Man of Moon’s biggest headline gig to date pretty much filled the downstairs at St Lukes but those who came early got the treat of hearing Cloth on a decent sized stage with a sound system which did justice to their uniquely layered guitar patterns.
Boosted by the regular live drums and starting out with oldie ‘Felt’, Rachael and Paul gave us a masterclass in understated dynamics and oblique soundscapes, overlaid by gorgeous melodies harmonies. A kind of melange of shoegaze, Scottish trad with some kind of afrobeat infusion (ok it’s hard to describe), newish track ‘Polaroid’ sounded great while the slightly heavier ‘Demo Love’ saw the band almost thrashing into the main riff and having a lot of fun with those bigger noises!
They promised more music and touring next year, which is definitely something to look forward to. Rachael also paid tribute to the headliners, saying her and Paul first saw them at one long-forgotten summer festival, and were impressed!
As well they might have been – shortly afterwards Man of Moon did their thing, starting low-key with ‘Interlude’ but quickly building (‘Swim’, then ‘You And I’) to serious of enormous and explosive guitar and drum shakedowns.
The combined dual power of Chris on guitar and Ian on drums was pretty astounding, combined with the other effects and backing noises which both used to boost the sound. The visuals, mostly moon-related (!), were used to great effect also. The majority of tunes came from this year’s ‘Machinism’ album but older tracks like ‘The Road’ and ‘Rust’ also benefitted from the re-tooled and re-booted alchemy that these two seem to have.
‘Machines That Breathe’ was a slight break in the sonic onslaught but they finished with ‘Reign’ – another massive wig-out. This gig was a triumph, a major achievement for a band whose sound could be described as somewhere between post-rock and psyche. It’s not for the faint-hearted but with their album and attendant remixes being well-received, this was a tremendous end to a pretty successful year.
- Ibibio Sound Machine - 4 February 2025
- Broken Chanter / Raveloe - 31 January 2025
- Mogwai - 27 January 2025