The Twang

Before this gig, I had never even heard of The Twang, it was only when a group of friends suggested that I go and catch them whilst they are doing the club circuit that I decided to trundle down to Rock City to catch them.



Before they came on stage, I asked a few not so sober audience members what the Twang are like, the responses were comparing them to the Happy Mondays, at this point I thought that really isn’t a good thing, maybe I should sell my ticket and have an early night.

However my friends bribed and pleaded with me to stay and so there I was all geared up to hear some crappy Mancunian waste of space band just like the Happy Mondays struggle to sing anything in key and get applauded for it.


As soon as the band walked on, the way they stalked the stage in a over confident manner was very similar to the way Happy Mondays used to be. So far so bad, stuck in a crowd of drunken inconsiderate yobs jumping up and down just at the mere sight of a band that up until a few moments ago, I had never heard of.

The Twang instantly won a little bit of respect as they aren’t from Manchester, which is always a good thing in my book...some people rave on about how great the Manchester bands are, but that was way back in the nineties... time to move on.


Within seconds of the quintet starting their set with opening number ‘The Neighbour’, it was easy to see that they had two vocalists Phil Etheridge and Martin Saunders, which made the band easy to be compared with the Streets. However, The Twang just had more of a vibrant spontaneous feel about them where as the Streets are good but predictable.

As much as I wanted to dislike this band, it was clear that they already have a huge following judging by the sold out crowd at Rock City. And even though it pains me to say this, they are bloody impressive.



Etheridge and Saunders were constantly jumping around on stage and within seconds sweat was pouring down their faces. But it was the little things that seemed to make this gig stand out for me, the fact that all of the band seemed genuinely pleased to be onstage and they had that little spark of enthusiasm that is so often missing from bands now days, almost as if they were playing to try and get signed even though they have got a record deal.

The banter between the band and crowd was well balanced with being polite, respectful and yet thankful without milking it too much, it came across as being genuine, again something that some artistes just seem to be lacking.


Anyway enough of the physical side of the gig, what about the actual music? The music was a vibrant, happy laid-back style full of bounce-a-long beats and innovative layered guitar chops, and some witty and intelligent yet playful storytelling lyrics.

The Twang only have one album to their name so far ‘Love It When I Feel Like This’ and so it was no surprise that they played the entire album. They even managed to squeeze in a cover version in their own style of Bran Van 3000’s ‘Drinking In LA’.



Personally for myself, I can always tell if a band have impressed me by seeing if they make me want to buy their album or not, and in this case its mission accomplished for this band.

Judging by this performance The Twang could be one of those bands to make it big, they have the right sound, the right attitude, and best of all they don’t come from Manchester.

Setlist:-

The Neighbour
Loosely Dancing
Either Way
Saying Nothing
Ice Cream Sundae
Don’t Wait Up
Reap What You Sow
Push The Ghosts
Aimless With An Aim
Two Lovers
Lost My Smile
Got Me Sussed
Wide Awake

Drinking In La
Your Beats
Cloudy Room

FUTURE GIGS