MANCHESTER indie band, Passion Falls, played Gorilla on Saturday night. Our entertainment reporter Eleanor Doward went along to check them out…
After listening to Manchester four piece Passion Falls’ new debut EP, ‘The Greatest Adventure’, I was really looking forward to seeing them live. Lovely, poppy indie electronica and melodic vocals sound, I have found in the case of bands like Chvrches, just as good live as not. Sadly, I was disappointed. Passion Falls describe their genre as electronic anthemists, and unfortunately, the pretentiousness does not end there.
They were supported by three bands. Blackburn-based indie band Tourist Attractions opened the show with a pleasant, feel-good set of indie tracks. ‘Faded Away’ was probably their best song and the crowd really seemed to like them.
, an indie band from Wigan, came next. This band was founded in 2014 bit played as though they had been gigging together much longer. Technically it was a brilliant performance, though not much really distinguished them from your average indie/alternative band. ‘Time’ and ‘Circles’ were both great numbers but each song blended into the next a little bit; perhaps, with time, Lyon Road will work on distinguishing their style a little more.
The third and final support band, and this is where it gets interesting, were Fairchild, an indie rock band from Australia, now based in Manchester. They utterly stole the show with tracks from their two Eps, ‘Burning Feet’ and ‘Canvas Sounds’.
The frontman, Adam Lyons, was an absolute diva, beginning the set with his back to the audience, dancing to the beat, sort of like he thought he was Madonna. But he was so charismatic, so comfortable onstage and was such a good vocalist that you couldn’t help but like him. The band played a mix of bluesy, moody tracks, my favourites being the atmospheric new single ‘Breathless’ and ‘Nom de Guerre’: 80s synth perfection.
The band’s engagement with each other and with the audience – Lyons jumped into the crowd on their closing track to dance in the crowd – made them a really compelling watch.
Following Fairchild, Passion Falls were a bit of a lead balloon. I love a good local Manchester band, but lead singer Jonny Holland was so pretentious that you just couldn’t warm to the band.
They came on, the whole band head to foot in black, all wearing skinny jeans, all looking moody. They started the show with atmospheric, slow-builder ‘Colourblind’. The song sounded great, but Holland just wasn’t an engaging front man.
For a start, the band all looked like they sort of despised each other and didn’t engage with one another once throughout the whole set, while Holland would often fix his carefully-styled hair or take a sip of water mid-song. It looked like they were all still in rehearsal and it ruined what could have been a captivating performance with an atmospheric mix of songs.
They brought it back a little with ‘Brilliant Mind’, which put me in mind of Temper Trap. The guitar solo in this was flawless and gave the lead guitarist a chance to shine. But I still couldn’t help feeling that they had been well and truly outshone by Fairchild, who really had a spark about them.
Though Passion Falls do have an undeniably good sound; they have described themselves as a band who ‘love a good heart bursting moment’ and there were plenty of these; their EP sounds like the soundtrack to a 500 Days of Summer type of film. But the vocals were a little whiney, and, again, the engagement just wasn’t there.
‘Be Here’ and ‘Starcrossed Lovers’ were my favourites and were the band’s sweetest tracks. Both had the audience swaying along while a disco ball covered the stage in little star-like lights.
‘Greatest Adventure’, probably the band’s best known song, was a lovely, happy indie song played well, though it isn’t exactly a game-changing or ground-breaking song. They closed the show on ‘Chasing Ghosts’, a song which would easily have fit in on an album by Foals. I thought the band were looking a little restless by this point and keen to finish, which took the edge off this beautiful number.
Just a taste @PassionFalls #starcrossedlovers #thegreatestadventure pic.twitter.com/3EMMzGjMgX
— Charlotte Holroyd (@iamcharlotte_) February 27, 2016
This was confirmed beyond a doubt when Holland left the stage with a sullen ‘thank you’, pretty much the extent of his engagement with the audience, while the band were left to finish the song.
Given that Gorilla is a pretty small venue, this diva move didn’t really have the desired effect, as we all saw Holland coming down the stage steps to the corridor next to it. It was an arrogance that he has not quite yet earned. Alex Turner drop the mic and leave the stage with the rest of the band left to finish the song? By all means. But Jonny Holland? A pretentious end to a pretentious show.
By: Eleanor Doward
@EllieDoward
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