Review and photo by RoB
I don’t leave Leeds often, but the chance to see Chicago’s finest (IMHO), Shellac, perform could not be missed.
I also really like trains, so getting over to Manchester by rail sweetened the deal. (There had been talk of taking the bus, but I managed to persuade the others against it. Trains don’t get stuck in traffic. Plus trains are way cooler than buses.)
It was a surprisingly uncrowded journey over the Pennines, with train beers and a discussion about what constitutes a burrito – my cheese with crushed up tortilla chips, gherkin and sour cream apparently does not. Screw you [name removed for legal reasons]!
In Manchester we got a good stomp on down to the Academy 2, pausing first for a pint at Footage, a chain pub next door. I have been to the main room at the Academy before, but not its smaller cousin. It reminded me of a village hall with some overly priced cans of Red Stripe.
We moved right up to the front where support act Iona Fortune played some really spaced out ambient stuff featuring low bass tones with strings and bells over the top. It was good. I liked it. I just was not really in the mood for it.
Shellac were onstage almost as soon as the support act had finished. Steve Albini (guitar/vocals) came first, followed by Bob Weston (bass/vocals) and Todd Trainer (drums/occasional passing comment). They helped set up their own equipment which might seem strange for such a critically acclaimed band. Of course, it could just be that they don’t trust others to do it for them. (As Bob pointed out later, Steve is good with microphones and whatnot, having produced the likes of Nirvana, Pixies, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, as well as local lads The Cribs.)
Opening with Canada from 1998’s Terraform, Shellac gave a constantly driving performance. The set included many of my own personal favourites such as Riding Bikes and Prayer to God. There were three new songs in there as well, so hopefully an album is not too far away from being released.
After one of these new songs, which was about ‘scrappers’ (an American term for rag and bone collectors), the band paused for one of their infamous mid-show Q&A sessions. Happy to answer any questions, however silly or serious, someone asked when that new song would be released. ‘We just played it. You heard it. It’s released to you now,” replied Bob. I should have asked for their opinions on the best way to keep a bathroom mould free.
They closed with the epic downbeat stretched out bass line of End of Radio which finished with just Bob playing. I thought it was brilliant. It’s amazing how Shellac’s music can suck you in so much, how you can get totally lost in it. I can’t really explain what it is about their music that does this. It is pretty minimal, yet still so rich. They are certainly not for everybody, but I was left numb. Despite a crowd of around 900 people, it still felt intimate.
Then came the joy that is the drunk train back to Leeds. This was accompanied with a can of G&T, some red shoelaces and plenty of excited talk about how much we had all enjoyed the show.
Shellac come back soon.