Beyond The Music: A Sonic Revolution

Oct 27

Oct 27 Beyond The Music: A Sonic Revolution

Revolution, revolution, revolution. No, that isn’t a faux quote from an alternate universe in which Tony Blair found himself further left politically than he ever could’ve envisaged, even in his own nightmares. However, it was the overall feeling among the sonic revellers who enjoyed three days of music and activism at Beyond The Music; a brand new three-day change-making industry conference and new music festival, which took place across Manchester on the 11-14th of October.

Whilst, thankfully, Tony Blair didn’t make an appearance over the three days, his knack for mixing politics with music was certainly in attendance, in spirit at least. Andy Burnham was the headline politico and provided possibly the most soundbite-able quote of the festival when he proclaimed, “This is the start, truly, of a new era of Greater Manchester music, where we hand over the baton to the next generation. Tonight we’re going from ‘I Am the Resurrection’, to who is the resurrection.

It set the tone for the rest of the festival, which aptly spread itself among the city’s most famous small venues, including certain underserved sonic haunts, that in our opinion, aren’t spotlighted enough. It was in keeping with the general theme of Beyond The Music, and its conference arm served to highlight the unprecedented and urgent challenges currently faced by the industry at home and abroad. Beyond The Music Co-Founder Sarah Pearson underscored some of these issues in her speech; startlingly the UK currently sees one grassroots venue close every week, 75% of the workforce is freelance, and there is no protection in place for them, and we have artists, both established and emerging, who can’t afford to tour.

Our festival began with a round of thought-provoking seminars focused on the future of the music industry and the role we all must play in it’s survival. Special guests included politicians, such as the aforementioned Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotherham. They were accompanied by a smorgasbord of industry heads across the three days; Jamie Oborne (Dirty Hit), Cath Hurley (Liverpool City Music Board), Michael Adex (CEO of NQ), and featured keynote speaker Rita Ora all made appearances.

If the day served up a haunting reminder as to where music could be headed, the live music that adorned the evening showed just how effective a platform urban music festivals are in showcasing what the industry has to offer. Piss Kitti’s set was undoubtedly a prime example of this; unapologetically loud and in your face. If there was any baggage left in the audience from the working week that had just passed, it was blown away through a healthy dose of old-school punk rock. Night and Day was one of the more popular venues that night, thanks in no doubt to a stellar line up featuring Red Stains, Loose Articles, Duvet, Tits Up and Eyelar.

As we’ve already mentioned, Beyond The Music also provided lesser known venues a chance to shine, with Aatma receiving a much-deserved spotlight. Hidden away behind the already secluded Peer Hat, those lucky enough to wander up the steps were treated to dynamic performances from the likes of Frozemode, Talk Show and Daytime TV, with a slice of pizza waiting for you at the bar in between sets. The aforementioned Peer Hat continued to fulfill its role as one of Manchester’s coolest venues with a killer set from LUMER closing off the Friday.

Band on the Wall served double duty over the three days, boasting a variety of genres across the bar and main stage. On Friday, Cowboyy once again proved why they’ll be one to watch in 2024, playing a rapturous, face-melting set filled with math riffs and in their own words, “big stupid guitar solos.” Headlining the main room was Downtown Kyoto, dazzling the crowd with a new brand of fusion hip-hop.

Rounding off the weekend was the highly anticipated set from The Orielles. Pushing their sonic boundaries since the release of 2022’s ‘Tableau’, the crowd were treated to another action-packed performance filled with the tightness and intensity now synonymous with the Halifax trio. Whilst new album tracks highlighted the band’s sonic progression, it was the resurrection of old favourite ‘Sugar Tastes Like Salt’, absent from a live performance for nearly two years at this point, that added the exclamation mark to not only a great set but three solid days of live music and thought-provoking panels in Manchester.

Main Image: Ella Peck