Ignoring Izzy @ Fuel Café Bar review – a wonderfully bizarre set

Featured image and gallery: Lucy Elson-Whittaker

Fuel Café Bar in Withington hosts the fifth stop of six-piece band Ignoring Izzy’s ‘Motorway Musk’ tour, following the release of their debut single. The room buzzes with the promise of chaos, and possibly a few flying vegetables.

Opening the night is Manchester-based Leucotome, a witch-folk trio blending soft, raw vocals and a distinctive synth-driven electronic backing with a medieval undertone. Their setup is as unconventional as their sound, with an ironing board doubling as a table for their synth gear.

Next up is Third Warning Party, delivering a complete change of tone, launching headfirst into high-energy punk. Their set thrives on excess – relentless noise, abrasive energy, and an almost confrontational presence. At one point, the frontman launches himself into the crowd and lies flat, commanding everyone to join him before the whole room jolts back up.

By the time the headliners, Ignoring Izzy, take the stage, the energy’s already high – yet they push it further. They open with an ethereal choral ensemble before surprising the crowd, ripping into a frenetic guitar riff that strays off into jazz, all within a few minutes.

Ignoring Izzy lean strongly into the unconventional: brandishing a traditional guembri instrument and saxophone, you’re never quite sure what to expect. From songs about supermarket-aisle abandonment, to a steady barrage of flying leeks, Ignoring Izzy make themselves pretty impossible to ignore.