Sounding like a young Billy Mackenzie, the über-talented Christian Silva treats the sparse Manchester crowd to his theatrical mash-up of neo-Queen and Radiohead. The boy’s got balls too – after proclaiming Roy Orbison as “the greatest voice of our time” – he ferociously nails a cover of the Big O’s ‘You Got It’. Impressive stuff.
Tonight’s headline act, White Rabbits, are further proof that the New York indie scene is having a rather good year. Not content with exporting caped-crusaders MGMT and the cerebral Vampire Weekend, the Big Apple now provides us with this Brooklyn-based six-piece. It’s the first night of their UK tour and, initially, the boys seem caught in the headlights of a strangely low turnout. You can imagine their disappointment; cool New York band + cracking debut album + fawning music press = sold out shows. Apparently not.
However, showcasing the best of Fort Nightly they soon find their frenetic energy with a riotous version of ‘The Plot’. Steve Patterson is particular intense, all menacing vocals and violent piano. A Costello-like new song (‘Fox Hunting’) fuses into a chaotic ‘Navy Wives’ in which several band members play Patterson’s keyboards. It all suggests a Harvard-educated The Specials.
They end with a storming ‘Kid On My Shoulders’. The boys then leap off stage and are gone into the night, with no encore and no acknowledgment. Not entirely happy bunnies, then? John Freeman
