Liverpool and Manchester reach hands for ‘The North Will Rise Again’ streaming festival

This article is a repost from my old blog sound-a-word.

Manchester and Liverpool have reached hands to sing and celebrate in unity with The North Will Rise Again - a worldwide online festival streaming live from Liverpool’s Invisible Wind Factory and Manchester’s Gorilla with headliners The Lightning Seeds and The Charlatans. It’s an event with a big message and maybe even a pre-taste of what’s possible in the future.

The live music scene as well as its surrounding eco-system and infrastructure have been hit hard by the pandemic. Therefore, the proceeds from The North Will Rise Again will go to Liverpool Music House and also to the #saveourvenues campaign of Music Venue Trust, both doing excellent and crucial work for the music industry.

Liverpool enticed with headliners no other than legendary Liverpool band The Lightning Seeds, local band Red Rum Club and great new Liverpool artist Zuzu. Manchester is headlined by local heroes The Charlatans, joined by live force band Ist Ist and post-punk trio Liines.

In between the live performances interviews with the bands conducted by host John Robb, Louder Than War founder and Membranes frontman, were interspersed.

Liverpool kicked off with headliners The Lightning Seeds, joined by Zuzu and Red Rum Club

Saturday night I found myself in my living room in Tallinn, Estonia. All set up for an exciting night. Ready to virtually fly off to Liverpool.

Liverpool kicked off from the Invisible Wind Factory. The event was opened by multi-talented artist Zuzu.

She records most of her music from her home studio in Liverpool, and also orchestrates all her videos. Besides that, she’s also into comics and sci-fi.

The last time Zuzu played a live gig was in March 2020 – one year ago! She said it’s nice to be back on stage and you can feel and see this in her performance.

I admit that this was my first time seeing her, but the spark was instant. Zuzu embraces both pop and indie, and it comes out so naturally. She sings in her own accent as she wants to sound like herself, not like others. She stays true to herself and loyal to her home city. Her music is a mix of rock’n’roll tunes with great guitar riffs and strong basslines, powerful pop melodies, catchy hooks, and great sing-along choruses.

The setlist featured seven banger songs, such as ‘Money Back’, ‘Beauty Queen’, ‘Skin And Bone’, ‘How It Feels’, ‘Get Off’, ‘Can’t Be Alone’, and ‘All Good’. Absolutely danceable!

Zuzu uses the guitar as a vehicle to write songs. For her, songwriting is about self-expression, it’s “a way to tell the world the truth without happen to say it”. She wants to tell her side of the story, and this comes out very clearly in her songs. They are honest, distinct, emotional.

Zuzu is a wonderful artist who is a true joy to watch on stage!

Next up was Red Rum Club, a sextet from Liverpool and a true live force! When they’re on stage, you’re immediately electrified and grooving into the good feeling. Their sound is optimistic and highly energetic.

They played ‘Elevation’, ‘Kids Addicted’, ‘Eleanor’, ‘Brando’, and ‘Ballerino’ from their most recent album ‘The Hollow of Humdrum’, as well as ‘Would You Rather Be Lonely’, ‘Honey’, and ‘Angeline’ from the ‘Matador’ album. My favourite song of the set was Elevation, a very hooky tune with sort of a disco vibe – an expansion of their usual sound.

Red Rum Club’s distinctive sound is mainly determined by their trumpet player. Oh yes, nobody plays the trumpet like Joe Corby! His solos are amazing!

Over the years, they’ve added a lot more depth into their music. It’s very cinematic, a ‘Tarantino-esque’ sound that immediately makes you move. Rhythm is as important as the melody. The lyrics are poetic and catchy. Every band member has their clear and defined space in the band. But they are not just a band, they are mates making music together, funny guys to chat with and that makes them very sympathetic.

Headliners, The Lightning Seeds, closed the event with a brilliant performance and some classics that you definitely shouldn’t have missed. They started right off with one of my favourites ‘Marvellous’ that put us right into the live sphere we’d all love to go to these days. In that moment things truly were marvellous.

Some other classics were not to be missed either. ‘Sense’. ‘Change’ with all its energy. The great ‘All I Want’. ‘Whole Wide World’ which is epic. ‘The Life Of Riley’ which is such a feel good, but also very personal and honest tune. Their first song ‘Pure’ that is just so perfect. The set ended sweet with ‘Sugar Coated Iceberg’. Songs that are timeless pop perfection and make you dive into an imaginary world.

Ian Broudie knows how to turn musical notes into the perfect pop song. It was a celebration of his fantastic art!

The interview with John Robb was equally brilliant, a really in-depth dive into music, and with a lot of insights about Ian Broudie’s diverse work.

Manchester continued with headliners The Charlatans, joined by Ist Ist and LIINES

Sunday night, same setting, different virtual location. This time it was my favourite and much-loved UK city, Manchester. It was streamed from Manchester’s Gorilla. A venue I’ve always enjoyed spending my nights in. Lots of great memories.

LIINES, Breakthrough Artist 2020, opened the show. They are one of my favourite new bands from Manchester. LIINES are a post-punk trio that creates infectious sound. I love their bass lines and guitar riffs. Their music is thrilling, powerful, and honest, and so are the lyrics. It’s the first time they played with their new bassist Anna Donigan who has played with PINS for seven years and is also playing for Glasgow’s Honeyblood.

They had a great setlist of ear-catching songs, such as ‘Cold’, ‘Blackout’, ‘Disappear’, ‘Never Wanted This’, ‘Shallow’, but also their latest bangers ‘On And On’, and ‘Sorry’ which is my absolute favourite!

The sound is sharp and empowering. Leila’s smashing drums, pounding rhythm, crushing riffs, and emotional vocals. Singer and guitarist Zoë was on fire that night.

There’s so much stark energy going on when they’re on stage. It’s amazing to see them play live. I would have loved to be in Gorilla in person. My living room had to serve this purpose. It was an electrifying post-punk ride!

LIINES are three easy-going, funny, and also very reflected women. This became very clear in the interview with John Robb.

They really missed being on stage, and we missed them! When the lights went off last year, they felt a bit lost. But now they’re ready to get back on it, and I guess, so are we. I personally cannot wait to see them hitting live stages again. Hopefully, we will see them at all the big festivals next year. They should be headliners! They deserve it, and we need more female power!

Next up were Ist Ist.

Ist Ist are my discovery from last year, so I was excited to see them on stage. They are finest post-punk from Manchester. Their sound is deep and powerful.

‘Wolves’ was the set opener. It’s crisp! Such a massive song, and a powerful interplay of guitar, bass and drums. Ist Ist filled the entire room. They knew how to fully exploit the dynamics of the sound. The setlist was fantastic!

They continued with songs like ‘You're Mine’, the main single from the album ‘Architecture’. It’s an atmospheric post-punk tune with a catchy guitar and a great bass line, and driving drums. Also, ‘Night’s Arm’, the first song they ever wrote and played lived. So great to see them playing it on stage. It sounded vibrant. The punchy bassline was fantastic.

Two of my favourites are ‘Silence’ and ‘Black’. ‘Silence’ is such a powerful song. Probably also one of their most played songs live. Whereas ‘Black’ is quite melodic - wonderful.

I’m sure they made a lot of new fans that night. They proved why they should be on all big stages.

Last but not least, headliners The Charlatans jumped on stage. The setlist was absolutely fabulous! But to be honest, they could pick any songs from their big repertoire and have a great set.

And they gifted us with real classics!

I was taken right back to my early childhood in the 90s, when I heard The Charlatans on German radio for the first time.

‘Plastic Machinery’. ‘A Man Needs To Be Told’ that swept over the stage and I immediately sang along. ‘My Beautiful Friend’. ‘Northern Country Boy’, always enjoyed live. Maybe even one of their best live songs? ‘Come Home Baby’. ‘Weirdo’ - such a banger! ‘Blind Stagger’. ‘Can’t Get Out Of Bed’, what a lockdown tune. Sing-along song ‘One To Another’ - “Be my spiderwoman, I'll be your spiderman.”

In a nutshell, it was one hit after another. I found myself in my living room singing along loudly. I danced and I cheered. Tim Burgess looked as fresh as ever and it felt so good to hear The Charlatans live again. What an excellent music experience!

The feeling throughout the event was incredible, it even felt a little bit like going to a live gig. Yes, I desperately look forward to going to a proper live show again and feeling the music vibes rushing through my body. Since we are not there yet, NWRA gifted us with this ‘almost like’ feeling. There was that feeling of connectedness with people from around the globe who were watching the same show at the same time. Though we all danced socially distanced in our private rooms, we danced all together connected through the wires. Through the Twitter community it was possible to chat and connect with others, share moments and thoughts. Yes, we were a live audience - dispersed into separate rooms.

But it wasn’t just a wonderful music experience. In between the performances, they interspersed interviews with all the bands. These interviews were conducted by John Robb and provided a lot of interesting insights. We got to know the artists a little better and heard great stories. That’s something you usually don’t get when you’re going to a gig.

John Robb is one of my favourite interviewers. He understands how to conduct an interview without making it look like an actual interview. It rather feels like a naturally flowing human conversation, and that’s fantastic! Sometimes interview hosts like to put themselves in the spotlight. John Robb takes a step back and lets the other person shine. He empowers his interview partner to feel comfortable enough to share their story, their thoughts. That makes it a very pleasant listening and watching experience. Something I appreciate a lot!

The North Will Rise Again was a very well-produced streaming event. Great setup, smashing light and sound show, top-notch quality. A great mix of live music and insightful conversations. You could see and feel how much love and effort the whole team had put into it. They’ve set a new standard for how to organise and produce such live streaming events.

This format can be a real game and life changer. It enables fans to virtually go to a live gig and watch it from the comfort of their own home. Artists get support through the selling of additional digital tickets. It’s a win-win situation. It won’t replace the actual live event – that’s for sure. We are all longing for live shows to be back, and they will be back! But for the time being, and for all the challenging times that may arise in the future, these events will help fans, artists, and everyone else involved to sail through it, and most importantly, feel connected.

Hopefully, we’ll see more of that in the future.

The North will rise again!