Puppet Rebellion EP Launch at Gullivers, Manchester

Puppet Rebellion EP Launch 

Last week end I attended the EP launch of "No Means Yes" for the fabulous Puppet Rebellion in the Northern Quarter, Manchester at Gulllivers on Saturday the 22nd of February.

Gullivers is a pub and concert venue on Oldham Street.  I have seen the lads perform on a number of occasions previously, and they are a particular favourite band of mine. So, when they got in touch to let me know about their EP launch I couldn't say no. This is an intimate venue and provided a fantastic atmosphere throughout the night. There were four acts on that evening.

 The opening act was David Liversidge an amazing singer and guitarist, who is also a talented song writer.  I had never heard David play before and was unsure what to expect, but was greeted with the most amazing vocals and acoustic guitar playing, as he lived up to his well deserved reputation throughout the Indie circuit. His set consisted of 8 tracks, including a brilliant cover version of the Fleetwood Mac number Go Your Own Way that had everyone, ( including myself,) singing along.

The set included Take my Hand, Far from Home, Another Way, Millie and Me, The Voice and  Art Cafe.

One of the funniest parts of the evening involved a fellow blogger Squarepig and Gareth Kilshaw, who has donned fake red pirate beards to show support for David, who appeared suitably impressed.

Here are links to Davids' Twitter, Facebook, website and soundcloud. Please show David some support.

Then second act of the evening was The Wax Collection, the band was founded in January 2011. They describe their style or genre of music as "Lolloping, semi-psyche bourbon-beat." This was yet another band I hadn't heard or seen before. The "Sound's of the 60's" was the thought that popped in to my head as I listened to their numbers. With strains of The Beatles and Cream springing to mind. Very vintage pop/rock psychadelia. Loved them and would happily watch them again without a second thought. Another band that are destined to go far.

A four piece band, their line up was Benjamin Lewis - singer/guitarist and founding member of the band, Rick Less- Bass player, Matt Allison - vocals and guitar, and once again, last, but not least the drummer was Rory Swierc.

Here are links to Twitter, Facebook, soundcloud and website

The third act was the very talented group - The Darlingtons. I had heard good things about this young band but again, never seen them live. They virtually exploded on stage and took it by storm, never letting up or slowing down throughout the set. The energy was unbelievable to witness and the the crowd rose to the occasion, picked up on the energy and ran with it. Their set list was Rotations (apparently a brand new track) , Ships at Sea, Don’t Give Me Hope,  A Song For Someone Else In Time, Everything,  Watch Yourself, Sirens and the final song was Flashing Lights.

The line up of The Darlingtons is Kiran Roy - vocalist/guitarist, Daniel Young - lead guitar, Alex Bispham - bass player and last, but not least Chris Holmes on drums.There latest single "Don't Give Me Hope"  has received glowing reviews.

Here are the links for The Darlingtons to Twitter, Facebook and youtube.

The crowd by the end of this set, was not only warmed up, but almost incandescent. Setting the scene for the main event, the fabulous Puppet Rebellion.

I first heard of Puppet Rebellion when they contacted me on Twitter and sent me a demo track of The Greatest Lie Ever Told. The band was originally formed back in January 2013. I was so impressed, that I attended their first live gig back in 2013. on the 6th of April at the Dry Live on Oldham Street. Their performance was so polished and authentic, that it seemed as if the band had been together,forever. The band have since gone from strength to strength and developed a huge following in the process. 

The band line up is Simon Monaghan -Frontman, Chris Carcamo -Drums, Paul Trochowski -Guitars, Jim Halliwell -Bass. and Craig Gibson -Guitar.

They began their set with Chemical Friends, followed by Pirouette, Cupboards Painted Red, The New Twenty,  Loner In Disguise, Time To Lie, Green Eyed Monster, Tame Imposter, and ended on the first track I had ever heard from them - The Greatest Lie Ever Told.

The gig as a whole worked like a charm, as there was so much light and shade with the various acts on that night - something for everyone. This gig was the first the band have arranged for themselves, and a very brave undertaking, and was a huge success - well done boys. By the end of the set the whole audience was dancing and singing along, the atmosphere was amazing and electricity in the room was palpable. 

Here are the links for Puppet Rebellion on Twitter, Facebook, website, soundcloud and youtube.

The band next play 

8th March  The Exchange  Stoke on Trent (Hanley)

21st March   Zanzibar  Liverpool

19th April   Manchester Academy 3   Manchester

All the fantastic photographs I have used on this gig review have been supplied by the fabulous 

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Please go and show some LOVE to all of the bands and better still, go and support them. It isn't expensive and I know you would have a fantastic, atmospheric night.

Scarlett

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