‘A TRIUMPH FOR EMERGING TALENT AND INDEPENDENT VENUES’

Last weekend, Manchester’s original multi venue extravaganza Neighbourhood Festival made its long-awaited return to the city.
After taking a break in 2023, music fans in the northern city (myself included) were glad to see the beloved autumn festival back and better than ever. With Manchester’s own Pale Waves set to headline the main stage at Manchester Academy, and over 100 acts scheduled to perform across 16 venues 2024’s edition was always going to be one to remember.

As someone who spends most of the summer eagerly counting down to the next festival, I personally love inner city festivals. Discovering new emerging artists and exploring new venues; the perfect way to cure the end of festival season blues, all the better when enjoyed without a tent or a warm beer in sight.

After collecting our wristbands from Circle Square – one of the most strangely named locations in Manchester, we headed down to watch Liverpool desert rockers Red Rum Club. Tasking to the stage in the beautiful Grade II listed Albert Hall. The late afternoon sun illuminating the room through the delicate yet dramatic stained glass windows added a fantastic layer to the atmosphere – one of the beauties of Neighbourhood is getting to visit these venues in the day time and experience them in a whole new way. A live band with a dedicated trumpet player is never going to not be fun, and Red Rub Club brought the fiesta vibes in full force.

With Gorilla, The Albert Hall, The o2 Ritz, The Bread Shed and everyone’s favourite venue/pizza joint YES all part of the schedule, if you’re a music nerd like me you will find yourself power walking the length and breadth of Oxford road at full speed from venue to venue. So emergency sensible shoes are advised – (and were purchased) to maximise band watching time.

Another example of home grown emerging talent, and definite ones to watch are Indie new comers Balancing Act. After only forming in 2022 and cementing their line up this year, the band have gathered a loyal following and over 62K monthly Spotify listeners in record speed. Watching their set at one of my favourite independent venues, The Bread Shed, it was clear to see just why there is such a hype around this band right now.

Despite the rarely spotted Mancunian sun shining outside, the dark lair like back interior of the Bread Shed was the perfect backdrop for the Indie Sleaze borderline grunge aura of Balancing Act. The venue was absolutely packed, with the hard-core fans at the front, and a ripple of casuals taking over the flanks of the room curious to what this new young band had to offer.

Front man Kai commanded the room with ease, seemingly taking everything in his stride. Hit single She Plays the Theremin brought audible gasps followed by sing alongs from the crowd. An impressive feat from a band still in the infancy of their career and proof that clever, well written lyrics and a catchy hook never go out of style.

Next up at The Bread Shed was Mancunian quintet ROLLA, who drew a similarly sized crowd. The band played with the expected Manc swagger, and for anyone that hasn’t checked them out yet, if you’re a fan of all things Britpop, you’re gonna love these guys. Ease My Mind was a sure-fire highlight of the set, the fuzzing guitars and drawn out chorus transporting the whole room back to the Madchester heyday of the 90s.

It was then time to don my newly purchased sensible shoes and head over to YES to catch Andy Goodwin’s headline set in the venue’s now iconic basement.

Descending the stairs, pizza slices in hand (cause it’s basically illegal to not grab a slice when visiting this venue), I wasn’t sure what to expected from Andy, but boy was I impressed.

His confessional storytelling was what gripped me the most, and something that I sadly find to be a real rarity these days, his performance seemed to genuinely come from the heart. Despite having the headline slot for the venue, Andy bravely chose to fill his set with new tracks, but his hit single Fred Perry Girl was the perfect way to end his set.

Of course it wouldn’t be a festival in Manchester without an appearance from Antony Szmierek; John Cooper Clarke in trackies, and probably the only ‘rapper’ your mum would be buzzing to have round for tea. Antony’s earnest spoken word poetry set to dance music has been taking him to bigger and better venues each time he returns to his home town, and this weekend was no different.

This time Headlining Manchester’s o2 Ritz, Antony seemed incredibly comfortable on stage, accompanied as always by his band formed of best friends (and his brother Martin), The Breeze. One thing that will always blow me away about Antony Szmierek is his stage presence, he delivered his rhymes like a pastor holding a sermon and the crowd cheered back with the same level of adulation. Always a man of the people he couldn’t resist jumping in and dancing with the dedicated throng lining the barrier. Even pausing the set one point to wave at his mum on the balcony, a reminder that he is just a local lad living out his dreams, who still can’t quite believe his luck himself.

If you’ve been to an Antony Szmierek show before you’ll know that his Sugababes cover has now become an integral part of the set, performed with all the sass of a pop princess. Which begs the question, when is the collab we’ve all been waiting for coming? We’re looking at you Mutya.

Despite the usual suspects, Antony’s back catalogue is so varied and for want of a better phrase, full of bangers, that the set never feels stale, even for retuning fans. New single The Great Pyramid of Stockport, an ode to the notorious local landmark, really could be his best work yet and goes down a treat. As the set came to a close, Antony urged the audience to stand arm and arm and wish the person next to them a happy new year, before a an energetic rendition of his hit single The Words to Auld Lang Syne brought the house down.

As both a journalist and fan, Antony’s career progress has been a real pleasure to watch. From performing in tiny rooms, at a gigs he put on himself because he was worried no one would come, to now headlining a stage at Manchester’s biggest inner city festival, his performance at Neighbourhood last weekend felt like a pivotal moment in his already rapidly advancing career.

Neighbourhood’s return for 2024 was a triumph for emerging talent and independent venues. With most of the Festival being held in independent venues, Neighbourhood demonstrates the importance of supporting grassroots music, especially in musically historic cities like Manchester. I know I’ll be queuing up to return next year, will you?

To be first to find out about Neighbohood Festival keep an on https://neighbourhoodfestival.com/