Twisted Wheel - Back at Band on the Wall with support from The Jack Fletcher Band and The Darlies.
For Twisted Wheel, The' Snakes and Ladders' Tour, named for their upcoming autumn album release is the band's opportunity to get back in the game and prove their stability as touring performers and musicians. Despite having played support slots for some Britpop giants like Oasis, Happy Mondays and Kasabian within the first two explosive years of their career, making huge successes on such songs as 'She's a Weapon', 'Lucy the Castle' and particularly on 'You Stole the Sun', making Twisted Wheel a landmark name for the British Indie Punk scene - Twisted Wheel rolled out of frame while front man, Johnny Brown handled his personal life during a three year break from the band. Manchester's Band on the Wall proudly hosted Johnny Brown's comeback show in December 2017. On the night, Brown announced the reformation of Twisted Wheel and their UK Spring Tour. They have returned to Band on the Wall and to their booming fan base. I made it in to the sold out show on June 1st and just about made it back out again with enough life left to regurgitate the shenanigans of the evening in the convenient form of a review for your reading pleasure.
First up,
The Darlies.
Better late than never, The Darlies turn up for their set with drinks in hand. 15 minutes of which has consisted of tunes provided by a DJ host who gives the band a warm welcome and implores the same from a notably sparse audience. The music fades...
"Thanks for coming down", front man Richard Dutton says, then tells the crowd, "Something has gone wrong. Put some tunes on!"... silence, "Guess it's up to us then", as the band continue to tune up. Dutton tells of the band's hometown, Grimsby and how it's famous for fresh fish and once given the all clear, played some live music.
They opened the set with 'Welcome to North' - where snares are blasted and met with reverb and tones of saturation, at least if this track is anything to go by. Their set consisted of drunken tales and dashes of misfortune accompanied by dissonant, yet upbeat indie-disco riffs. Their single, 'Autumn Leaves' is an example of a song that shares that aesthetic though I found the instrumentation plain and the vocal melodies mundane. Certainly repetitive enough to constitute a viable single release. The tracks that did draw me closer had more switches in pace and instrumental emphasis. Some of the song progressions can be traced back to Pixies and Cheap Trick, and generally a punk rock influenced sound. Elements of spoken word were used but the words spoken were soon lost in the reverb the band kept hassling the sound man for more and more of. The band did play well and their tone is certainly on northern England's musical wave length as well as quenching that punk rock tempo and attitude. Though, after the front man found out they only had time for two more songs instead of three, the four didn't seem so pleased. "Fuck that!" yelled bassist, Danny Thomas. They played another song, finished and the front man asks again, "One more?"... receives nod, "Thought you might say that". They thrashed out their final track, 'She Don't Know' and left the stage without a word.
Rumours have it that the bands' manager had decided which of the two support acts would perform first via means of a coin toss. The Darlies lost that toss and rightly so, it was their given slot anyway and they suffered the consequence of being late rather than passing the punishment on to the next band. That petty affair apparently led to a backstage scrap between The Darlies and their rival supports...
The Jack Fletcher Band
The crowd had grown larger and just in time for the second act of the evening. "You're from Manchester?" - a voice calls out from the audience. "WoolverhamptoOn!" - another voice chants. The Jack Fletcher Band took the first swing with 'You're on Your Own Now'. Feedback emerges, the wall of sound commences - that same tone that Oasis accomplished on their studio recordings simply by overlaying more guitars than you can shake a fist at, except live! Fletcher's deliverance wasn't with that larger than life attitude and swagger - he was relaxed and collected. The lyrics are further straight to the point and serve a more sincere purpose. 'What Are You Waiting For?' - a song that perhaps should have been dedicated to the first band - tackles the issue of procrastination and talks of people's poor solutions to handling stress, "They don't care what they'll end up doing, that's no way to live life, that's just existing" Fletcher sang. A seemingly pensive front man, due to his stature and lyricism. Oasis' 'Hindu Times' sound-alike track, 'Young Man At Heart' has Fletcher singing about the anticipated process of slowly letting go of your hopes as you get older and resorting to a job that isn't fulfilling because it's a familiar means of survival and all the while, keeping that dance floor jumping . The sound is comparatively more accessible as there are clearly influences of both young and old. Not only implementing that parka jacket corner of rock and roll but also employing keys and synthesisers in tracks such as 'Has It All Gone Wrong?", which could honestly sound great if mashed up with Oasis' 'Stay Young'. Very steady band, all in all - they hold up well and are imaginably quite versatile in terms of which areas of the music scene they can squeeze into. Overall, the sound is safe and I'm sure, in safe hands. If I had to offer a suggestion it would be put a few dents in it here and there and steer a bit further away from the Oasis back alley song dealers cause word is - that's not organically sourced material.
Twisted Wheel
The venue room of Band on the Wall, now heaving at the seams with people is ready to be graced with the presence of a headline act - Twisted Wheel to be exact. The DJ, so hyped at this point - constantly limbering up the anxious dance floor and playing a bodacious range of Punk rock, Hip hop and Brit pop and classic rock tunes. Thin Lizzy's 'The Boys Are Back In Town', a song choice that speaks louder volumes than I can express about the homecoming spirit that has filled this space.
"Wheel! Wheel! Wheel!" - these chants carried the silence between each and every song. Johnny only had the energy to hush the chants one time with an "Alright, alright". The support being demonstrated by the crowd at this stage is already tremendous. The bond between the band and their fans is tight as a knot. Audiences of young and old jumped and moshed with arms linked - no attempt to harm, no worries about who's beer was landing on who's face. Whether laughing, singing or trying to catch a gulp of what would be wasted beer - love and happiness was celebrated on this evening, no fear. Acoustically performed, 'Bouncing Bomb' and 'Double Yellow Lines' were the singalong ballads to cool down the set. Manchester wanted to make sure Twisted Wheel had the warmest welcome though, and warm enough to make the walls sweat. New song, 'Johnny's Guitar' outpaced the room, a song with punk at the forefront of the formula expected to feature on the upcoming album. One man from the crowd figured it was his time jump onstage to share a few words - "Can I just say, ain't it good to see our John back on tour again?", this one man seemingly spoke for the entire room as soon enough, the already rather slim separation between the stage and the fans was no more. The opening chords of 'Oh What Have You Done?' beckoned the rowdy room for the last time as the crowd rushed the stage. Almost swallowed whole by the sudden impact, Brown kept his face pressed to a microphone before finally giving in, becoming lost in the celebration. Luckily, the crowd had the vocals covered for this track. The band kept up the playing as co-ordinated as they could until finally, the song ends, Brown re-emerges to grab a mic - "Get the fuck off the stage." just as the venue security arrive. As commanded, everyone clambers off the stage.
"Beautiful." Johnny breathes, "... thanks very, very much, everybody."
Oasis' 'Rock & Roll Star' sound-tracked the slow march of singing fans through the venue's wonderful Picture House, perhaps for one of the many gin cocktails that Band on the Wall has to offer... but of course, Red Stripe works too.
Want to take Twisted Wheel for a spin? You can catch the band and even more major acts., live at Manchester's Lancashire County Cricket Club this August supporting Liam Gallagher.