Whirlwind Heat + Manic

Club NME at The Consortium, Bournemouth - May 2006
Image: © 2006 Kid 73
Written by Kid 73

Having toured with the likes of The White Stripes, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and the mighty genius - Beck, Whirlwind Heat carry a sack of kudos onstage. With their stripped-down drum kit, Moog and bass set up in a line at the front of the stage, they spring into action - startling a crowd teeming with so much anticipation you could spoon it out of the air. The first few tracks are delivered with frenetic pace; stripped down ditties with a post punk electro vibe. A slight change with ‘Uptight’, which is just Leftfield of mainstream pop, with anthemic chants of ‘UPTIGHT!’ to punctuate it. Two songs later they sing about donating sperm in ‘Gene Pool’ and the crowd are won over. Quality ‘mooging’, drumming and bass lines, splashed liberally with musical eccentricity that adds up to a band you just know are going to make it. Manic swapped their support slot for headline slot due to sound check problems and consequently performed to a dwindling crowd after Heat’s performance. Manic have an almost trademark L.A. rock sound with strong vocals and melodic ballads, driven by wailing guitars. Tight, atmospheric and slightly predictable you could be forgiven for thinking you had heard their songs before. There is obvious talent, especially in the lead singers voice, but there has to be a breakaway attention-getter and they don't seem to have it in their arsenal yet.