CityLife

Delphic

THIS year’s Manchester International Festival has been, as usual, immensely musically eclectic; over the course of the past 17 days, we’ve been treated to an opera written by a pop singer, a legendary orchestra accompanying a nearly legendary band, and a bunch of old folks belting out a bit of Bruce Springsteen.

Amongst all this exotic artistry from far flung climes, though, has nestled our very own Mancunian-honed gem in the shape of the fine work that Mr. Dave Haslam has been doing over at the Pavilion.

Tonight is the last of three gigs offering gig-goers a chance to catch the bands that will shape this city’s musical future in a moderate sized venue for a very reasonable ticket price, and they’re finishing proceedings with a bang by presenting the biggest buzz band of the moment, Delphic.

Dave’s intro assertion that we’ll one day be telling our grandchildren about this intimate gig might be just a little far fetched, but it soon turns out that this is certainly a contender to be one of those rare ‘I was there’ moments.

Dressing like Joy Division but bringing the dancefloor bothering tunes like New Order, the glorious, pounding peaks of Delphic’s synth clash set sees a relatively sedate early Saturday night crowd transform into a seething mass of goodtime clubheads.

The electro-pop euphoria is only heightened by the sheer ear-aching volume of it all as well as the impressive accompanying light show and, when the band throw in a fantastic remix of Bizarre Love Triangle, it’s like the Hacienda all over again.

We leave the Pavilion sweaty, giddy and with the distinct feeling that that was the best £3 we’ll ever (or could ever) spend. Rave on.

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