Manchester Orchestra at Heaven
Manchester Orchestra – Heaven – 17 November 2009
Support: Talons
Words and photo’s by Brendan Monteiro
Talon’s break the ice with a really intriguing start, the Hereford six piece are a solely instrumental act but what they might lack in vocals they clearly make up in musicianship. The guitars collide with violins to create an atmosphere within the crowd, as if stunned the people stand in awe of such a different band. They may seem very young but their music wreaks with maturity and technicality and is the perfect way to enliven the multitude of Manc fans.
Andy Hull approaches the stage like a grizzly bear and the voice of the crowd raises to meet his, he sings with tireless emotion and within seconds has the crowd in the palm of his hand. Manchester Orchestra are not just another phase in the times and songs like Wolves At Night and the incredibly effervescent Shake It Out stand as testament to a group of young individuals with a promising future ahead of them. Tonight Andy seems to have a ravenous lust for the audience to really feel what he is singing and the rest of the Orchestra create a tight audio background to his chillingly splendid lyrics. Standout moment of the evening has to be the extended jam-a-thon version of Where Have You Been that has Chris Freeman joining in for a duo of percussion, Robert McDowell toggling away like a mad hatter and Andy tweaking sound waves from his guitar like he’s pinching it and the neck actually has nerve endings. Wait maybe it was the wizardry of I Can Barely Breathe or The Only One that has a semi unplugged feel to it with everyone singing along from the start. Or was it the chilling closer to the set in the form of Sleeper 1972, with it’s ghostly take on a world only Mr Hull could dream of with the darkness of Woody Allen looming all over it.
The reality is the entire set was a standout moment and if you somehow managed to miss this show you need to show your rear and let somebody kick you in the ass.
