I think this gig was meant to go ahead following the release of Boston’s 3rd album Glue in late 2020. It has been rescheduled at least twice since but finally it was good to go here in 2022. Due to the early curfew in The Garage the doors opened at 6.30pm and first band Jools took to the stage at 7pm for a half an hour set. Jools are a 7-piece rock act from Leciester who formed in 2019. They are signed to These bloody Thieves record label and have released four singles. I thought the music was pretty solid and the band was pretty tight. But the vocals for me were delivered in talking style fashion rather than actually singing. This is something that does seem to be “in” at the moment but it's not really for me. In saying that the lead singer had everything else, the rock looks, the confidence and the charisma.
The singer did say he had a dodgy voice but when I heard the
songs on Spotify in the car on the way home it didn’t sound much
different. The set did take an
unexpected turn though before the start of the penultimate track. Where the
singer introduced Kate Price who is the bands lyricist. She then did a speech
on how women should be allowed to walk home after a night out and feel safe. It
was very powerful and captivated the audience.
She was absolutely right what she was staying. Whether you loved or
hated this band, they made an impact and for a support band where you want
people to remember you, that is exactly what they did so good on them and I
wish them all the best. She then stayed
on the stage for the last 2 songs and shared vocal duty.
The next band, Movements got a slightly longer set, sitting
at 40 minutes. These guys are American, and I did wonder whether they would be
ok to come over with quite a few bands cancelling gigs over here. But they came
over and I am glad they did. I have been a fan of theirs since their debut
album “Feel Something” came out in 2017.
Now they have 2 full length studio albums out with “No good left to
give” coming out in 2020. As the Boston
Manor and Movements mentioned, these guys are actually good friends and when
over in the states where Movements are bigger, Movements headline and Boston
Manor support. If you look on Spotify
Movements top streamed track has 28 million streams whereas Boston Manor’s most
streamed track “Halo” has 15 million.
So, for fans of both it was basically a joint headliner such was the
quality of the music. And Movements were
awesome and I reckon won a lot of new fans tonight.
Ever since 3rd album “Glue” came out, Boston
Manor have been one of my favourite bands during the course of the pandemic and
it was so great to see them live. The
set list was almost evenly spread across their three full length albums and
their latest EP, “Desperate times, Desperate Pleasures”. As good as the EP is it would have been great
to hear more off “Glue” where they played 5 tracks. I say it was my favourite album in 2020. I
think when you leave a gig and you start saying which songs they didn’t play;
this is a sign that the band has built up a really good discography.
The choice of songs from “Glue” was interesting playing
“Everything is Ordinary” which started the set, “Class war”, “Plasticine
Dreams”, “Liquid” and “On a high ledge”. Its almost the approach they took was
to choose different types of song. Rather than going for one particular type. This meant songs like “Rat king”, “Brand new
kids”, “0s & 1s” and “Only1” were excluded.
Maybe one day they’ll do this album in full in tour as that’s how good
an album it is and what it deserves.
I was delighted they played “Bad Machine” and “England’s
Dreaming” off “Welcome to the neighbourhood”. Those songs are great live. They
also dipped into their first album a bit too.
The crowd was really up for it and the boys were really excited to be
back playing. There were a few technical
glitches. The end of “On a high ledge” it felt something was a bit off and then
they had a delay starting “Let them in” due to guitar problems. It was a surprise not to hear “Algorithm” off
the new EP but again shows the depth of their catalogue.
Overall, this was an absolutely fantastic gig. So glad I got
to see Boston Manor and Movements under the one roof. I wouldn’t go and see
Jools as a headline act but would be quite happy if they were supporting an act
I liked as they have such an important message to share and I hope other up and
coming bands take note.
Photos by Campbell Hunter
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