I’ll be honest, I had absolutely no idea what bands I was going to encounter when I agreed to go to the Neighbourhood Festival last October. I knew there were a few things that were guaranteed: people, music, and a lot of drink. However simply attending this festival did absolute wonders for me, broadening my horizons to different types of music, as well as just amplifying my love for Manchester even more. I was introduced to many new artists at the festival, some of which we have already posted about previously on ‘Le-gig-cy’, but one that stood out to me in particular was The Magic Gang and their set at Gorilla.
The Magic Gang showed to me that indie wasn’t dead. Their cool appearance and fun demeanour was immediately apparent as they stood on stage, the songs they were playing proving that. When playing songs they were known for at the time such as ‘How Can I Compete’ and ‘Jasmine’, the bright guitar work and funky bass lines (courtesy of Jack Kaye and Kristian Smith, and Angus ‘Gus’ Taylor respectively) urged me to move along with the music, as well as the rest of the crowd at the time – pretty impressive for an 11 AM set.
Recent Activity
The band has recently released ‘Take Back The Track’ ahead of their new album titled ‘Death of The Party’ which is set to be released on the 21st of August 2020 (available for purchase via the band’s site) following a delay. ‘Take Back The Track’ highlights everything there is to love about the band; the song has catchy and funky guitar riffs, a hard-hitting drum beat and vocals that are overflowing at the brim with the rough yet smooth indie sound we all know and love. With lyrics that reflect a fun atmosphere and just generally having a good time, it’s a song that’s hard not to love. In addition to this, the music video (found here) includes videos submitted by fans, showing their love and interaction with their dedicated fan base.
Image courtesy of https://www.roughtrade.com/gb .
An Unsure Encounter…
As mentioned earlier, The Magic Gang have a very dedicated fan base, and one of the liveliest I’ve seen in a while. One girl who was buzzing with energy was whispering to her friends a bit away from my friend and I while gesturing the the man behind us stood outside the venue. In our confusion, my friend snapped a photo of me looking particularly confused with said man in the background. We later learnt that this was Gus Taylor after the energetic girl approached me to ask if I could take her photo with him. I suppose that’s one way to get a photo with a member of the band.
In Conclusion…
The Magic Gang’s gig at Gorilla is the first of (I hope) many I get to see. Their ability to get a crowd feeling good and excited is unbelievable, and their music is a true credit to the indie genre and the music industry as a whole, in my opinion. They replicate sounds similar to 70’s disco and 60’s harmonies, both of which I rate highly. While they may not be touring or performing live anytime soon, I do recommend giving them a good listen and pre-ordering ‘Death of the Party’ if you’re able. I reckon it’ll be a while before anyone this good and musically versatile comes along again. For The Magic Gang, the only way is up.
