Forty years have passed since the seminal Sex Pistols gig at Manchester's Free Trade Hall, a night that changed everything in the North West music scene. To celebrate the occasion, Salford's A1(M) Records has decided to gather four of the region's best acts to inspire the next generation, with a brilliant showcase at Band on the Wall.
A1(M) label owner, Paul Travis, is the man behind Music From The North. Paul had a successful stint in a band himself, Salford based punks, Terrorist Guitars, who once supported The Damned. His passion for music hasn't dimmed since the heady days of punk. These days he's more interested in new music but he recalls: "The Free Trade Hall thing was great because it spawned new acts...created new opportunities and fostered a real DIY spirit".
Music From The North isn't a vanity project of bands connected to A1(M)... "They're great acts that I've seen and kept an eye on...They are real, urban Salford and Manchester people with something to say".
The evening, on Saturday October 15th, will be introduced by John Robb, who was compelled to form The Membranes in 1977 as the punk DIY phenomenon took hold, and has since become a journalist and author of Manchester music books.
The event features three great bands: The Moods, an extremely popular local band with a growing reputation. They are described as, 'thought provoking, intense... a sonic fusion of urban electro-dance, reggae, drum and bass'.
The Backhanders are unmistakably Northern; their songs are chockfull of swagger and attitude, combining passionate delivery with witty insightful lyrics. Take a listen to the machine gun vocals and shimmering guitar on the phenomenal Campfire.
The Nouvelles are hailed as the next big Northern band by the NME. They have a knack for sculpting classy indie rock n roll, and it's easy to see why they are so hotly tipped by the media. Have a listen to the gorgeous melancholy of Deathstar on Soundcloud; it's worth the admission on its own.
Completing the line-up is Little Hulton's star poet JB Barrington. Having a poet on the bill harks back to the golden age of punk, and the meteoric rise of JB Barrington is something to behold.
It's only a couple years since he first took his writing to the stage. He has since published his debut collection, Woodchip, Anaglypta and Nicotined Artex Ceilings, and become a festival favourite. I asked JB whether he was surprised by how quickly things have taken off...
"I didn't know they had, I still walk on stage and say 'Alright, I'm JB Barrington, don't worry I don't know who you are either'" he explains "So in answer to the question, errrrm, yeah and no. Well, I'm not so sure if it has been quick, or maybe it has. I did my first live poetry performance in 2012. So, I suppose you could say four years is quick, but the first two years mostly consisted of driving up and down various motorways midweek clocking up hundreds of miles for five minute open mic slots at poetry events. Then gradually from there I suppose I kind of began to build up an audience."
Suggs performed the JB poem 'Dyawanna cup o' tea' on the main stage at Kendal Calling in July, after the Little Hulton poet had handed him his book just half an hour before...
"I was performing as support to The Charlatans on the Thursday, while Madness were headlining the main stage on the Saturday, so being a fan I gave a Suggs a book outside his dressing room" he recalls "We had a chat and that, and he was proper sound...Halfway through the Madness set, before the band went into Our House, he just stopped, got my book out and said, 'Met this fella called JB Barrington earlier, here's one of his poems'. I was stood in the crowd at the back amongst over 25,000 festival revellers, it was a bizarre moment, as you can imagine."
Meanwhile, Johnny Vegas is a huge fan, and invited him to perform Don't Look Down, heavily influenced by Robert Tressell's book The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, at a screening of the film Ragged (based on the time Tressell-influenced Ricky Tomlinson spent in prison). The next day Vegas turned up to JB's show at Festival No6.
So what is the best part of performing live?
JB: "Standing in front of hundreds of people with a t-shirt on that says Salford Central and talking about me mam, piles, posh nosh, not looking down on the poor and about how nobody, except the blind, should wear sunglasses indoors. I love all that. There are loads of great things about it...it really is my favourite thing."
Next up for JB is a new book containing all his poems... "The working title is 'All that affable chatter and blag ladened patter'" he says "I like long titles; also it's a line from one of my poems called First of the Ninth. It'll have a little story before each poem to explain where the idea came from, and it'll also have artwork by Craig Davison. Google him if you don't know him, you can thank me later; he's brilliant."
Catch JB Barrington for some funny, poignant and heartfelt poetry, alongside some of the latest and greatest local bands at Music From The North. It's a stellar line-up and incredible value for money. A must see event at a great price.
Music From The North
Saturday October 15th 6:30pm-10pm
Band On The Wall
The evening will be filmed by Band on the Wall's in-built 3 camera system and a recording will be mixed and released as a live EP.
£5 advance – click here to get tickets
For further details on A1(M) Records - see the website - click here
Words by Ian Leslie
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