Fresh promotions team Now Wave orchestrated tonight’s much-anticipated show - as the Deaf Institute played host once more to Brooklyn garage icon FRANKIE ROSE. Kicking off her UK showcase of her new, life-after-garage album ‘Interstellar’, tonight was a gauge for measuring recent efforts at rejuvenating her somewhat unsettled solo career after three years of false starts after life with a succession of iconic all-girl outfits.
Fast-emerging Manchester all-girl four-piece PINS played down their involvement tonight in order to add to the air of mystique. Their semi-secretive presence on the bill made perfect sense by promising the kind of FX-heavy shoegaze that chartered Rose's rise to prominence in groups such as THE VIVIAN GIRLS and CRYSTAL STILTS as their own bid for a slice of the limelight fast gathers momentum.
And they didn't disappoint a crowd that included a fair few of their very devoted fans, delivering a minimal, moody and avant-garde set that maximised the effect of their limited technical ability, justifying the current reviving interest in New York style garage.
FRANKIE ROSE took to the stage flanked by an altered line-up dominated by members of original cohorts The Ones. Guitar in hand, her first night nerves were probably jangling in anticipation of the overseas reaction to her fresh approach, even at such a familiar venue.
But she left no time for awkward silences with a rapid-fire performance at the forefront of a band determined to plough through the set list.
Pre-programmed staccato drum patterns cut right through a near-constant wall of feedback to trigger howls of recognition as new single ‘Know Me’ got this new-fashioned pristine pop showcase well and truly underway.
Likewise, ‘Nightswim’ swelled the feelgood factor to Prozac proportions as Rose pouted and postured her way through the surprisingly sing-along ‘Let me go-oh-oh-oh-oh’ refrain as though this was synchronised swimming.
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Split-second pauses for breath, aside there was nothing to halt Rose’s swift progress as she rattled through successive stop-start two-minute bursts of pop with one eye on the clock. Her cursory attempts at banter were full of dry and characteristic disinterest, but like a flash of familiarity, her unspectacular persona somehow added to the appeal.
She didn’t bullshit though; or if she did, we believed her when she declared the venue as her favourite place to play this side of the Atlantic. Turning her attentions to the Deaf Institute’s distinctive oversized glitter-ball, her self-conscious mutterings trailed off with a shrug and a smile (“That’s all I got guys”).
Rose also referred to her preference for a 2x20 minute set delivery (something she’d no doubt been advised not to try on with a British audience), frequently announcing the ‘last song’. Force of habit, I guess.
She’ll understandably be glad to get the opening night out of the way, but tonight would have gone a long way to dispelling any apprehension regarding her dramatic style makeover. Though tonight was a ‘first’ in terms of performing outside her garageland comfort zone, this devoted crowd provided unconditionally enthusiastic public confirmation of the universally positive music press reaction to ‘Interstellar.'
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