When some bands play live they do simply that, play live. When some bands play live they put on a show. And by put on a show I mean Put. On. A. Show. And that…that…is, exactly what Django Django did on their first visit to Manchester in five years last week.
Support Low Island are a band I’ve wanted to see do well for several years now. Their performance this time around did nothing to change my want, but neither did it show that they’re yet doing well. Not that they’re doing badly either, but something, that neither I nor my companion (Picky Bastards podcaster and fellow editor Sam) could quite put a finger on, other than some of the lyrics. Perhaps they simply came along too near the end of the previous decade when bands similar to them (see tonight’s headline act) thrived and have yet to find their place in the 2020s unlike other bands (see tonight’s headline act) who have done something different and continue to find success. Aside from that, there was some excellent musicianship on show and Jamie Jay remains a natural frontman, deserving of some bigger tunes so get his performance teeth into.
So what makes a gig show? Or rather, what made this Django Django a set into a show?
Number one, wearing matching all white outfits with complementary black designs. Number two, being genuinely really fucking excited to be playing live after an already long break, unavoidably lengthened by COVID. Number three, knowing what the crowd want. Aside from one new acoustic-led tune and sprinkling of inbetweeny songs from studio albums number two to number four, like ‘Spirals’, they focused on playing the biggest hits and crowd pleasers from either end of their career including ‘Default’ and ‘Hail Bop’. And this is rightly what you would expect from a band five albums deep – they have the luxury of a big back catalogue to draw from.
Number five, knowing what the crowd didn’t know they wanted. In extended versions and medleys of songs, between swapping instruments and whipping out an array of percussion as if from nowhere, they dropped in crowd pleasing micro covers of The Beatles ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and ‘Around the World’ by Daft Punk. Points four and five together gave the show (point number six) a festival flavour, instead of something carefully curated for the die-hard fans. And as some who has very much enjoyed these oldest and most recent albums, I was very happy with Django Django’s choices.
Off Planet, that most recent album, with its wide stylistic range, further allowed Django Django’s show to come alive on stage. ‘Lunar Vibrations’ with its slow building nature, gave a perfect platform for an extended electro psych wig out to the refrain of ‘the higher and the higher we go’. Other live highlights from Off Planet included ‘Golden Cross’ and of course ‘Slipstream’.
I tell every music fan I meet in Manchester about how good the sound is at New Century. On Wednesday night it wasn’t quite on the money, sounding overly loud and not as crisp as on previous occasions. This and the very short and unexciting encore from Django Django were however the only very slight letdowns of an overall excellent evening, and masterclass in showmanship.
Words by James Spearing
Picky Bastards 