– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER –
The usual step up from headlining your own small intimate gigs will see you generally filling the support slots for bigger names. The main change will be that you now know the audience are not there to see you and have in all honesty, probably never heard of you. Even though this is a daunting task to take on, any band serious enough about their craft will have to jump from playing to family and friends and take their music out to the critical masses.
With all of this taken into account and you find yourself opening for The Fall at a hometown show, this can only add to the pressure. Fans of Mark E Smith and his ever changing ensemble can be hard to please at the best of times and tonight will be no different.
At half past eight the venue is now over half full when the Manchester trio Optional Wallace take to the stage. On first appearance they may not give the impression of three blokes who would be in a band together. Danny Foster (vocals/guitar) is dressed very casually, Neil Meehan (Bass/backing vocals) is a tall imposing figure clad all in black with his face half hidden behind his fringe and Matt Anderson (drums) looking rather dapper in a shirt and tie with a tight fitting waistcoat.
As soon as they launch into their first song Code of Silence, all preconceptions are put aside. The fast paced guitars and Matt’s tribal drumming hit you like speeding train and continue to do so throughout the set. By the end of the next offering “Generation”, the crowd are starting to take more notice and seem to be warming to the hard, but melancholic sound they are hearing.
What Goes Around is fast and choppy and would not have been out of place on the infamous Factory Records label. Danny’s vocals are strong and clear and have a slight feel of Placebo front man Brian Molko. Neil’s bass playing style is frantic from start to finish as he thrashes away whilst occasionally stamping on his effect pedals.
During The Ladder and Movie Star they continue to impress and by the time they reach their last song the crowd have been well and truly won over. So as support slots go, this was a resounding success and Optional Wallace’s fan base will surely have grown from this short but sweet performance.
‘Accidental Editor’ of Silent Radio from its inception in 2009 through to 2020. None of this was planned; I’ve never been in a band, never been part of the ‘music scene’ and never expected to be the gaffer of a music website with loads of dedicated music loving writers. I bought my first record when I was 8 and haven’t stopped buying since. I love crate digging for bizarre and weird stuff, but equally happy ploughing through press releases looking/listening for something I’ve never heard before.
