone quickly got into the music. Laura-Mary Carter’s gritty vocals standing out above the incessant drums and guitar riffs. Other tracks which raised the roof were ‘This is not for you’, ‘An Animal’ and ‘light It Up’, and the majestically delivered ‘Murder Me’.
They ended the set in the way they set out in a power of rock/grunge fusion impeccably performed, ‘Sucker’, ‘God Complex’, and finishing with ‘I Am Not You’. It may have been a while since they last got to entertain a Manchester crowd but that is exactly what they did.
Set List
1/ Elijah
2/ Morbid Fascination
3/ Bangsar
4/ Howl
5/ Boring by the sea
5/ Don’t ask
6/ Cold
7/ Lost Kids
8/ This is not for you
9/ Red river
10/ Je me perds
11/ An animal
12/ Black Distractions
13/ Light it up
14/ Eye to Eye
15/ Murder me
16/ Sucker
17/ God Complex
18/ I am not you
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