No Hot Ashes, The Tapestry & Orphan Boy; A Great Night Out In Manchester
Published
Everyone knows that a lot can happen in a year, and as Stockport's No Hot Ashes take to the stage tonight, it's evident that, at least as far as the band are concerned, the last 12 months have seen them improve exponentially. Not that they were bad to begin with, but the promise of what could be always seemed to bubble underneath the surface, never quite as fully realised as one might hope. Until now, that is.
With a set comprised largely of material already familiar to us, and without a line-up change in sight, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is that's changed in the band, but as they tear through fan favourites such as 'Goose' and 'Skank', the trademark guitar wobbles are all in place, yet they feel sharper, more defined, as do No Hot Ashes as a whole.
The commanding stage presence of lead singer Isaac is really brought to the fore, and it's clear that the band have benefited from playing bigger stages. Though they might be tonight's opening act, they manage to pull punters from the bar area to the front of the stage before even the end of their opening track – an impressive feat for a band you might not have heard of yet. That said, give it another year and No Hot Ashes will be everywhere, not just in Manchester.
Next up are The Tapestry, a band who have been doing the rounds in Manchester for a while now, and who probably need little in the way of an introduction. If No Hot Ashes served to warm the crowd up suitably, then The Tapestry follow in much the same vein; their personal blend of indie both accessible enough, and off-kilter enough, to win fans across the board. Following on from the previous support, their set is the perfect stepping stone between the Not Hot Ashes funk and Orphan Boy's self-styled council-pop and though their set is over all too soon, it's easy to see why they're rapidly becoming one of Manchester's go to names.
Whilst Orphan Boy never quite made good on the promise they held back when they were, by and large, a Manchester band (the band splitting up, relocating back to Cleethorpes and reforming, possibly not in that order), the legacy they built is still as impressive today as it was before their 2011 “implosion”, something evidenced by the legions of hardcore fans in attendance tonight.
Taking to the stage and unleashing a torrent of beach balls in to the crowd, the band tear through a set comprised of tracks old and new, their energy and passion bleeding through in to an audience on the verge of imploding itself. Such renewed passion is a welcome change from those bands that reform with the dollar signs flashing in their eyes, but Orphan Boy were never more than local heroes, and as a result, as solid as their legacy is, presumably never made enough money to reform for financial reasons.
Instead there reformation has been built on passion, and a love of making music, and as long as that remains evident in the OB mantra, their fans will remain just as devoted. With forthcoming single 'Beats Like Distant Tides' seemingly acting as a centrepiece to tonight's set, what's also clear is that in the two years since their reformation, they've gone from strength to strength and are clearly not just a band going through the motions. Let's just hope it won't be too long before we get another homecoming of sorts of from one of Manchester's (adopted) best kept secrets.
To find out more about No Hot Ashes click here.
To find out more about The Tapestry click here.
To find out more about Orphan Boy click here.
Words by Dave Beech
