Sly Antics Need a Bigger Stage
Night and Day Café’s local showcases have given dozens of Manchester’s up and coming unsigned acts a chance to show off their skills since the night was first hosted. This week's a special one however, as one band manage to sweep the floor with the other three, and they’re roughly half the age of at least one of the other acts.
Sly Antics haven’t been on the underground scene for too long but they’re making waves, one riff filled evening at a time. Since there first show less than six months ago they’ve become more comfortable in their setlist, stage presence, and general musical showmanship. Every time you attend a Sly Antics show it feels like their set has peaked, yet time and time again they’ve been able to knock their past gigs out of the park with something new and fresh.
They’re currently touring with just a single debut EP 'Captive City' but with such impressive song structures, you’re not hearing the generic unsigned band play what seems to be the same track over and over. There’s development in their songs, and in their set as a whole.
So comfortable with the EP’s tracks now, the band have begun working on tweaking and fine tuning them for live performances. It’s not just a case of adding an extra solo here and their either. A breakdown into a Jay Z cover sounds impressive in the middle of the bands indie hard rock sounds finding that perfect sweet spot you need when performing a rendition of someone else’s music in your set.
I’d previously pointed out a slight stiffness in the band during one of their earlier shows and it’s genuinely pleasing to see that this is something that’s been worked on, or perhaps just naturally evolved past. In fact at times it feels as if the tiny Night and Day stage is just too small to contain the youthful energy of the trio. This results in lead singer Sam Hudson vaulting from the stage onto the venue floor to break out some impressive guitar solos on at least one occasion, putting the other acts on the bill to shame.
It’s also inspiring to see a band who genuinely seem to be enjoy playing their tracks live, rather than simply writing for the sake of recording.
By the end of Sly Antics set the applause they receive confirms what everyone in the room already knows, Sly Antics won’t be playing tiny stages for much longer.
