Manchester’s Deaf Institute isn’t usually a
venue that sends shivers of dread down the spine of a music fan. It’s small,
and by that same token, intimate. But tonight you must wonder if it simply
isn’t intimate enough. As the magnificent New York trio Porcelain Raft leave
the stage to a modest, yet fully appreciative round of applause, the echo from
the high ceiling, coupled with the clattering glasses coming from the not too
distant bar area take centre stage during the changeover. Dread enters. Almost
7 months have passed since I last saw tonight’s headliner (sat nervously at a
piano in the backroom of Oldham Street boozer ‘The Castle Hotel’; a venue
famous within Manchester’s Northern Quarter for being small, somewhat pokey and
therefore intimate by its very nature) and the anticipation in the room mirrors
that of his first ever gig. But now we find ourselves at another ‘intimate’
venue, albeit with a much larger capacity and the stage is being set for Bill
Ryder-Jones’ second Manchester show. Sunday 17th March 2013 at The
Castle Hotel was indeed Bill Ryder-Jones’ first ever ‘gig’, and the band that
take to the Deaf Institute stage with him on this October night remains the
same. One thing that has certainly changed since March is the season. Bill
himself will admit that his music is more suited to this time of year, a
feeling that has delayed releases of his music in the past. However, despite
the autumnal tone of his music, Bill released an album in April of this year,
which he now has to promote. Whilst his first release ‘If...’ was written as a
soundtrack companion to cult novel ‘If on a winters night a traveller’, 2013’s
“A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart” suggests a shift towards the mainstream (ever so
slightly) and is certainly his first real collection of songs that follow no
particular concept, or provide soundtrack to a film.
Whilst most people will know Bill from his
years with The Coral, since his departure in 2008 he has been writing and
releasing music completely on his own terms. Initially releasing demos sporadically
via the MySpace platform in 2008, he eventually signed a publishing deal with
leading independent record label Domino, who have seemingly (and thankfully) afforded
him a certain level of the creative freedom that a talent such as Bill
requires. After taking his time with everything he has done so far, we arrive
at tonight’s show, as spectators, in typical Ryder-Jones fashion; we have no
idea what we are going to get. As a tweet from earlier in the day, stating he
would be taking the stage with the most “under rehearsed band on the planet”
rolls around my head, a recorded piano version of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were
Here plays through the PA, dry ice fills the room and Bill nods to his former
Coral compatriot Nick Power to start the show, who greets us with the beautiful
accordion sound from the album’s title track ‘A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart’.
The feared lack of intimacy becomes apparent. The chattering from the bar and
beyond is too much at first, but it soon disappears, as the music in the room
becomes the proverbial elephant, even if it is the most delicate and least
clumsy elephant the metaphorical world has ever seen. As the soft touch
drumming of Jack Prince enters, it compliments Bill’s careful vocal delivery
beautifully, as he barely whispers “a bad wind blows in my heart and it bangs
on the back door” into the microphone. As the show continues (along with the
spurts of dry ice from stage right) you sense that the audience is falling
deeper and deeper into a trance. Awkward jokes about his band in between songs,
debates about his guitar tone and a question to the audience “Who’s good at
guess the intro round?” leads to Bill treating the audience with a bar or two
of This Charming Man by The Smiths. He fumbles about on stage and is clearly
not a front man, nor does he ever pretend to be. Indeed, he frequently states
that playing live isn’t something that excites him, but it is something he is
great at in his own way. For example, he is completely undeterred by the gaggle
of girls who occasionally pipe up from the back of the room. Nor does he let the
sound of the cash register ringing from behind the bar break his stride, once. Yes,
he occasionally talks during songs, but you get the feeling that this is
becoming part of the spectacle; a part of Bill’s draw and, given how exposed
the very nature of his music makes him, he still performs beautifully and
honestly, leaving the assembled audience of roughly 150 with a positive lasting
impression, and in some cases, somewhat stunned. At the halfway point, the band
leaves the stage to allow Bill to perform completely solo. For three songs we
are treated to a performance, which is as stripped back and laid bare as
anything we are likely to see again, with nothing but composer and carefully
thumbed Fender Jaguar to separate the stage from the assembled crowd.
The enthusiasm and attentive nature of
tonight’s audience, which must have tripled in numbers since his last
Manchester show, point towards a growing audience for Bill, beyond fans of The
Coral, an albatross I am certain Bill is desperate to shake. But I’m not sure its fans that he wants as he
seems perfectly settled with his current fanbase. Despite everything, he
appears to be comfortable in this setting; well, as comfortable as the man who,
earlier this year, claimed that he has “never had fun at a gig” could ever be in
this setting. He ends the show as he ends the album, with part 2 of its title
track “A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart Pt. 2”, a song which showcases the superb
backing harmonies of bassist Kevin Mooney. In addition to the raw talents Bill
possesses, he is also lucky to have a great band by his side, a band who Bill
jokes “release their own records under the name ‘The Nonces’”. With a standing
ovation for both Bill Ryder-Jones and his band, the night ends as the house
lights come up and the audience is left to mull ‘what happens next’. Since the
release of his film score for “Piggy” in April, Bill has been
characteristically quiet on the release front. With no new material played
tonight, other than a previously unheard song which was presumably written for
‘A Bad Winds Blows in My Heart’ but “didn’t make the final cut”, the timing of
a new release is anyone’s guess. As far as live shows are concerned however,
they are becoming more and more frequent, much to the delight of his growing
non-coral fanbase. Its clearly already happening, but it wont be long until
Bill breaks the chains of “former Coral guitarist” and becomes simply “Bill
Ryder-Jones”, much like Brian Eno, Ryan Adams & Neil Young before him. His
records have always shown signs of this, but with a growing live presence, you
have to feel its inevitable.
