Live Review: NME Awards Tour - Manchester Ritz - 26.02.15
The NME Awards Tour has seen some huge names over the years - from Coldpay, to Arctic Monkeys. It’s a tour that guarantees some brilliant up and coming bands. However, NME have dived into the punk direction a bit too much. The tour just doesn’t seem to have that shimmering appeal it once had.
The Wytches kick off the evening and sound like a collection of poorly distorted noises. Not many people are here apart from a few teenyboppers.
Slaves are next to arrive on stage. Slaves have received huge amounts of praise since their single ‘Hey’, and it’s easy to see why. The concept of having a lead singing drummer (Isaac Holman) is genius. They’re something different and it’s refreshing. He owns the stage and it seems like he’s been doing it years. Most of their work is riff-driven and it works so well as ‘Feed The Mantaray’ sends the crowd into havoc. A couple have enjoyed it so much that they have been thrown out for what can only be described as horrific indecency.
They shouldn’t worry; they aren’t really missing anything when it comes to the Fat White Family. They’ve been pretty keen in the past to bad mouth successful bands, yet haven’t really backed up their own credibility with their music. The crowd seem to enjoy them though.
Palma Violets are closing the show with the longest set. Even the promise of a usually crazy performance from Chilli Johnson (bass) can’t seem to stimulate after seeing two mediocre bands, a changed setlist from previous shows in the week sees ‘Best Of Friends’ get the biggest reaction.
5.0/10
Matthew Cooper