An enthusiastic crowd found themselves shoehorned into The Castle’s tiny middle room by eclectic local promoters Hey! Manchester! to see Philly pop maestro BC CAMPLIGHT finally bring a somewhat difficult half-decade to an end with this explosive return to action ahead of the New Year release of his third album ‘Grim Cinema’.
With support from homegrown eclectics DOUGA and THUGS ON WOLVES, that familiar Hey! Manc blend of eccentricity and quality was in evidence all night, before the man himself finally took to the stage at about half ten.
OK, it was short – the set-list got nowhere near to double figures – and a bit messy. But by God, it was sweet.
Aided and abetted by a four-strong band of local all-stars, Camplight, (already swigging whisky from a bottle he’d pulled jakey-style from out of a supermarket carrier bag) wasted no time in weaving his utterly compulsive melodic magic from a peripheral position on the extreme right of the stage.
Opener ‘Blood & Peanut Butter’ was greeted with delighted cheers of recognition, as was the equally splendid ‘Couldn’t You Tell’ as BC seemed to obliterate half a decade out of the spotlight just by picking up from where he’d left off.
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However, it was the sheer size and sound of the new songs - a poignant mid-tempo ‘Atom Bomb’ and the twisted autobiographical anthem ‘Thieves In Antigua’ that generated the real excitement. Epic, and super-melodic, numbers of this calibre should see Camplight surpass not just his own previous best, but that of everyone else’s as a creative force to be reckoned with this time around.
There were traces of venom and vindication about BC’s delivery late on, before the whole shebang hit the ceiling during the grand finale, a no-holds-barred version of the Little Richard classic ‘Long Tall Sally’.
The sense of triumph by the end was worth punching the air for. Even the exit straight through the crowd must have reminded him more of his days in the boxing ring than any subsequent muso tour date.
Next up is a headline show at the Deaf Institute. Pencilled in for the end of January. On this showing, you’d be a fool to miss out.
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