It Goes On in Manchester- Westside Cowboy LIVE at the New Century Hall

Words: Gethin Marshall

Images: Gethin Marshall

Is there anything better than a homecoming show? A performance where a band returns

triumphant from touring to play a searing set in their hometown? If Westside Cowboy’s energetic

gig at Manchester’s own New Century Hall is anything to go off, then there really is nothing

better- coming off 6 weeks on tour, by their own admission to the crowd their longest time away

from the city, they’ve certainly come back with a bang.

I’ve found myself on the right hand side of the stage, although this is only in relativity to

the entrance of the room; in reality, there aren’t really any designated sides to the stage, which

is a large raised square (ironically called The Round) in the centre of the room, with the more

traditional stage at the end of the hall covered by a large Westside Cowboy banner. Upon the

stage stand three microphones and a drum kit, each one facing the other as though engaged in

a four-way battle. Great towers of speakers rise up on each corner with colourful bunches of

balloons floating high above each one, the whole scene bathed in the warm glow of the

hundreds of coloured lights that carpet the ceiling. Taking a closer look at the stage, I notice a

typewriter, a stack of books and what looks like a single converse shoe right in the centre of the

square. The set- for it feels more like a set than a stage- is much more intimate than my previous experience with the band, only a few weeks ago, when I watched their performance on the main stage at Green Man festival from a distant grassy bank in the middle of the day.

Abruptly, as my watch hits eight, the generic indie playlist cuts and the lights go down. A cheer ripples through the audience as four figures emerge from a door at the back of the hall- the hometown heroes, the returning crusaders, Westside Cowboy themselves, live and in the flesh. They make their way to the stage, and upon taking their inward-facing positions, waste no time in breaking into the first song- Kick Stones (The Boys), the opening track of their recently released debut album, It Goes On. It’s a loud, fun and loose version of the track, feeling almost double the pace of the studio version, but certainly to no detriment to the musicality of the song. Really, the majority of the set is like this, with the occasional short break with members of the band talking directly to the crowd, again adding to the intimate feel of the gig; early on Jimmy Bradbury apologises sheepishly for getting the tuning wrong for the next song, and later in the set we get to hear Reuben Haycocks’ issues with ear sweat in great detail.

After the encore, as the set comes to a close- at only about a quarter past nine, though it

feels much later- there’s almost a collective sigh that ripples through the crowd, as though each

member of the audience has released a breath unwittingly held for the full duration of the

performance. Leaving the venue is almost strange because of the relatively early hour, though it does not feel as though I’ve been short changed- and to be fair, with the ticket including an optional, very well put together cd zine/lyric book, I certainly haven’t been.

Overall, as good as Westside Cowboy’s new album is (and its quality really can’t be

understated), their live performance really takes it up a notch; It’s impossible to say exactly why

this is, maybe it’s the cozy, intimate venue, maybe the comfort and familiarity of a local show

has let them shine yet brighter- maybe it’s just that they played the songs faster than usual.

Either way, Westside Cowboy have firmly established themselves as a must-see in the

Manchester live music scene; don’t just take my word for it, though- with gigs already lined up in

Manchester in the coming December and March, get your tickets now! If this gig was anything to

go by, they won’t last long!