"We are the Family Rain and we play f***ing Rock and Roll music"

It’s not unusual for Manchester to have an unpredictable climate, but in the tiny Night and Day café, Family Rain’s raucous blues rock “Bad Weather tour” strummed up a storm. It’s clear why so many locals protested against the potential closing of the venue, as any sound leakage tonight can hardly be described as noise pollution.

The Family Rain / Gengahr @ Night and Day Cafe, Manchester 9/6/14

London formed quartet Gengahr, open the night with a short set of shoegazy tracks. It’s clear why they’re becoming quite the hype band, from touring with Wolf Alice to being hotly tipped by BBC introducing their songs blend light summery guitar and dreamy soft vocals with contrasting distortion. Its’ not till recent single “Fill my gums with blood” that Gengahr even seem to notice the crowds there, but with its bouncing bass-line and clever harmonies, the introverted track has everyone’s attention. The Fraternal three-piece then explode onto the stage to a backing track of Spanish horns and fairy lights illuminating the giant raindrop backdrop. Will (lead vocals/bass), kicks off  “Feel better (Frank)” with a bass line that purrs throughout, mixed with Oli’s  trippy Egyptian guitar solos, it’s clear why the track makes reference to the drugs helpline of the same name. It might be the bad weather tour but by the time “Carnival” is played the brothers from Bath have created their own climate. Sweat clings to everybody as they writhe to the fiesta party track, the breakdown has Will not for the last time balanced on the speakers leading the clapping as Tim’s drums beat in the fuzzy guitar solo. “Who’s f***ing hot? Who’s wet? Well you will be after this”, Will announces before diving into the first of the new songs littering the set list. “Love don’t shine” rolls with an easy swagger of a bass line, with a chorus that has the crowd echoing every syllable, and an indulgent guitar solo it already shows signs of being a hit.  Whereas “You should be glad you’ve got a man” is pure pop goodness in barrelling in under the 3 minute mark. The machine gun drumming and spaghetti western guitar earns the track a massive reception. Final newie “Punchbowl” is “the heaviest we have ever written”. With the innards of a classic rock song , the track swells towards a mammoth chorus causing sweat to be whipped from the head bangers in the front. Of course as Tim (drums) says the set is cleverly built like an inverted burger, the new tracks sandwiched between two juicy hard hitting classics. The James Bond like “Pushing it” is as debonair as the spy himself, whereas “Binocular” features harmonies that prove over any DNA test these lads are all of one gene pool. Its set closer “Trust me…” that finally blows the doors off. “We are the Family Rain and we play f***ing Rock and roll music”. It’s true but the now iconic guitar chimes of their first ever single, humming aggressive bass and Wills’ bluesy shrieks leading the song to its end at 100mph  demonstrates this better than any words could.[gallery ids="60744,60745,60746,60747,60748,60749,60750,60751,60752,60753,60754,60755,60756,60757,60758,60759,60760,60761,60762,60763,60764,60765"] Images/Words Jack Wood

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