Altsounds - Slow Club - MoHo Live, Manchester [Live]

Sheffield’s Slow Club, the duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor, finally released their much anticipated debut album “Yeah So” in July this year. Given their songs veer from folkabilly skiffle-pop to pin-drop-quiet heartbreak, I was intrigued to see how Slow Club would fare live, especially at MoHo Live which is a functional but fairly charmless, basement venue in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Well Slow Club started the gig by ignoring the stage completely. They began the set from the middle of the crowd. They elbowed their way in with an acoustic guitar and gave us 'Wild Blue Milk' before making their way on to the wide, low-ceilinged stage and launching into the rocking 'Giving Up On Love.' On record this song has a full-band feel, but tonight even performed just on drums and guitar it is given a surprising amount of oomph. Slow Club then alternated these looser, ramshackle and louder numbers with their quieter songs: delicate, frail numbers that suggest the pitfalls and precariousness of love. Some like ‘When I Go’ are folksy duets, other songs are sung solo with Charles singing 'There Is No Good Way To Say I Am Leaving You' and Rebecca singing 'Sorry About The Doom.' The latter two are poignant, moving and given utmost respect by the audience. The sound – and their voices – are beautifully crystal-clear throughout (sorry for ever doubting the MoHo Live sound system). One of the highlights of the set for me was Rebecca singing 'Boys On Their Birthdays' accompanying herself with gently picked acoustic guitar. It was heartbreakingly beautiful.

This all may make Slow Club sound like uptight miserablists but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Between songs there is amiable and often rambling banter: we get tales of farting in tour vans, coping with sweaty fringes, and even a mini-tour diary of sorts:

Quote:

"Derby was rubbish, Milton Keynes was rubbish, this is alright though."

Charles and Rebecca are thoroughly down-to-earth, unpretentious and brim-full of an easy-going laid-back charm. Tonight’s concert may have had the occasional rough edges, some mis-cues and false starts – but who was going to complain? Slow Club ably manage the transition from loud to quiet, from rocking out to stripped-back ballads, with a winning charm. It is an impressive trick to pull off live.

To finish it off, Slow Club had one more trick up their sleeves. They took the whole audience outside to the carpark and performed 'Christmas TV' on acoustic guitars whilst standing on a low wall. A song about loneliness, performed in the Manchester drizzle, under the orange glow of the street lamps. It was magical and a fitting and touching end to a very special evening.

The Set List:
Wild Blue Milk
Giving Up On Love
I Was Unconscious, It Was A Dream
Because We're Dead
There Is No Good Way To Say I Am Leaving You
Sorry About The Doom
If We're Still Alive
Dance 'Til The Morning Light
When I Go
Boys On Their Birthdays
It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful
Trophy Room
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Christmas TV