By Jack Holmes
Saturday saw the brand new MMU Union building host the second band night of the year, featuring Stations, Sly Antics and Flesh. After the success of the first band night that wrapped up freshers’ week, the crowd has grown and this trio of acts seem just as willing, if not more so to entertain than the Lafontaines were at the last band night.
First up are Stations, a two piece combination of hard rock riffs and pop harmonies. Originally from Hamburg, Germany, Stations have now released two EP’s and a single in the UK on a number of labels, and their experience touring the British scene shows. “We haven’t even got a bass player” jokes singer and lead guitarist Ben Jessen, before encouraging the seated audiences to move their tables around the stage for a more personal feel that flows through their set, and continues through the night.
Next up is Sly Antics who describe themselves as wanting to leave their audiences feeling like they’ve been “hit repeatedly in the face with a box of stale cereal”, whatever that means, Sly Antics deliver a near perfect set. They offer up a collection of incredibly musically complex tracks, grounded by gruff vocals that impress from start to finish. Arctic Monkeys inspiration can be seen through tracks like “Captive City” but it’s given new sound and weight by the throaty choruses that accompany. Their final track “Motion” opens to a blistering drum beat that grabs the audience by the ear drums in its intro and doesn’t release until the final face melting breakdown that ends their set. With a number of stand out tracks and few, if any weak sections, Sly Antics have certainly sold this venue on their sound. Yet it’s all made that little more spectacular by the revelation, “this is only our second gig”, we all expect big things guys.
Last up is Britpop inspired Flesh, who decorate the stage with a huge fuzzy logo and don the “typical” 90’s Mancunian wear of tracksuits and caps. Their 90’s inspiration also brings in the largest number of pre-existing fans with a number of groups breaking out dance moves that haven’t been seen on a dance floor since Oasis still toured. Flesh go as far as to invite these audience members to join them on stage and with one particular Britpop enthusiast dancing alongside the band for the rest of their set. With a mix of Britpop classics and original tracks, Flesh bring the night to an end and leave a room of wholly entertained onlookers wondering what the next band night will contain.
Who did you think displayed the stand out performance of the night? Let us know at @HumanityHallows or @holmesblogs
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