Manchester 2024
I must admit that I arrived late. I must have missed the debut concert of a young band with an average age of 18 that was making their first appearance on stage. Playing at Retro for the first time is a luxury. This young band, the Dassins, with some magnificent videos on YouTube, sound great, and I hope to see them soon.
I arrived when the Sarcoline band was preparing their guitars on stage, and everything was ready. The atmosphere was electric, and the venue was half full. The temperature kept rising as the band started playing. I didn’t take many notes because I couldn’t stop dancing and vibing to a very controlled, fresh sound with echoes of old-school rock and surf. Vibrant music with character, where each member exuded magnificent synchronicity as a whole. Towards the end of the concert, their leader and singer was headbanging, shaking his sweat-soaked hair, a fantastic silhouette in this room with red, blue, and green neon lights, giving their concert the most authentic and punky touch.
During the intermission, I thought about how lucky I was to see them just a few feet away, witnessing the majesty of each member facing the audience, giving their best through their music and receiving love in return.
Something the next band couldn’t quite pull off. Jack’s Saving Grace was like a melting ice cream in early summer. A band that’s okay to listen to, but I realized something was off: an opening act surpassing the main performers on stage. JSG had a very indie musical vibe, pure Manchester, soft rock with a couple of songs that make you dance. They dedicated “Sexy” to the women in the audience. They had a couple of comments that seemed more focused on finding a date through music rather than the music itself. Calling the audience sexy just seemed like a playful joke, but it felt outdated, a cry for attention. The best don’t need to beg for applause; they just go out and perform. The last two songs were decent but didn’t quite take me to the edge (of excitement). It annoys me when a band tries to “make the audience clap more” because they’re not satisfied with the level of applause. A sudden need for attention, something I suspected from the beginning. True leaders don’t need that ego boost; they simply do their best.
As for the last band, the supposed star of the gig, Twin Suns, was one of the most disappointing performances I’ve ever seen at a concert from the very beginning.
The situation we faced as the audience yesterday not only made me not dance but also made me scream with anxiety in the bathroom and continuously vomit things into my notebook.
They took the stage, looking somewhat Californian. Their leader, before starting to play, began shouting at the crowd almost threateningly to make noise, referencing how the first band had their first public performance, which was very aggressive. Seeing those bored kids sitting in a corner of the bar from the moment I arrived until that moment when they stood in the front row watching this band was disturbing.
I’ve decided to transcribe my extreme frustration word for word because this leader deserves it:
“Twin Suns hasn’t even started playing, and this man (the leader) is screaming at the audience as if we were unruly farm animals. That Sheffield idiot, eGdS, to call him something, is winning the title of the biggest idiot I’ve ever seen. Aggressive, a complete imbecile, forcing people to make noise (shouting ‘MAKE NOISE!’), getting closer, making MORE NOISE. Five seconds since they got on stage, no music, and this guy is already getting on my nerves. I think he’s pregnant with his own misery. He needs to boss and mistreat others. I don’t want to imagine what he’s like at home. On stage, he’s a damn fascist, and I’m sure he has a small penis.
There’s nothing worse than having a band leader who’s a terrible person, and the worst part is that their songs are decent, I’d even say good and catchy. I wonder if he’s already coked up at this point. Music isn’t everything. Being humble touches the hearts of others. Aggressiveness for a third (actually the fourth, but I didn’t see it) musical act that made me leave with a strong urge to pee (and scream in the bathroom due to his constant MAKE SOME NOISE shouts with a demon’s spirit. Rancid meat of a personality that needs softening. Not even velvet could make their show good. Passable songs with a good leader are a universe of pleasure compared to this hell of songs that keep improving themselves one after another. They are terribly good and rock, but with someone disrespectful and insulting who keeps getting more nervous and violent because we don’t meet his expectations (sir, I didn’t come here to shout at you, but to be amazed by your show). The audience, including me, didn’t shout or pander to him. All he does is keep barking ‘MAKE SOME NOISE’ like a cocaine-addicted dog. What a delight it must be to masturbate with someone else’s hand at the expense of so many uncomfortable souls watching.
Certainly, a bitter ending to a night that started off brilliantly, with the bands declining as the night went on in a venue with incredible sound and atmosphere.”
Music Chronicles 