sideways saloon @odder bar

since “shut the far cupboard” at the odd bar (on thomas street) was simply amazing (i´ve had joe mcadam tunes on repeat for the entire week), there was no doubt that i´d be going to the odder bar (on oxford road) for “sideways saloon”. i managed to convince two friends to join me, so it was pretty much the perfect night out. 

first up were wild birds. i guess you could compare their sound to the travelling band´s, although i reckon there was a little more (electric) guitar and bass involved in their tunes. i should probably add though that i´ve been listening to a lot of acoustic versions of the travelling band songs lately, so my description/impression of wild birds´ music might not be the most reliable one right now. 

with stephen ballinger (ex-member of the travelling band) and paul hodson on lead vocals and joe mcadam on bass, i honestly had high expectations but they totally fulfilled those. hands down, they were awesome. 

 wild birds @sideways saloon, odder bar, 25-9-2011

wild birds are actually so new that there´s no website or facebook page yet, so sadly i can´t give you a link to check them out. but if you come back here later, i´ll make sure to give you any links i can find. and meanwhile, when you´re in manchester (and i know a lot of my readers are actually here) try to find out if they´re playing somewhere. highly recommended!

the four lads from driver drive faster were up next – another band from manchester that delivered a great set. i read a few things about them and their sound was usually described as indie-rock  or alternative-rock which is somehow fitting but i think some of their tunes had a rather psycho-pop twist to them (if you know what i mean). 

 dylan giles (guitar) and peet earnshaw (keyboards) of driver drive faster

 

other band members include yuri caul on bass and fellow german (born) david schlechtriemen on drums (you can probably tell by his surname that he´s indeed from germany, or at least born there). i honestly wonder how the brits pronounce david´s surname but that´s another story. 

the new driver drive faster single “may they talk” is due on october 10^th. it´ll be released on akoustik anarkhy recordings and you can check it out below.

driver drive faster - "may they talk"

if you like what you just heard, please take another few minutes to check out the performance of “it´s all over (it´s everywhere)” that was uploaded by mcrscenewipe. 

 driver drive faster - "it´s all over (it´s everywhere)"

apparently driver drive faster have a website which sadly doesn´t work on my damn laptop but hopefully it does on yours, so check them out or just follow them on twitter and find out where you can catch them live. 

thanks again to the fantastic the travelling band (i know that i´m repeating myself but it´s just true – they´re brilliant), mostly adam probably, for playing some nice tunes throughout the night. 

unfortunately “shut the far cupboard” had to be cancelled in october due to the travelling band touring around europe but blind atlas (who are also worth checking out - here´s the facebook link) will take over “sideways saloon” at the odder bar on october 23^rd which roughly translated means, mark that date in your calendars and get your butts down there! and most importantly, tell me afterwards how it was because sadly i won´t be able to make it... but i´ll be back for “shut the far cupboard” in november, so there´ll be a lot more amazing music to review and recommend. make sure to check back!

next blog posts:
- julia marcell “june” (album review)
- bombay bicycle club + dry the river & dog is dead (gig review)
- ben howard “every kingdom” (album review)