Having arrived at Salford's Islington Mill by way of asking directions I was glad to find that Marple’s Dutch Uncles were the support band. I had seen them last year, also in a support role, and found their spidery guitar tunes all contained within a pop framework very enjoyable. The band are young, their stage manner bouncy and fittingly, inside what was an old cotton mill, their clothes carried a radiant hue.
The Phantom Band appearance is more inscrutable by contrast with some of their hooded attire extending to spangly, sequined robes although singer Rick is unfrocked.
In contrast to the Dutch Uncles elasticity they positively take their music on an exploratory loop for minutes at a time before morphing into something else, feathered along with various pipes or percussion instruments. The more conventionally structured songs such as Island (whose preliminary strums enticingly recall Silent Night) are delivered with such echoey precision as to make them sound other-worldy. It would be a challenge to see the songs of such length hold the audience’s attentions but there’s enough in the likes of the Howling and the Doorsy Throwing Bones to pick up the pace. I left after their main set to catch the bus home seven miles away but they were to come back and played two encores.
I was unaware of this venue which has already been active for several years. This looks a fine place with other floors given over to artistic ventures. The open plan is all it had in common with the loft apartments that often arise from such unoccupied buildings. After lying derelict in urban Salford the Mill has been re-opened.
Photo by Simon
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