The Wytches – Live @ Ruby Lounge
aaamusic | On 11, Dec 2014
Monday 1st December, Manchester
It’s December, but where’s that Christmas feeling we’ve been hunting for? It might be found deep inside the walls of the Ruby Lounge on this cold winter night, where the lights are low but the spirits are high…
For tonight is The Wytches’ second time performing in Manchester within in a week, coming just after their last gig at the Deaf Institute; it’s impressive to still be able to pull this many people in.
First on tonight, a band that I was described to by a punter as “a great live band”, but without having heard of The Telegrams ever before, all I had to go off was with my better judgement, and they were quite interesting. They are akin to the music that my parents grew up listening to, with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, etc. Not the style of music I listen to all that often and maybe that’s to do with a generational gap, but aesthetically they were dressed to the nines, like a juxtaposition of their music; they were stylish.
With there only being two bands on tonight it was a short break between the first and only support act before The Wytches, who the same punter I mentioned earlier told me that in his books they are one of the best rock bands of the year. Quite a statement, but it was evident in the room that this UK surf-psych trio are a band to be heard.
When the lights went down the band slowly crept on stage to a rapturous applause. The band were not phased by it; they were dressed very differently to the support, quite the polar-opposite with their baggy jeans and their favourite band T-shirts in sizes too small for them. When they kicked it into full gear the band and the crowd were in unison, and the energy was locked in. Despite the climactic energy in the room, the band (musically speaking) sounded a lot like white noise – too much over-sustain of Kristian’s guitar at times, which made it difficult, at times, to differentiate the notes that he was playing and identifying their songs became a tad difficult. It was only when the volume was turned down and Kristian performed a solo performance of their song ‘Summer Again’ that I was able to personally share in the crowd’s adoration for the band.
