Live Review: October Drift - Deaf Institute, Manchester 29/03/2022
One of the UK’s most visceral live bands return to Manchester’s iconic Deaf Institute for an incendiary show with a setlist of both established and unreleased material.
A clinical light bathes the upstairs of Manchester's Deaf Institute in cold white. A baying crowd looks up eagerly towards the room's tiny balcony as the lone figure of Kiran Roy stalks its exterior. Mic in one hand as he leans out over his expectant audience, his other hand grabbing the balcony's rail. Some people might see this an insurers worst nightmare. For those in the crowd, it's just one of the many reasons why they follow October Drift with such fervour.
Rewind a couple of hours, and things are much more subdued, but no less impressive. Having been forced to pull out of a couple of earlier dates thanks to some of the band catching Covid, China Bears take to the stage tonight as a stripped back three piece. While some bands might see this as a set back, the temporary trio take this in their stride.
For those unfamiliar with the band, the lack of drummer might seem a permanent arrangement, such is the natural way tracks such as 'Jolene' and 'Back to How It Was' suit the set up. Indeed, it's somewhat subdued support offering given the force of nature that's soon to follow, but China Bears' brand of transatlantic indie is stunning in its own right, and finally being able to catch them live, stripped back or not, is a treat.
Crashing out of the starting blocks with their trademark walls of wailing feedback, October Drift launch immediately into 'Losing My Touch', opening a set comprised of established fan-favourites, recent singles and tracks from their forthcoming second album.
To this crowd though, it matters little when, or even if the tracks are released. Each is received with a rapturous response; newer cuts such as 'Airborne Toxic Event' and 'Insects' feel just at home beside those from the first album or before. An early highlight comes in the form of 'Just Got Caught', the band silhouetted on stage, the movements of guitarist Daniel Young and bassist Alex Bipsham as erratic as the riffs they each pound out.
A later highlight is 'Take What You Want'. It's here that Roy climbs to the venue's balcony, his loose white shirt and beige trousers illuminated by the stage lights giving him the look of a cult leader. A fact only exacerbated as every eye in the room is trained on him. “Take what you want, I don't need that much of anything' Roy sings, stretched out over the crowd “Take all you need, if you need you can be my energy”.
It's a believable lyric. Both Roy and all three of his bandmates, the aforementioned Young, Bipsham and drummer Chris Holmes feed off the crowd. And as Roy joins his bandmates back on stage, an explosive breakdown shows just how much they do so. Wonderfully erratic, perfectly cathartic.
This isn't the only moment in which Roy ditches the stage in favour of various other fixtures around the room. At one point stalking the bar opposite the balcony, another taking himself and his guitar on top of the crowd; his slight frame easily buffeted by the heaving mass of bodies beneath.
Even the band's final track isn't safe from any offstage antics, though this time far more subdued. With Young and Bipsham exiting stage right, Homes and Roy enter the centre of the crowd for a completely unplugged version of 'Like the Snow We Fall'. It's a sombre end to proceedings, one provided with extra gravitas through the metronomic stamp of 100 feet on a wooden dancefloor.
For anyone who has seen October Drift before, these kinds of scenes aren't unusual. It's the reason that many in the crowd are going to multiple dates across this tour. They inspire a level devotion in their fans rarely seen these days, and in return provide their fans with music that's as sombre as it is beautiful and live shows that are as visceral as they are cathartic.
Words by Dave Beech
Photos by Trust A Fox Photography
