As Bobby Gillespie stood basking in the applause of what was thought to be Primal Scream’s final song of the night, he announced he had a little treat in store in the form of a special guest.
“He’s a son of your city,” he told the crowd, before welcoming on stage none other than Mani from The Stone Roses. The bassist, who’s full name is Gary Mountfield, joined Primal Scream as a permanent member for a number of years after The Stone Roses split in 1996. He said it was one of only three other bands he’d ever join - The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Beastie Boys being the others.
He only remained with Primal Scream until 2011, but joined the Scottish rock band on stage at Castlefield Bowl last night to end the Sounds of the City festival with a Madchester bang.
READ MORE: REVIEW: Sam Fender at Sounds of the City, Castlefield Bowl
Saturday marked the final night of Sounds of the City, which kicked off with Lewis Capaldi last Tuesday, followed by the likes of Sam Fender, James, Foals and Pixies.
Warming up the crowds was not one, not two, but three support acts. Up first to set the tone for the night was Walt Disco, described by NME as ‘flamboyant goth-glam that doesn’t care what the boomers think’, which pretty much hits the nail on the head.
On stage, frontman James Potter wears a near see-through purple dress, boots and heavy blusher. He tells the audience: “You have to get up and break the mould every so often, or you’ll get lumps on your a*se.”
The band released their debut album earlier this year, and performed provocative and energetic tracks like Cut Your Hair and If I Had The Perfect Life. Their 80s influences are clear, with Bowie-esque vocals and The Smith’s melancholy, brought to life with the unapologetic zest for exploring identity and sexuality on stage. They strike me as a band who relish in getting under the skin of the right people.
Manchester’s own Lonelady followed with a lo-fi funk set that made for easy listening while hungry gig goers queued for hot dogs and a megapint from the bar. The artist, named Julie Campbell, first started making music on a 4-track cassette recorder in her flat in Manchester while completing a Fine Art degree. She’s released three albums since 2007 - wll to Warp Records.
Her post-punk electronic tracks have an industrious feel to them, as if built into the very fabric of Manchester, with Castlefield feeling like the ideal place to hear them, surrounded by city tower blocks and overlooking the canal.
Liverpool-quartet The Mysterines took the main support slot, stomping on stage to ABBA’s Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. The band have been tipped by Radio X as ones to watch in 2022 after their debut album Reeling made the UK top 10 in March.
The opened with Life’s A B*tch (But I Like It So Much), followed by dark and moody The Bad Thing. The kick drum vibrated in everyone’s chest and the rumbling bass guitar left your nose buzzing while they provided a healthy dose of 90s grunge as the bowl began to fill with bodies.
Primal Scream made their way onto the stage at 9pm, complete with a house gospel choir of five. Bobby strutted out in a red customised Screamadelica suit which I believe he’s worn to all, if not most of his shows of late. I would imagine it cost a small fortune, so I wouldn’t have it off my back if I were him either.
“It's the Holy Trinity of rock ‘n’ roll,” he said. “Are you ready to be redeemed?” - and the congregation responded with a resounding yes.
The band catapulted into Movin’ on Up and Slip Inside This House before dedicating Don’t Fight It, Feel It to the late Denise Johnson. The Manchester-born singer sadly died aged 56 during the pandemic, and was best known for her vocals on the 1991 Screamadelica album. In the background, a video montage played as Bobby encouraged chants of ‘rama lama lama fa fa fa.’
It was difficult to decipher what Bobby had to say between tracks with his thick Glaswegian accent, but I did catch something about the ‘Tory government and war in Ukraine’ before he said ‘we all need to Come Together’. More than 8,000 fans sang the chorus back at the stage a capella, and the 60-year-old (though hard to believe his age) headed off stage while a progressive rock instrumental played for around five minutes.
On his return, the crowd was treated to Inner Fight and Screamadelica, slowing down the space just slightly with Damaged and I’m Coming Down. Although Gillespie quit drugs in 2008, he told GQ that Primal Scream had ‘prided itself on being able to take more drugs and harder drugs than any other bands’, and that’s much of what Screamadelica as an album is about.
Higher Than The Sun came complete with a The Lion King-esque sunrise projection behind them - though had they played it first they could have had the real deal as the sun set behind the stage just as they were stepping onto it, and completed the set with Shine Like Stars. Here, bassist Simone Butler really shone, and proved why she’s one of the coolest people in music, throwing her bass around while wearing a black sequined catsuit and huge platform heels.
Although we were pushing well past 10pm with a 10.30pm curfew, we knew it wasn’t the last we’d seen of Primal Scream, though no-one expected the treats they had in store for the encore, which took the show past curfew by 20 minutes.
“We wanna be free, we wanna be free to do what we wanna do. And we wanna get loaded. And we wanna have a good time. And that’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna have a good time. We’re gonna have a party!” In came the intro to Loaded which saw the whole crowd bouncing in the amphitheatre-style venue.
By the end of Swastika Eyes and Jailbird, we thought it was all over, but Bobby brought on Mani to play Country Girl. He added: “F*** that Tory c**t and vote the motherf****rs out.” It’s safe to say that Bobby isn’t afraid of expressing his opinion, no matter what.
Mani and Simone indulged in a bass-off as fans sat on shoulders to windmill ripped off-shirts above their heads. The Stone Roses performer was modest on stage, but very much seemed to be enjoying himself, and although Primal Scream had already over delivered, it was a welcome surprise to see the city son on stage with them as the exploded into Rocks Off to end the night on a real high.
READ NEXT:
