A lull in proceedings, giving the crowd a break, showed the flip side to their creativity as the band left lead singer, Toby Connor, on stage to sing his heart out with his personal melancholy acoustic tracks, giving the band and himself another dimension. With cool, long, indie hair covering his eyes, he cut a subdued character, almost shy yet very much an air of quiet confidence surrounding him. In terms of a voice, it’s powerful, soulful, with the twang of the great northern accent itself helping to emphasise the attitude and expressive nature of the songs, and from the reaction of the female section of the audience, they clearly digged his style and manner. On the more rock numbers, he toyed with the microphone stand, picking it up, holding it tightly, swinging it back and forth, using it as an instrument to aid the power of his voice for the crescendos. He moved very subtly across the stage, faintly reminiscent of the god of rock himself, Jim Morrison, a very distinct style, almost lazy and lethargic, yet free and imposing.

Brother and lead guitarist Guy Connor reappeared to play alongside Toby’s acoustic on one track, before the rest of the band resurfaced to relentlessly rock their way through the rest of the set, with fans favourite, ‘White Wine’, being one of the highlights as the crowd sang and leapt along to this eclectic and liberating Mancunian band. With influences of past legends apparent in their music, it won’t be long before the limelight emits all over ‘The Paris Riots’, eclipsing our very own Manchester version of events.

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Interview by Nigel Cartner
Photos by Matt Johnston