After months of waiting it is finally here !!! Yaang, Mandrake Handshake and Sprints are all present to kick it off!

Yaang

It is deathly quiet when Manchester synth-punks Yaang walk on, being in a church is leaning the crowd towards a little bit too much reverence. Luckily, Yaang’s charismatic frontman Davey Moore is not afraid to pierce it. He is the singer and knob twiddler. There is no drummer, a little box of tricks providing drum beats and other noises. Ben White plays bass and Oliver Duffy attacks regularly on lead guitar. They are part of this year’s NME 100. The crowd is very appreciative, though no one is moved enough (or perhaps familiar enough) to start dancing or jumping around.

It is a lively set. Moore starts leaping about, removing his shirt for the last few songs.  This prompts a round of ‘Get your tits out for the Lord’ from White. Moore is like a mix of Mick Jagger, Sebastian Murphy and Joe Love. We have enjoyed the EP and singles they have put out so far and they are definitely ones to watch. ‘Comfort’ feels like a beautiful mix of The Who meets Joy Division. ‘Speed McQueen’ recalls The Stranglers. They play ten tracks in 30 minutes and it flies past.

Mandrake Handshake

With eight people on stage there is a lot going on here. The start is affected by some distortion which it takes a couple of songs to straighten out. Lead guitarist Row Janjuah is not overly happy. Several times he asks for an adjustment to the mix but is still shaking his head in between tracks and grumbling to others on the stage. It isn’t quite as much of an issue as he is making out but the band definitely don’t sound as good as they do on their enjoyable debut album from February, Earth-Sized Worlds. Singer Trinity Oksana being buried too low in the mix being the chief problem.

They throw out groove based tracks that hint backwards to flower power of the 60s and 70s but also references 80s electronica. It is an intriguing mix, ‘Hypersonic Super -Asteroid’ being a highlight. The set goes down well with the crowd.

Sprints

As Karla Chubb wanders to the microphone she states, “We’re in a church and I haven’t been set on fire yet.” A wag in the crowd shouts back, “Not yet.” She nods sagely. I don’t know how many of tonight’s crowd will be back tomorrow but it is clear the vast majority present are very familiar with Irish garage-punk rockers Sprints and their ouvre. From the start the atmosphere is absolutely electric and St Laurence Church errupts into life, a decent mosh pushing the edges of what is possible in the venue. We have the best seat in the house, front and middle, for the first half of the set but have to abandon it as our shins are taking a pounding, getting pushed repeatedly into the barrierless edge of the low stage. The view from right at the back is not as good, a slightly higher stage would be beneficial but the sound is still decent. It doesn’t matter, we have already seen enough to know these guys are fantastic.

Tracks from debut album Letter To Self go down like dynamite. ‘Heavy’ and ‘Up and Comer’ are stunning. ‘Cathedral’ is an apt choice in the church setting. They also treat us to a number of new tracks from the second album they are currently working on. One has never been played live before. Bassist Sam McCann jokes, “If you want to hear it again follow this guy’s YouTube, he got the whole thing!” Pointing out a member of the crowd on his side of the stage.

The hour shoots past. On final track ‘Little Mix’ Chubb jumps down into the crowd and is born aloft, crowd sufing along the whole front third of the audience. A good second album could well mean you won’t be seeing them in a venue this small again. It is a brilliant start to this year’s Are You Listening? Festival and the gauntlet has been laid down for all other bands to follow.