Wednesday 2 May 2018

Brix & The Extricated / Blanketman - The Ruby Lounge Friday 27th April

My latest live review people!


Brix & The Extricated / Blanketman
The Ruby Lounge, Manchester
Friday 27th April
Back on home turf the wonderful Brix & Co kick out their post Fall new wave stuff to a delighted home crowd and some rather excited stage invaders!
Last time I was in The Ruby Lounge was to see my favourite Manc band at that time (I’ll let you guess…) and discovered a gem of a venue.
This time I arrive just as local support band Blanketman hit the stage. Their frontman is like a reincarnation of Ian Curtis and their dark post punk sound is similar in many ways, not that they are copyists as their tunes prove and they will be local favourites for the future. They do a short set that gets the young and old (that’s me) music fans going and please everyone with their dark pop stuff. They air new single as the encore ‘The Long Arm Of Entrapment’ and Adam Hopper wears his guitar almost under his chin battering those strings and looks intense and brooding with his I.C. mannerisms.

Next up comes the gift of 3 ex Fall members, with Paul and Steve Hanley being the powerhouse of rhythm, added by Jason Brown and Steve Trafford fronted by a Blondie-esque Brix kicking it with style. They play most of their excellent album and have the place bouncing with their glam racket (ha!). Obviously there are a few Fall numbers in there including an excellent Dead Beat Descendant, US 80’s 90’s, and LA. A few new tracks were aired and sound promising. Damned For Eternity goes down a storm and we are treated to a couple of young fans (Emily and Eden who I chatted with later) getting on the stage and getting booted off by security. Hollywood is fuckin ace live as is Valentino and Brix looks like she has a new lease of life with The Extricated. Sadly we’ll never see The Fall again with Mark E Smith so this is like a breath of fresh air knowing that the Hanley brothers and Brix can keep the torch going and play live like this for young and old alike. Highlight of the night for me was New Big Prinz as the encore after a frenetic Totally Wired. Emily and Eden were invited back on stage by Brix and danced like maniacs as she lost her shit to the dynamics of one of The Falls finest moments from I Am Kurious Oranj. A delightful night and a step back in time with some classics thrown into the mix of a great debut album by these Manc legends. Bring on the next album.


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Words by Wayne Carey who writes for Louder Than War. His author profile is here and you can catch his blog at wayneacarey1970.blogspot.co.uk

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