Black Lips - Manchester Academy 3

Adored around the globe and with enough indie-rock cred to last them into rehab, Black Lips are a chaotically brilliant live band, or so this Clash correspondent remembered…

We left Manchester’s Roadhouse venue two years ago having witnessed a tight, sharp, on-top-of-their-game rock group touring their superb ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ album to much acclaim (review HERE). Two years later and they find themselves upgraded to the larger Academy 3 on a gorgeous bank holiday evening. Maybe it’s the sunny weather, or perhaps the £13 door price, but a distinct lack of pizzazz greets the Atlanta four-piece onto the stage.

The fist-pumping first six rows of the crowd do their best to rouse their heroes, and things begin well with the honky-tonk drawl of ‘Drugs’ and the garage avalanche of ‘Katrina’: a bass-heavy reminder of the New Orleans-striking hurricane. Bassist and singer Jared Swilley maintains a cool demeanour whilst others over-egg their parts around him: to his right guitarist Ian St. Pé resembles old-time rocker Jimmy Nail with his denim and dodgy teeth, while stage left the usually enigmatic Cole Alexander seems sadly incapable of belting anything out, delivering instead flat, flustered guitar and vocals.

But there’s still something special lurking behind the wasted, heroic chic. ‘Cold Hands’ could be an outtake from the classic garage rock companion Nuggets, while ‘Bad Kids’ is a life-affirming ode to youthful rebellion. Elsewhere, new material fails to ignite, but ‘Buried Alive’’s comic book horror showcases the band’s wayward genius splendidly.

At the finale fans climb onstage for a good old boogie: quite the spectacle (we learn later that Cole’s guitar is stolen), but also an ancient stage act that appears a little, well, desperate. Pack this rock ’n’ roll circus into a smaller venue and you may witness one of the gigs of the year – but the feeling just isn’t here tonight.