Manifesto @ The Rocket Room

Mon 19th Jan, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Not everything went to plan at Manifesto at the Rocket Room on Saturday night.

Hand Stands for Ants pulled out of the opening set of the night as their drummer fell ill with food poisoning. Stepping up in their place was The Spitfires, only for this show The Spitfires swapped their usual electric guitar and fuzz pedal arsenal for a two-man acoustic guitar set which transformed them, as frontman Sean Regan put it, from “Perth’s most hated punk band to Perth’s most hated acoustic-punk band”. Regan has undeniable singing talent and is well versed in the Northern England lad cum cocaine addict sound ala Pete Doherty. Channelling the obvious Clash influences, The Spitfires played an enjoyable set of songs including the punk harkings of Guns of Ormskirk and standout covers of Don’t Look Back Into The Sun and Can’t Stand Me Now by The Libertines. The Spitfires’ knockabout set will no doubt draw new fans to their next full band show.

Drummers aren’t usually known for sporting show-stealing dresses, afro hairstyles and wearing heels more akin to dancing in a nightclub, but Cat Black’s drummer seems to be the exception to the rule. And this embodies the appeal of Cat Black – sleazy Detroit blues, thunderous drumming and some of the lowest-slung bass riffs this side of Chicago all rolled into one under the sultry vocals of singer Emma. The band owes kudos to PJ Harvey, but take her style into a heavier direction with songs such as In Your Skin and Behind. The only drawback to an otherwise flawless performance was the singer’s static delivery. When PJ Harvey sings, you can see her raw emotion sweating out of her and Cat Black would do well to convey the feelings in their lyrics to the audience in a similar way.

Mezzanine were the second band on the bill without a drummer, with their stickman allegedly missing in Japan. However, instead of pulling the gig, Mezzanine admirably played on – a decision which they may now regret. The set started off well with a warm cover of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Sympathetic Noose. A ‘loose’ Black Rebel/The Vapors medley of Love Burns/Turning Japanese followed. But from there, the wheels well and truly fell off. The crowd were subjected to feedback, drum machine fiddling and half started songs, with those still listening left wondering if they were watching a gig or a rehearsal. The shambolic set finished with an out of tune rendition of The Dandy Warhol’s I Love You which, without a drummer or a guitar tuner it seemed, ended a bad night for Mezzanine. Credit to Mezzanine for carrying on, but sometimes it’s wiser to let the gig go than to go onstage unrehearsed.

Coming off the bench in the final quarter to resurrect the night were headliners The Harlow Experiment. Harlow’s sound is ethereal, mystical and folky, but maintains its rock leanings and can be downright heavy when it needs to be. Lead by the breathy vocals of Andrew Bartlett, Harlow recaptured the room’s attention with upbeat opening tracks Sleep Forever and Misunderstood. What makes the Harlow sound work is the even interplay between the bass and drums – both pacy and rhythmic, yet often as important to the melody as the guitars and vocals. Without a doubt, the jewel in Harlow’s crown is the sprawling and epic set closer Braveland. “We are emotional beings at night” sang Bartlett “Try to deny it and you’ll end up in a fight with me”. Opening with a looping arpeggio of freefalling guitar notes and ending in a bombastic wall of noise, expect this track to feature first on an EP at some point in the future.

Manifesto reminded all about the joy of local music – you never know what to expect.