The Manchester Orchestra live at Crawdaddy, Dublin

The influence of IDM/Warp techno hangs well on Irish indie bands, certainly more so than clichéd Jesus And Mary Chain-isms and dull, student-pleasing stadium folk. Dry County, in a similar vein to Cane 141 and Halves, understand this – though they have a more pumping, almost disco-ish feel to their beats at times. The mixture of slamming electro and sharp, frenetic visuals makes for a bracing, enjoyable opening set.
Seventeen Evergreen’s music, on the other hand, is a rather more sedate beast. The San Francisco five-piece make languid, slo-mo alt-rock in a similar vein to The Webb Brothers, or late-period Pavement, and they do it rather well. A shame then that their set is so poorly attended (at one point I count seven people in the “crowd”, nine if we’re counting barmaid and photographer) but this is the absentees’ loss.
Manchester Orchestra’s name is a touch misleading; come to the gig expecting a British group, complete with string section, mashing up dance and rock in a Madchester style, and you will be sorely disappointed. The band actually hail from Atlanta, Georgia, and are decidedly US lo-fi in nature; some may feel that a Grandaddy comparison is merely a lazy response to the formidable beards sported by several band members, but Manchester Orchestra’s music does actually have a great deal in common with the frazzled, cosmic garage-rock of the now-defunct California group’s debut record Under The Western Freeway.
Of course, Grandaddy took a more epic, prog-tinged route on subsequent releases, but such a move would not suit Manchester Orchestra. The wired, ferociously tight feel to the group’s set is a pleasure to behold, and any lush softening of their music would be most unwelcome.
Thankfully, the group are still young, so this artistic maturity should not appear for quite some time. Indeed, the band exhibit a distinctly teen-emo whine on occasion, but it is perversely endearing and naïve, rather than overbearing.
The set climaxes with a savage, moving ‘Where Have You Been?’, and while the disappointingly large gaps in the crowd remain, those who made the effort to attend can count themselves very fortunate indeed.