Manchester Punk Festival Releases 37th Compilation
Manchester Punk Festival have released the 37th volume of their compilation series ahead of this year’s festival. Manchester Punk Festival Vol. 37 is…
The Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK - 21st June 2016
The Deaf Institute is fast becoming one my favourite venues in Manchester, they seem to encourage an eclectic range of acts, the staff are friendly, the beer is excellent and it boasts Manchester’s finest smoking area, for non smokers this also serves as an outdoor balcony for some welcome relief from the heat that builds up in this wonderful intimate little venue. Tonight The Deaf Institute is awash with paisley and animal print, as tonight see’s the return of former Cramp, ex Bad Seed and founder member of the Gun Club, Kid Congo Powers, to Manchester, along with his Pink Monkeybirds.
First on the bill tonight are The 99 Degree, they are a quartet from across Greater Manchester with a vocalist that resembles a deranged wild eyed preacher from the old west. They play a reverb drenched set of garage rock crossed with the soundtrack from a trashy spaghetti western. Despite having the early slot, they play a noisy set that goes down well with the sparse crowd that this slot inevitably attracts. The Fruit Tones are next up, tonight seems to be a celebration of all things garage and they play and energetic set to the slowly swelling crowd. They may resemble the cast from Dazed And Confused but they deliver an upbeat set awash with sixties swagger. They provide a fine counterpoint to the noisier scuzzier opener The 99 Degree. Both of tonight’s supports acts are further evidence that Manchester’s music scene is alive and well, there is a burgeoning underground movement boasting some excellent bands playing their own original takes on dirty blues and garage rock. It seems Manchester is continuing to produce a diverse and original range of bands, and that is something this city can be proud of.
There is no doubt who everyone is here to see, the crowd swells and the expectation builds prior to the arrival of Kid Congo Powers And The Pink Monkeybirds. There is a full on wall of fuzz produced by the three pronged guitar attack which is accompanied by a primal and irresistible rhythm. The Pink MonkeyBirds provide a visual counterpoint to the effortless cool of Kid Congo Powers, whilst he is slick and skinny in a sharp suit, they resemble a well co-ordinated 1950’s street gang. Bassist Kiki Solis plays a six string bass, as Kid Congo Powers put it “he can’t be contained by four strings”, drummer Ron Miller pounds out a primitive and relentless beat and guitarist Mark Cisneros makes his Mosrite guitar produce an incredible range of sonic vibrations, you could not ask for a finer backing band.
Kid Congo Powers exudes a weird kind of laid back mania, his in between song banter shows that he at ease and as one with tonight’s audience. The unsurpassable set the sweaty throng in The Deaf Institute are treated to encompasses his entire back catalogue, including a fine selection from his new album, La Araña Es La Vida, on the strecgth of the new songs I will be investing in a copy of the new album this weekend. They play right to the last second of the curfew, which sadly means I have to dash from the venue to retrieve my car as the final number is playing, such is the volume at tonight’s show I can still enjoy the final song from the car park. Sadly I miss Kid Congo Powers mingling with the crowd post gig, the only thing I’d have changed about tonight is that I’d have put more money in the parking meter, my only regret is that I haven’t seen him on previous tours, I can guarantee that I’ll be at the next one.
There are still a few dates remaining on the tour, if you can catch Kid Congo And The Pink Monkeybirds live on this tour you should, tour dates can be found here
The new Kid Congo And The Pink Monkeybirds album, La Araña Es La Vida, can be ordered from In The Red Records here
You can investigate The 99 Degree here and the Fruit Tones here