Were it not for the talented crop of independent events promoters currently running the Manchester live music scene, the listening public would've been forced to make a choice between the operatic and the noisy this past Thursday. Whether or not there's much of a crossover in terms of fans isn't too important, because between them Pineapple Folk and Now Wave have created a lively atmosphere at Manchester's Deaf Institute for Women and Zola Jesus' one-off co-headline concert.
Women's support act for the duration of their European tour is Idiot Glee from Lexington, KY, and he plays before Zola Jesus tonight. With just a keyboard and a handful of effects pedals scattered on a small table and on the floor around him, he relies on soaking his voice in
reverb and layering it over and over to create a sort of blissful a capella. His songs are good but not striking, the vocals maybe being buried under too much tampering to really stand out, but a cover of Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine gets a great reception, and for one man barely a season into his career it's great to see him fill the room with sweet ambling melodies. It is a missed opportunity in some ways, because with a voice as strong as his he should look to undress it and turn a pleasantly surprising opening slot into a brilliant one.
Beginning the set in what appears to be a hooded cloak and cross legged Nika Roza, who goes by Zola Jesus, gradually emerges from the back of the stage through the dark electro pop of her two keyboard players, ready to show off further eccentricities. And unlike the experience of listening to her on record, especially her earlier work, all the attention is on Nika's voice, its force and clarity holding the audience in position for the duration of her set. She doesn't waste her freedom of movement though,
pacing from side to side before stacking plastic boxes at the front as a sort of podium, before sitting on it in a twisted lotus position. These strange antics don't distract from the fact that she's playing material taken mostly from her recently released album Stridulum II. It's perfectly understandable, but for her first time in Manchester it's a shame to see her so completely abandon the lo-fi aesthetic of her past that probably earned her half the fans here. The closing run of Night and Manifest Destiny is powerful, and her Moses-style parting of the crowd to pace up and down the middle of the room is novel, but at the end of the day it's a highly polished performance that leaves many wanting something more. Maybe it's because it's really their headline tour, but Calgary's Women seem totally comfortable on stage tonight, and not losing any of their energy for it. They apologise profusely for being slightly late on stage and go straight into a storming set that takes in lo-fi, garage rock, punk and surf pop. They do wear their influences almost literally on their sleeves (guitarist Patrick Flegel sports a Deerhunter t-shirt worn inside out), but they have an intensity and a tightness as a group that is all their own. Like Zola Jesus before them, they're not
impartial to the odd on-stage quirk, Christopher Reimer seemingly intent on using a Nintendo DS as a MIDI outlet and drummer Matthew Wallacehaving a nap on the floor during one of the more spaced-out feedback passages. But for all of this they really deliver, not least on first album almost-hit Black Rice where they invite James Friley of Idiot Glee on stage to help out, or on next song Venice Lockjaw where the chiming, brittle riffs are set against each other and sound completely bittersweet. What they really get right that sets them apart from Zola Jesus however, is they use the live setting to showcase the full range of what they can do as a band, and they look like they're having fun doing it.
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