On Saturday night, Sea Fever played a homecoming gig of epic proportions at Manchester’s Deaf Institute. If you’re not familiar with Sea Fever, they’re a Mancunian five piece consisting of talented musicians from various bands of renowned status – including New Order, Johnny Marr’s band, Haven and Section 25.
With New Order and Johnny Marr having only just returned from lengthy Summer tours in the States, this was the band’s first gig since June – something that you wouldn’t have guessed when they launched into their first track, ‘Crossed Wires’, showcasing a polished sound that most band’s would dream of achieving.
Featuring guitar jangle from Phil Cunningham and an insistent yet irresistible keyboard melody from Tom Chapman, ‘Crossed Wires’ serves as a track that encapsulates just how talented the members of the band are – a theme that’s prevalent once again during ‘Under Duress’. Written about unrequited love, the multi-layered sonic earworm possesses somewhat of a personal touch due to the addition of both Iwan Gronow and Beth Cassidy’s smooth vocals.
The band raced through a sixty minute set that mostly consisted of tracks from their debut album, Folding Lines. Having been in the wild for just over a year, the album’s made quite an impression on the Manchester music scene and each track was received as if it were a hit single – from the intense yet irresistible ‘Afterthought’ to driving electronic cuts ‘Le Coup’ and ‘De Facto’.
What’s particularly prevalent with the members of Sea Fever is their status as established musicians. Though tracks such as ‘Beleaguered Land’ – recently described by Iwan as his take on the way that things are in Britain – tackle topical issues, the band don’t take themselves too seriously and their live show is a reflection of the excitement and pure joy that comes with them working together. Despite being used to much bigger stages, the band appeared to be more then at home in an independent venue.
It may seem like a cop out for us to end this review in the same way that we ended our review of Sea Fever’s last gig, but when we say that they continue to exceed all expectations, we really mean it.
