By Jonny Bakes
It’s been a pretty exciting day for me as I made my way across to Manchester, as I’m set to finally see Church of the Cosmic Skull. I’ve been trying to get to see them for years now, but a series of unfortunate schedule conflicts have meant that I’ve missed out on what is rumoured to be quite the religious experience. Finally, it’s time to find out for myself!
Upon arriving at the Bread Shed it’s already pretty clear that tonight is looking like it will be something else. Instead of being given the standard issue coloured wristbands you normally expect at events here, we’re instead presented with custom CotCS wristbands identifying us as “Worshippers at the Manchester Sermon” and now I’m really excited. We’re getting off to an early start tonight with a pretty chock-full line-up of four bands to experience it could be a wild ride!
Kicking things into gear from the very start are local boys Reptilian Humanoid who do a great job of warming up this sell-out crowd with their heavy hitting, balls-out rock n’ roll sound served up with just a light drizzle of psychedelia courtesy of some added synth. I’m sure I only looked away for a moment, but suddenly there was a dancing reptile behind the keyboards that wasn’t there a moment ago. Then again, I’m not sure why I expected anything different to be honest. Having come into this knowing nothing about the band, I was definitely pleasantly surprised and could happily come back for more of this.
Next up is something similar, yet completely different, with Sheffield trio Deltanaut. Where Reptilian Humanoid brought a light drizzle of psychedelia, these lads bring it by the absolute tanker load! There are incredibly long instrumental psychedelic/stoner pieces that really do it for me, but to my surprise it’s not entirely instrumental as every now and again there’s a rogue appearance of vocals in the mix. This is one of those sets that’s more of an auditory experience than it is a visual one, and that’s okay with me. There’s some good rhythmic nodding from the rest of the crowd as Deltanaut end their set on another lengthy epic that I can definitely see myself listening to more at home for the chilled vibes.
The chilled vibes become a distant memory within moments of Green Lung hitting the stage. Considering the amount of Green Lung shirts I’d already spotted tonight, I was expecting this set to be pretty popular but I think I underestimated the reaction as the crowd goes fucking wild from the first song and it only builds from here. The only way to describe the riffs is “sexy” and a little bit Sabbath-like but for the most part, sexy definitely covers it. Tom is definitely a hell of a frontman who manages to completely engage the crowd, it’s almost mesmerising at times and I find it hard to tear myself away from this performance so it’s a good thing that I have no need to!
There’s a great amount of twists and turns in this set as the band rip through fast and heavy numbers through to slower bluesy tunes that gives a real ebb and flow to the set. Another great touch during this set is the spoken word backing tracks between songs that sound like they could have been lifted from 50s horror films. This has been my first Green Lung experience and by mid-way through the set I’m pretty convinced that it won’t be the last! Unfortunately, all good sets and the guys go out on a high with the fantastic ‘Let the Devil in’ which means that it’s only a matter of time before the sermon starts…
It’s clear that this is more than just a musical experience from the moment things start with a real theatrical entrance accompanied by some impressive visuals as Brother Bill and the band make their way onto the stage clad entirely in white. Now those who are familiar with the band can probably appreciate that their heavy use of vocal harmonies must make them a bit of a sound tech’s nightmare, and indeed unfortunately it takes a couple of tracks for the vocal balancing to level out to a point where all of the voices can be heard clearly. This does not detract from the performance at all as the band delivers a really energetic performance, particularly Brother Michael who takes every opportunity to jump from behind his Hammond Organ to get himself some crowd interaction to rile everyone up.
There’s a great focus on the latest album ‘Everybody’s Going to Die’ which is ideal for me as it earned a well-deserved place in my top 20 albums of last year! Songs such as ‘Don’t You Believe in Magic’ and the very bluesy ‘The Hunt’ are delivered flawlessly much to the delight of the completely packed out venue. But it’s not just the new album that gets the attention as we are taken through some of the back catalogue with ‘Mountain Heart’ being ushered in with a very impressive acapella introduction that just further shows off how well CotCS can pull off those vocal harmonies.
There’s a very solemn moment in the set where Brother Bill dedicates the title track of the latest album to a fan who I’m told sadly passed away at his own hand fairly recently. It’s a really poignant tribute when the band pause in silence after the line “some may choose to make it stop” and although there are those who are unaware of the importance of this who let out cheers during the silence, it’s still a very effective tribute. The mood picks back up as the band launch into one of their early hits, ‘Evil in Your Eye’ which is accompanied by some effective use of the huge disco ball that I’ve never noticed in this venue before – goes well with the very 70s aesthetic of the music.
Between songs there are some seriously impressive visual effects that introduce the “7 Objects” which form the religious aspect of the Church of the Cosmic Skull which are all sound advices for harmonious living including “do what you want, with love in your heart” and “celebrate and uphold the freedom of art, science and thought”. Some may read and take in more of these than others, but I think this adds something unique to the experience for sure!
The set begins to draw to a close with the first notes of ‘Cold Sweat’, which is arguably the most well-known of their songs, and this drives the crowd into an absolute frenzy (myself included) and ends with a completely unexpected reprise of ‘Evil in Your Eye’. This is followed by the mellow, yet deep, ‘Living in a Bubble’ before the set closes with ‘Revolution Comes With an Act of Love’ which leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling and rounds off the whole experience. It really has felt a bit like a religious experience and I’m left stunned by this fantastic performance as the band leaves the stage to Judy Garland’s ‘Over the Rainbow’.
Church of the Cosmic Skull already made their way onto my top 20 albums of 2019, but with the performance tonight they’ve definitely staked an early claim in my top 20 gigs of 2020. There may still be ten months to go but this is going to take a lot of beating – fantastic.
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