Live Review

Dot To Dot Festival 2012 – Various, Manchester

• 7th Jun 2012

As the rest of Manchester went Jubilee crazy and many a part-time DJ dusted off a copy of ‘Land Of Hope and Glory’, 7 venues across the city played host to some proper music in the form of Dot To Dot 2012. Whilst you’ll miss a lot of what’s on offer at Dot To Dot, due to the festivals defining scattergun approach, part of the fun is connecting the dots and wandering in on something you wouldn’t otherwise have seen. This is the case with 2:54. Based in London and including sisters Hannah and Collette Thurlow 2:54 take a sleepy afternoon slot in the Sound Control Loft and fill it with swirling guitars and some superb low tempo atmospherics that leave all in attendance suitably impressed. Their debut self-titled album is out now on Polydoor.
Whilst Peace and Dog Is Dead both deserve honourable mentions for fantastic sets in the Sound Control Club and HMV Ritz respectively, the highlight of the day undoubtedly came in the fast-becoming iconic Deaf Institute with the appearance of Watford born songstress Kyla La Grange. Complete with knowing nods to Florence Welch and PJ Harvey, Kyla La Grange’s live show seems to have all the ingredients for major success. On songs like ‘Courage’ and ‘Lambs’ her gift for a melody really shines. The stand out track here though is ‘Vampire Smile’ in which Kyla showcases the much sought after ability of combining a crowd friendly hook with a devilishly clever lyric. Indeed if Dot To Dot held a competition for the most macabre couplet of the festival it would be hard to look past “And I can touch your hair and taste your skin, and the ghosts won’t matter cause we’re high on sin.” It’s this quality of song writing and attention to detail that set La Grange apart from her contemporaries.
New York indie-popsters The Drums are billed as headliners and take to The Ritz stage around 10pm. There’s a lot of hype around the performance and deservedly so, they didn’t disappoint. Uber cool front man Jonathan Pierce has The Ritz in the palm of his hand as the four piece rattle through soaring indie disco anthems ‘Book Of Stories’ and ‘Days’. His Ian Curtis dance moves combining perfectly with the shimmering Smiths-esque guitar lines to create a fitting Manchester-Brooklyn melting pot of goodness. Predictably things go absolutely nuts on ‘Lets Go Surfing’, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Every last syllable is sung back at the band with great enthusiasm by a truly satisfied audience.
Some festivals can feel bloated and occasionally even drag. Dot To Dot is certainly not one of them. Year after year they put on a superb event. They provide an incredibly diverse selection of artists both international and local, established and underground. Roll on Dot To Dot 2013 we say.