The Shortwave Set

Dry Bar, Manchester

The infamous Dry Bar, once owned by Factory Records, is an interesting choice of venue for the elegant sophistication of The Shortwave Set. The city-centre drinking den has seen various Gallagher skirmishes and Happy Mondays-induced debauchery, and is tonight unacceptably empty, as the London-based trio peddle their excellent album, Replica Sun Machine – one of 2008’s finest offerings.

The band are flawlessly understated, save for Ulrika Bjorsne flowing purple dress and ox-blood Dr. Martens, and they effortlessly move through their set-list of divinely crafted nougats of pop perfection. ‘No Social’ should be being performed in front of 1000s and not dozens and a beefed up ‘Glitches ‘n’ Bugs’ is about as good as opulent electronic pop can get. Ulrika and co-vocalist Andrew Petitt giggle nervously through “a new one – sorry it sounded like a rehearsal,” before airing the staccato-twitch of debut single ‘Slingshot’. We even get a fabulous, lithe version of Grace Jones’ ‘Slave To The Rhythm’. The band end without an encore, before being literally dragged back onstage by a couple of ultra-fans. They improvise a couple of tracks from their debut album (to the aforementioned fans’ delight), before leaving the sparse crowd dangling in the glow of a perfect gig moment.

It’s a strange world when The Shortwave Set play in front of two men, a dog and an AU reviewer, whilst those cheeky Gallagher brothers can sell a trillion tickets in a nanosecond. A very strange world indeed. John Freeman

Issue #52 - Very Bro-some

Featuring Panama Kings, ASIWYFA, an investigation into DIY touring, details of what over 25 of the finest NI bands are up to in 2009 and much more.