Dickensian Disco – Dry Bar, Manchester

• 28th Feb 2008

Energy and anticipation fill the small performance space at Dry Bar. The room is packed (the busiest I’ve ever seen it) with the trusty fans of Warrington band The Kingsway, and they’re excited.

Part of the Dickensian Disco, a night dedicated to live music, The Kingsway are just one of the bands filling up the northern quarter venue with a sound to make the big labels listen.

In terms of gathering a following, the four-piece stand out from some of their lacklustre indie peers before they’ve even got on the stage, and more than fill expectations when they’re up.

The first thing to grab your attention is their command of that Manchester sound: the resonating vocals and guitars, coupled with fast, almost militant beats, and haunting bass.

There’s a clear musical lineage that The Kingsway are aware of: New Order, The Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and Oasis are all cited as influences. Yet whilst being a proud North-West band, the Kingsway will have to keep developing to avoid a sound-a-like rut.

Front man Wes Dolphin has enough personality to avoid being a Gallagher replica, and with gems like Fever and You Should Know, they have the potential to be the next big name in that line.

What’s also clear is that they don’t just want to be the new darlings of NME: there are no floppy fringes or tight jeans in sight, just a straightforward attitude comparable to Kasabian or The Twang.

By the end of the tight and impressive set, their supporters are buzzing and dancing, many calling for an encore, and even reserved viewers are tapping their feet. A really full live sound made The Kingsway a band you may well hear a lot more from.

Other impressive acts of the night included The Chapman Family: a sharp, punky marriage of Pulp and Joy Division with the tightest jeans you’ve ever seen, and three piece Vanir offered piano led Goo-Goo-Dolls-esque rock, with an incredible vocal from Ben Smith. The Tracks were a polite, slightly generic rock band with Strokes elements which managed to please the crowd.

The biggest dilemna of the night was wanting to be at both stages at once, and how often at a gig do you get to say there’s that much choice?