Live Review: Spanish Love Songs / Pkew Pkew Pkew / Goodbye Blue Monday – Soup Kitchen, Manchester, UK, 8th May 2019

Tonight sees us return to the basement of the Soup Kitchen for the second week running for the impressive double headline show that featured the irresistible double bill of Spanish Love Songs, who released The Punk Site’s favourite album of 2018, and Pkew Pkew Pkew who blew me away when I caught them in the confines of The Whisky Jar last year, when you add Goodbye Blue Monday into the mix you have a winning combination, one that distracts us from the fact it’s only Wednesday in what feels like a very long week after the long Bank Holiday weekend.

After a near sprint across town we arrive just as Glasgow’s Goodbye Blue Monday take the stage and soundcheck with what sounds like the opening chords of Radar Love, when they kick off their set in earnest its a different prospect, melodic driven raw punk with a poppy sensibility along with a distinct bounce that’s carries the raw energy of Off With Their Heads and Against Me!, the raw power is matched by heartfelt lyrics about subjects that have personally affected the band, something that is underpinned by their new song It’s Not OK To Be Not OK. Goodbye Blue Monday have a disarming charm that swiftly won over the steadily swelling crowd and warmed up the Wednesday night crowd nicely ahead of PkewPkew Pkew’s not very long awaited return to Manchester.

Pkew Pkew Pkew are still surfing on the back of their critically acclaimed album, Optimal Lifestyles, and tonight they bring bring their beer drenched punk anthems to the packed Manchester basement of the Soup Kitchen, unlike the last time I caught them there’s no room for human pyramids as the damp cellar that hosts tonight is packed to capacity. Pkew Pkew Pkew‘s set spans both albums and the singalong Stop Calling Us Chief precedes a stomping 65 Nickels and if you’re not already nose deep in a pint and loving every second of their set then you need to check you still have a pulse, Pkew Pkew Pkew may have delivered two near perfect albums but live is where they are at their best.

Pkew Pkew Pkew deliver their anthem to binge drinking, Before We Go Out Drinking, that is appropriate tonight as Jordan Lloyd of Incisions is in the crowd celebrating his birthday, and he appears to have embraced the mantra from this song. This is a band that is about embracing the here and now and a packed out Soup Kitchen already appear to have embraced the carpe diem attitude that Pkew Pkew Pkew embody and I’m hoping it’s not too long before they return to this corner of the North West. There are few bands that appear to love what they do quite as much as this Toronto quartet, and it’s this enthusiasm that spills over into the crowd and infects everyone it touches.

Speaking of infection Spanish Love Songs have been blighted by illness that led to them reluctantly cancelling a show in their current tour, thankfully they have recovered sufficiently for tonight’s appearance in Manchester, wether the damp basement of the Soup Kitchen helps they recovery is another matter, but tonight they’re here and that’s all that matters. From the off there’s no doubt who the majority of the crowd are here to catch, the crowd is energised and vocal for the entirety of Spanish Love Songs set, something that gets a “holy shit it’s good to be back in Manchester” from their frontman.

It’s only been six months since Spanish Love Songs were last in Manchester, despite having released the critically acclaimed Schmaltz last year they’ve already released their new single, Losers, and the title track from their latest release indicates that they’ve kept the fires burning. The heat that has built up in the Soup Kitchen is becoming intense and sees Pkew Plew Pkew deliver towels to the stage and you get the feeling that Spanish Love Songs have loved this tour every bit as much as their compatriots. The crowds additional vocals to closing number Beer & Nyquil (Hold It Together) was a hair raising moment, the demands for one more song are of course met, a solo encore by frontman Dylan Slocum brings the crowd back to earth before he rejoined by the rest of the band to build to a triumphant finale of Buffalo Buffalo before the crowd spill back out into the damp Mancunian night.

By the end of their set sweat is dripping into my eyes that made my notes hard to translate but I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything was perfect tonight from the good natured crowd, the sweaty basement venue, the sound, tonight’s engineer (who proved that he can multi task by delivering a perfect live mix whilst watching tonight’s Champions League between Ajax and Tottenham), and of course Goodbye Blue Monday, Pkew Pkew Pkew and Spanish Love Songs. Normally discussions on the way home from concerts we’ve covered is about what we liked and didn’t like and which bands we loved, for me that conversation is redundant as every band was perfect tonight, no favourites, no lulls, no room to move, in other words a perfect night out.

Live photography is by Dean Unsworth, his Instagram account is located here and you can click on any of Dean’s photos to view a slide show of the images

Goodbye Blue Monday can be found on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Pkew Pkew Pkew‘s website can be found here and their Bandcamp is here

Spanish Love Songs website is here and their Bandcamp is here