BOSTON MANOR X MOVEMENTS X JOOLS
Marble Factory, Bristol 16.02.22
For me, the first big show of 2022, but for many, the first show back post-pandemic. Boston Manor headlining the Marble Factory was the shot in the arm that live music was waiting for and the Blackpool hailing outfit certainly delivered. Accompanying BM on possibly their biggest UK headline run to date, was the post-emo and highly anticipated Movements as well as the vibrantly progressive Jools.
Jools opened with a wave of energy and were musically very impressive. An indie-pop-grunge-punk fusion with purpose and then layered with a fuelled Idles-esque vocal, Jools give us a glimpse of the direction that rock music will swing to. On first impression I was captivated. While I wouldn’t say that this sort of post-punk style is necessarily my cup of tea, I can appreciate that this band are very important in music right now. Their tracks are so powerful and stand for all things art, equality, image, pride and so on, creating waves of socially observant statements. These kinds of messages have such potential to really explode and be heard in society which gives Jools’ music a feeling of higher power.
Movements were certainly an anticipated asset to this line up of incredible bands and an acclaim to Boston Manor with their sound being perfectly suited to this run. Movements are a band from Southern California meaning a lot of this crowd have waited years to finally see them live. And they delivered. A warm, emo sound dancing between tempo as they played so nonchalantly through their set.
Honestly Movements are a band that I have only very recently discovered and I was drawn to them instantly. I’ve certainly been sleeping on them and feel like I’ve missed out on a good thing for so long. So go and listen to Movements, I promise it’s worth it. With them being a recent discovery for me, I recognised a few tracks through the set, including ‘Colorblind’ and ‘Daylily’ which was, quite frankly, so beautiful live. I did enjoy bobbing around to the rest of the set, wishing that I knew the tracks a little better.
Boston Manor are a band that I have always enjoyed watching live. They have always gone strength to strength and have musically developed so incredibly over the last 3 studio albums into their powerful and unique sound. It’s mad to think that this tour has been repeatedly rescheduled and now, nearly 2 years on, we can hear tracks from the most recent album ‘Glue’ in all there glory as they should be heard. The set contained an eclectic mix of tracks from early work including the likes of ‘Laika’ and ‘Lead Feet’ from Be Nothing which have become staple tracks for the Boston Manor sound. Tracks from Welcome to the Neighbourhood like ‘England’s Dreaming’ and ‘Bad Machine’ pull back the quick-fire angst from the early tracks and throw us into a darker and grittier state. Explosive tracks from Glue battered us with pure energy from the off as they opened with ‘Everything is Ordinary’ quickly sparking beautiful chaos. Later giving us ‘On a High Ledge’ a powerful and edgy track that is mesmerising from the first note. To wrap up the show we jumped straight into the ‘encore’ for yet more energy and pits basically the size of the room, and finally ending on ‘Halo’. A powerful choice and a track that every member of the crowd was screaming back at the stage.
An element of the live show that Boston Manor do so well is that they play every show with the same vigour and passion. Regardless of the size of the stage and crowd, you get a real sense for the devotion and professionalism they have towards their music. This show was no exception to that. In fact tonight felt elevated in everything from staging and lighting to the music.