Altsounds - Senser - Roadhouse, Manchester, 17th Oct 2009 [Live]

I set off on the 120 mile trip to Manchester with raging toothache. I had made a CD to play on the way containing tracks by artists such as Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Alabama 3, George Thorogood and the Destroyers which I listened to as I contemplated the events that would follow; a gig by Senser at The Roadhouse. After a brief coffee at my mates house in the comparative "leafy" suburbs, we made our way to the city centre by bus. Alighting in Piccadilly, we went straight to the venue which was only a stone's throw away from the bus stop. The doors were still shut, well, we were a bit early! We were engaged by someone who recounted all his previous experiences of seeing Senser play live. "I follow them everywhere!" he told us, actually, he had seen them only four times! The air outside was "thick" with the smell of burning vegetation, we took out
leave to a nearby pub and had a couple of pints and several goes on a quiz machine while we waited for the doors to open.

We left the pub after about 45 minutes and headed back, I had an extra few quid in my pocket from our combined efforts on said
quiz machine, the doors were opened and after a brief pause while the guy on the door checked to see if we really were on a guest list we made our way inside. The venue is really small, intimate even, and the lighting was minimal to say the least.

The support act, a local band called Daywalkers entertained the crowd for 45 minutes or so, in fact, they were very good. There was even a spontaneous rap especially for the groom to be who was enjoying his stag night!

After the change over, Senser hit the stage. They started with the single 'Resistance Now' taken from their new album "How To
Do Battle." The sound was not too good at the beginning, perhaps as a result of the quick change over, but the problem was soon resolved. Although the venue was small, the sound was big, and very, very loud. Although I am not familiar with all of Senser's material, the audience lapped it up. There were crowd surfers in good numbers, one of which got from the front to the very back of the room, all 10 metres!

The place was crammed full, it was very hot and sweaty! Senser belted out song after song and it was all good stuff. Unfortunately, my only grumble about the evenings events was the difficulty in taking photographs. The pit action was so intense I really didn't
think it was somewhere I wanted to take a digital SLR. Years ago I would have ventured into the fray with my trusty 35mm SLR,
but now I am too old, and in any case the old camera could take the knocks unlike their modern day compatriots. It's hardly a
criticism of the band though, in fact it's not a criticism at all, just an observation!

I had a cracking night out, discovering music I wouldn't normally listen to. If you can get to a Senser gig, you should go, there's no fantastic light show, just good honest music being played with enthusiasm to the extreme.