If you’re a fan of British rock and haven’t discovered Avalanche Party yet, you’re missing out. This five-piece band from the North Yorkshire moors has quickly caught the attention of NME and BBC Radio 1, primarily due to their energetic live performances.
On a mild Monday night in Manchester (try saying that five times fast), they brought their live show to the Castle Hotel. At first glance, it appears to be just a traditional pub, but regulars from the Northern Quarter know that it features a small yet impressive gig space in the backroom.
Local Manchester band Catbandcat kicked off the show with their unique blend of dreamy pop and classical instruments. While their avant-garde style might have been a bit too experimental for the indie-rock crowd present that night, the band is steadily establishing a name for themselves in Manchester’s vibrant underground art scene.
The crowd shifts and the room fills up as it’s time for Avalanche Party to take the slightly cramped stage. The show begins not with a bang but with the soothing notes of Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune.’ One of the band members, Jared Thorpe, approaches the stage, holding his saxophone like a strange holy relic. The attendees transform from mere gig-goers into witnesses of a rock ‘n’ roll ritual.
As the rest of the band took the stage, they kicked off their performance with ‘Obstacle,’ the opening track from their debut EP. The energy in the room ignited from the very first chord, and you could tell that this show was going to be something special.
The first half of the set was a blazing recital of tracks from their new album Der Traum Uber Alles, including the infectious ‘Serious Dance Music’ and funk-infused ‘Nureyev Said It Best.’ By the time the final note rang out on ‘Nureyev,’ any newcomers to Avalanche Party had been thoroughly converted.
Of course, there’s no point in playing small venues if you’re not going to get up close and personal with the crowd, and frontman Jordan Ray Bell is no exception. Dressed in a black suit and a mostly-unbuttoned hazard orange shirt, he was right in the thick of it for several of the numbers.
The high-energy, bluesy track ‘Bugzy’ marked the halfway point of the show and clearly indicated that the band wasn’t slowing down. However, one downside of performing such an energetic set in the Castle’s small venue was that it became quite sweaty. After they finished jamming through the entire song “Shake That Slack,” someone humorously shouted, “I’m so wet!”—a playful nod to the band’s 2017 song of the same name.
There was one downside to playing such a high-energy show in the Castle’s tiny venue: it did get properly sweaty. After jamming through the entirety of ‘Shake That Slack,’ someone yelled out, “I’m so wet!” – a tongue-in-cheek reference to the band’s 2017 song of the same name.
Avalanche Party gave us a slight breather with the hazy ‘Ecstasy,’ the new album’s lead single, before finishing on the absolute belter, ‘ Dream Johnny Dream,’ featuring plenty of crowd participation.
As this UK tour comes to a close, we can look forward to Avalanche Party performing at a festival or two this summer. Given the energy they brought to the Castle Hotel, it’s likely they will be playing at Reading and Leeds in a couple of years.
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