Friday 28th May saw Slow Club, supported by Summer Camp, grace the stage at the recently opened FAC251 club in Manchester.
For those of you who aren’t aware of the history of FAC251, it is contained within the building that once housed the infamous Mancunian record label Factory Records. A project led by Peter Hook and Ben Kelly saw the building redeveloped and transformed into a stylish club that now hosts regular club nights and occasional live gigs. Therefore with such a history behind FAC251, one could have expected Slow Club and Summer Camp to show some sign of nerves performing to what turned out to be a packed audience. However even if these nerves were ever felt, they were definitely not shown in a gig with two fantastically performed sets.
The gig began with Summer Camp emerging from the audience and, with an unassuming and simple introduction, they began their set. Unfortunately due to the horrific and untimely death of my pen (there was ink everywhere), I wasn’t able to record the set lists of both Summer Camp and Slow Club, so I will unfortunately have to talk in generalities. Before going to the gig I had heard a significant amount of Summer Camp‘s music, especially after interviewing them a little while back (see link below). Their dreamy synth-pop immediately caught my attention and, most importantly, held it. The vocals of Elizabeth Sankey and Jeremy Warmsley are woven with a peaceful passion, while also acting as the driving force behind every track. However I wondered whether this sound, which had caused me to leave these tracks on repeat for days, could be transferred to a live setting without the dreamy synths being subjected to the harsh awakening of a noisy yet cavernous room.
Any doubts I had were immediately dispelled. Now despite the pen fiasco, I can tell you that the set opened with Ghost Train. I was immediately taken in by the track the same way I was when I first heard it on their Myspace, especially as Sankey‘s vocals fortunately did not lose any of their serene charm in a live setting. However while I was bordering on entering a state of musically induced hypnosis, I took the time to judge the reaction of the rest of the audience. Underwhelmed seemed to be the unfortunate consensus. This was somewhat reflected in Summer Camp‘s performance, with each track simply rolled into another without pause or interlude, knowing most of the audience had bought their tickets in anticipation of Slow Club. However this subdued set was endearing towards Summer Camp, as there was not a trace of egotistical pomp in their whole performance. Instead, as each track was played, there was a slight but definite feeling of a gaining interest and enjoyment in the audience, all of whom were experiencing, to varying degrees, the feeling of pleasant hypnosis that I swiftly returned to.
Obviously new to performing as a live band, Summer Camp presented themselves as professional yet fun, and refined yet with a raw originality. They played a great deal of their small yet growing catalogue, with Round the Moon and Was It Worth It? particular highlights. I was even fortunate enough to have Elizabeth sing straight at me, which was only topped by her unnecessary yet amusing apology afterwards!
Startlingly, my Summer Camp hypnosis was disrupted by the beginning of Slow Club‘s set. Without warning, Slow Club played their first track without microphones or amps in the middle of the crowd. This, unsurprisingly, drew the audience’s attention immediately and set the tone for the rest of a set that appeared to rid itself of the ‘fourth wall’. Each track appeared tailored to the audience, with the slow and the sombre balanced finely with the upbeat and enthusiastic. Slow Club‘s greater experience of performing live was seen immediately with their more comfortable demeanor on stage, and each track performed was undoubtedly classic Slow Club. However the highlight of their set, barring the rather gentile stage invader, was the introduction of members of Summer Camp for the final few songs. Again due to the pen fiasco I cannot report to you the titles of these tracks, however I can assure you it was the perfect climax to a set filled with a reverberating energy.
On rereading I have realised I’ve attributed a disproportionate amount of reporting to Summer Camp. This could be due to the scary possibility that the hypnosis I experienced was in fact real, and that, through music, Summer Camp had already embedded in my mind what I would write. However I think the more likely, and sadly less imaginative, reason is that many of you will have already heard Slow Club and no doubt experienced their fantastic live sets many times. Therefore I think it far wiser to tell you that Summer Camp are a new and exciting musical entity, and they proved this at FAC251 on Friday 28th May.