Gig Review: Secret Machines, Manchester Hop & Grape, 19th January 2006
So, our first gig proper of 2006 is a sell-out performance by Secret Machines at the Hop & Grape, with no support band, presumably because there was not enough room on the tiny stage to fit one in. The stage is crammed with gear. At the rear are amps and speakers and lights where a drumkit would usually be. The drumkit is stage left, directly in front of where we’re standing, and it looks huge at such close proximity. Stage right is a mountain of keyboards, leaving a small gap in the centre of the stage for the guitarist, who, thankfully, is skinny enough to fit in there.
The three members of Secret Machines produce a massive sound thanks to myriad effects on guitar and keyboards, and to their drummer, who pounds away on his kit, non-stop, for over an hour. It’s an impressive performance; we rarely get to see drummers this close up – they’re usually buried at the back behind fat bass players – but Josh Garza is a revelation, relentlessly propelling the songs along; pounding, pounding, pounding on his snare, bass drum and cymbals, never missing a beat. It’s exhausting just watching him. When he finally gets a rest during the opening of “You Are Chains” he looks shattered, gulps down deep breaths of warm air, sweat dripping from every pore, but waiting, wanting, to start up again with the pounding and the pummelling and the hammering.
It’s a good gig. I won’t go overboard on Secret Machines; I like their Now Here Is Nowhere album but I’d put it down as a solid debut, hoping that there’s better to come. The new songs they play tonight don’t sound like much of a departure on first listen, but then there’s a samey feel to most of what they play tonight as the venue is clearly too small to cope with their gargantuan sound and instead turns it all to mush. Relentless, pounding mush. With great drums. Their light show (they brought their own) is impressive, but at times overbearing, the huge strobes disorienting JustHipper to the point of dizzyness. Again, too big for this size of venue. As for the songs, well, they keep coming in pounding waves of noise, occasionally outstaying their welcome, but, more often than not, hitting their mark. Old favourites “Nowhere Again” and the closing “First Wave Intact” stand out from the crowd, but new single “Alone, Jealous & Stoned” fails to make any sort of impression, probably due to the murky sound and a lack of familiarity with the tune in question.
Fortunately they’ve booked the larger Academy 2 for their next visit to the city in April but I’ll have to hear more of the new record before convincing myself to splash out on a ticket.