Stepping outside to be attacked by the raw, vastly bitter, cold air that is winter welcoming you into it's arms. My day seemingly planned out. University lecture, food shop... For those who unfortunately have to live the adult life that yes, you probably guessed, or maybe know from experience really sucks! However to end my night, I was going to a gig. A concert that had been hyped up for more than a week. The lead up to the night was exciting, and excruciating pain both at the same time. I was going to support my friend, who as you could imagine was highly exciting to be getting on to a stage in Manchester and play for the first time in months to an audience. Yet painfully so leading up to this night, because there is a stage in which you get yourself very pumped up for the gig and then it flashes by in the blink of an eye. The only unfortunate, evil feeling that one can feel about gigs, if you are a gig goer and a gig lover, like myself.
So, like any other rational person I lived out my Monday partially as planned. Leaving my cozy room, and flat on Lower Ground of an 8 story building, casually walking out into the bitter breeze that I had highly prepared myself for, I begun my route to University. Now BIMM, to the outer eye is far from anything special. Hell, it is the underdog of all the universities in Manchester. You look at information on all Manchester universities, you can bet you won't find this private sector. In fact I am almost certain. But to the people inside BIMM, when you let go of the fees, and really delve deep into it, it is a home. Sure, we aren't as fancy as those redbrick educational universities...and frankly probably not as academic but one thing is for sure, that in BIMM, you network. Musicianship students, Business students, Events Management students, and of-course my favourite because it is my course, the Journalism students. Not going to lie to you, music journalism students are the bottom of the hierarchy but arguably out of the lot, we underdogs surprise those ego driven musicians who think they are the dogs bollocks when in actual fact, every person is equal. Do I personally give a shit that you can play a "killer" riff on your fender guitar...no. For 1...the fact you own a fender guitar, really doesn't impress me, most guitarists in the industry do because it's sound, amongst other reasons; and 2...I can name atleast 5 other people out of my friends alone that can. BIMM is full of networking, but it is also family. It's community. No matter who you are, or what you look like you serve a purpose, and to be part of it, in itself is a success that no one will ever take away.
Strolling into a naturally lit reception building, drenched in orange, black and white, I make my way up to the first floor where my lecture room is; to walk into a room that was sweaty and (drenched) in heat. Why do the musicians in that room stink? They hadn't even been playing, yet you could smell the odor and the musky scent of them. To say they like the heat, might just be an understatement. On a Monday afternoon, I certainly do not look forward to that (sweaty) encounter. One hour and a half later, and a lot of laughs over watching my lecturer try to remove permanent marker from the whiteboard, it was time for adulting. Food shopping. I'm not going to bore you with that trip, but I did buy a rather delicious ciabatta roll that had chicken and stuffing filling. A well deserved lunch.
7pm rolls around and to Night People we roamed. Passing the rock aesthetic that would make any hip hop 'gangsta'esque person bleed from ear to ear, Satan's Hollow. The holy grail for any Rock n' Roll night. And finally Night People. Not much from the outside, until you're met with a dozen stairs down into the basement where the magic happens. 10 minutes went by, and I made it to the guy behind the desk. A friendly face, to talk to. He drew a small 'X' on my right hand, asked if I had a flyer for a free shot...and bam. Ready. Now, I am that person who has an undeniable love for a double vodka and coke but the shot of vodka I had, needless to say I was not a fan. That shit, burned for 10 minutes but at least I was gig ready with a free shot in my system. I walked under the arch into a room playing disco tunes, to be greeted with a warm hug from a friendly face. Daniel (Dan) Wright (Drummer of Orca). The friend that had invited me to his first gig in Manchester and the one that was as excited as a child on Christmas day at 6am when they found out that Santa left them presents to open. But to have an energy like his in my life, makes a refreshing change. Now I knew how talented he was, but damn...some of the audience members were in for a treat. Standing grooving to some undeniably good disco tunes, surrounded by my friends, I was ready for the night to begin.
"BIMM Presents" written in bold block letters on a light board behind the bar, to the right of me. The first act, Anya. An illusion of a woman I had heard so much about, but never had the honor of meeting or even hearing until tonight. It was Anya's first time playing in Manchester, but would you have known if she hadn't told us? No. In fact, the audience responded to her, rather well considering she was the first act, which I can only imagine must be more nerve racking as the first act sets the pace for what is to come. Apart from the small crowd of people, somewhere behind me talking through her set, which frankly a little rude to do so when Anya was only playing mostly acoustic she did not disappoint. A fresh voice, with a husky twang, and a large set of lungs on her that's for sure. Out of her entire set, it had to have been my favourite song of hers, purely for the fact she had a band behind her, I loved the acoustic set she had, but she really suited the band vibes. Joe Berry (Guitarist) and Charlie Morris (Drummer), 2 members of the audience politely asked if they would join her on stage. In the semi crowded room, everyone knew everyone. Or at least knew of each other.
When your friends get pulled up on stage to play spontaneously, you kind of have to become less distracted by the talking and drown out the people that weren't invested in the set. For two guys, who had no clue they were going to be dragged up on stage, they did a very exceptional job. The audience loved it!
8:15pm cruised by and the band that evidentally, almost everyone came to see, began to play. Orca. Harry Bathie (Guitarist/Lead Vocals), Ben Stott (Bass) and Daniel (Dan) Wright (Drums). 3 extremely talented guys, that form a band who's sound can only be described as being similar to Radiohead and Tame Impala. Stage presence. Stage presence for me, is something that either brings the overall performance of a band up, or sadly down. For these guys, stage presence was definitely not an issue! Ben, was highly energetic with the crowd and because of the communication between the crowd and the band, the atmosphere in the room changed drastically. The crowd instead of standing 1/3 of the space away from the stage, like we had in the beginning; had rushed to be as close to the stage as possible. You could feel the imaginary barriers between the small stage and the crowd, that is how close the crowd were. If it weren't for the photographers, like Ryan Trevalyn Osborne and Piran Aston the crowd would have basically been on stage with them. The crowds reaction to Ben saying he wants to see movement...create a circle and begin a moshpit. Moshpits. I don't have a problem with them whatsoever. Would I join one? Hell no. Do I enjoy being the barrier for one? That unfortunately is also a no. Was it funny and fun to watch? Definitely! It is always fun, seeing people enjoy themselves and to see the audience react the way they did, is arguably one of the most rewarding things to be part of when going to a gig.
Orca's set. The half hour set, consisted of all original songs. Enjoyable. Dancey. But most importantly you could see the guys shine on stage. They were enjoying what they were doing, what they were playing and they were getting into the songs, the way musicians should. Movement, you'd expect on a small stage like the one they were on, it would be limited but, there was not a single moment that I looked over at Ben and he wasn't dancing or Harry where he also wasn't dancing. If you ask me, I think they were trying to see who could dance better with their instrumental partners. Sorry Harry, but Ben wins. Dan...definitely not forgetting Dan. The drummer, who evokes all his passion into hitting the drums. Watching his reaction when he hit his symbol, and watching it swing, was a memory for the books. Go hard or go home, should be Dan's motto because when he sits behind that drum kit, he gives it all he's got and then some.
If I had to pin point some of my favourite memories of their set, picking only 3. In order of the events happening my first, would be watching Ben almost knock Dan out with the head of his bass before the set began, because who doesn't love watching that. The second would be Dan pulling faces every time he hit the symbols harder than anticipated and the last. The last is one to be remembered forever at the first gig of Orca. Ben jumping off stage, into the circle the crowd created to do a big finisher and slipping as his feet met the ground. To say that the crowd were pumped, would be a large understatement.
As the guys, got off stage a swarm of people rushing to congratulate them on their set. I only managed to catch Dan as he got off stage, but he was one extremely grateful, adrenaline induced drummer who looked like he enjoyed every second of being up on that stage. As a journalist, who knows what it feels like to be on stage in front of a crowd, I don't know how they do it, but there wasn't a single frowned face that I could see.
Unfortunately my night ended there, I did not manage to see the final 2 acts that were up on stage but if the first 2 were any indication, they would have surely smashed that stage.
What can be expected from Orca in the future? A little birdy announced last night that there is a new track, next year to be released which is always exciting. From the band themselves, I think that we will be hearing a lot more from them in the future. A trio, that fit well and who give it everything they have. If BIMM was to have an up and coming band, I would highly say that these guys were one!
A short explanation to my thoughts of Orca. As a band; devoted, driven and highly enjoyable. As 3 individuals, talented, motivated and vastly driven. A band to look out for, in the future, and a trio who played one audience pleasing first show.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.