GIG: FINDLAY

Review by Jon Birch

Photography by John Cooper

The Soup Kitchen, located in Manchester’s trendy Northern Quarter, is a fairly busy but quiet, peaceful bar during daylight hours. At night however, it’s building a reputation as one of the places to see new talent, both local and from further afield. As you take the steps down to the cellar it becomes quickly apparent there’s no glitz or glamour to this place. With its bare brick walls, hastily constructed bar and amps propped up on beer crates, this is every inch the underground music venue. It’s a place where rock and roll stories start.

Tonight, its Findlay, ‘Manchester’s little secret’. There’s been a buzz building around her as she’s slowly built a following around her home town and the gig tonight is sold out. The support band, Temple Songs, does a decent job of warming the crowd up with a blend of fast guitars and echo heavy vocals. They go down well, the drummer in particular delivering a storming performance, but with perhaps a little too much distortion on the vocal in such a tiny venue. Even the singers ‘Thank you’ at the end of the set is virtually indecipherable. 

As the time for Findlay to make her appearance draws near, the atmosphere starts to tingle and there’s a real sense of anticipation in the room. So far, Findlay has only released one single, the filthy, riff heavy ‘Your Sister’, and even though some of the crowd will doubtless have seen other performances, the majority are here because of the hype building around her. As she enters the stage, I’m taken aback for a second at how innocent and waiflike she is. Surely this can’t be the person behind the huge voice on that track? Then she picks up the microphone and starts to sing.

She starts off acapella and her voice is stunning. It’s got the quirkiness of Bjork and the power of Amy Winehouse as she taps out a beat on the microphone. The packed room is captivated as she draws to a close before breaking out into rapturous applause and cheers. She offers a quiet ‘thanks’, the two guitars come crashing in and she unleashes the Vixen. The opening few tracks are filled with dirty blues and garage rock guitar, with her voice always the star attraction. As they build to a crescendo in one song, she pulls out a harmonica and it works perfectly, the crowd again whooping and hollering.

The big single (Your Sister) is pitched in mid-set, perfect timing to keep the momentum going and give the people something to get their teeth into. There is a surge of bodies toward the front and hands go up in the air as the piece de resistance is delivered with aplomb.

The set in total lasts only 45 minutes buts there’s not a dull moment and It leaves everybody wanting more. If there are big things in Findlay’s future, and there should be, I’ll be proud to boast that I was there at the beginning. It’s unlikely she’s going to remain ‘Manchester’s little secret’ for much longer.

For more pics head here: Findlay Photos