REGAL SAFARI / BERNARD + EDITH
Führer Bunker, Manchester | October 19th
On the brink of Manchester’s city centre a bleak wasteland lays hidden from plain sight; down a dark path lined with shattered windows and forgotten storehouses a scene of industrial degeneration is openly flaunted. Tucked away in the midst of it all, anonymous if it were not for the kaleidoscopic colours seeping from its apertures, we found the Führer Bunker – a tiny DIY venue owned by Sways Records, entirely fitting of its run-down surroundings and proud of it. As if the surrounding landscape didn’t already provide enough character for this grim, isolated cabin, it also boasts a suitably ominous feature within its walls: all the bands perform inside a giant wooden cage.
Bernard + Edith (featuring Egyptian Hip Hop’s Nick Delap) were the first to take advantage of the enthralling scenery, playing slow, minimal, effects-laden ambience to a vibrantly dressed crowd doused in colourful projections, lit only by the LEDs of the synthesizers and the sporadically-arranged candles. The duo added to the eerie atmosphere with a mixture of ‘80s horror-movie basslines, bell chimes and pitch-distorting vocals, although Greta Carroll’s vociferous shrieks in between songs were simply bizarre considering the sedated mood of the music. It was quite evident at this point that ‘art’ was the guiding notion of the evening, well-exemplified with the opening act, but possibly owing more to the venue than the musicians themselves.
Regal Safari, on the other hand, confidently demonstrated an obverse angle, with a highly engaging and intricately constructed tapestry of electronic sound. They took their time setting up a mass of assorted machinery and unsurprisingly it equated to a wonderfully immersive sound in a no-breaks set. The thick synthesizer chords that opened their performance filled the frigid bunker with a deep warmth that was constantly built upon with a veil of trippy dance rhythms, slowly amassing to a vast, encompassed spectrum of sound. If anyone left this venue showing signs of synaesthesia, they may just have caught it from Regal Safari.
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http://soundcloud.com/regalsafari
http://soundcloud.com/bernard-edith
Words: James Balmont
Photo: Louis Fry
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