Whitehorse opened their debut UK tour with a ten-song set at a packed sold-out Rat And Pigeon in Manchester on Thursday night. Despite only having one released song to their name - Doesn't Come Close - they held the audience's attention with a set full of ambitious rock songs heavier than frontman Thomas Haywood's previous work delivered with power and passion by his new bandmates.
Mleko open proceedings, the seven of them struggling to fit on the Rat And Pigeon's tiny stage. They've already sold this room out themselves last year so aren't lacking in confidence or stage craft. With two brass players in the band this does dominate the sound a little, but doesn't drown everything else out or become the focal point as can often be the case. We're unfamiliar with their songs but they leave a really positive impression, full of dramatic changes of pace and tone that keep the audience's attention, the guitars and electronics providing the perfect counterbalance to the brass, whilst the front man's vocal delivery makes the songs feel like personal kitchen-sink dramas that you need to know the full story behind.
Whitehorse can count the number of gigs they've done so far on their fingers, but they're already an accomplished live outfit, very tight and together, helped by recent studio sessions where they've fleshed out some of these songs since their debut performance back in October at The Rose And Monkey and their pre-Christmas set at Band On The Wall.
It's an assured performance from the five-piece - Thomas on guitar and vocals, Bobby Glaister on lead guitar, John McCullagh on guitar and vocals, Nathan Keeble on bass and James Keith on drums - who've all been in established bands and have knitted together into a strong cohesive unit that is more than capable of filling rooms much bigger than this intimate upstairs space in one of Manchester's newest music venues. Interest is so high that there's hardly space to breathe and some of the audience are round the corner at the back of the venue and can only hear but not see.
The ten-song set is all new original material that they've been in the studio in Sheffield with Ed Cosens recently to record so there's a confidence that comes with the familiarity. Opener Fake It is a dirty beast of a song and other highlights include the duo of Valley Of Tears and Red Riptide in the middle of the set and the epic set-closer First Of Spring, but the quality rarely drops throughout. There's a few shouts for a song called All The People that's been discarded already, and which was a highlight of the early shows, but Thomas tells us they were told it sounded like a sixties song so wasn't in fitting with the other songs around it. It's a bold declaration of intent and Whitehorse knowing what and who they are and what they stand for musically, but also a little bit of a shame as it would have given the set some light and shade amongst the dark imposing and relentless nature of the other songs.
Manchester is a home run for them. Thankfully there's no shouts for songs from The Blinders - although Only One I've Loved is an older song that did make an odd appearance stripped down years ago - a good sign that the audience is here for what Thomas, accompanied by his four compadres, wants to say now and not in the anger of youthful exuberance. Tougher times will be ahead, trying to establish an audience again, going and playing new towns and cities to smaller audiences often as supports, overcoming the media indifference to another bunch of five late twenties men making guitar music without big label money behind them, but they demonstrated tonight that they're armed with ten weapons to take into battle with them and the goodwill of a hundred or so who'd sold the show out in minutes when it was announced.
Whitehorse's tour continues at Hull New Adelphi (March 14), Harworth Blacksmiths Arms (15), Edinburgh Sneaky Pete's (21), Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut (23), Leeds Oporto (25), York Fulford Arms (26) and Macclesfield The Castle (27).
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