CABBAGE in a year they have gone from a little know band in Manchester, to featuring in I-D magazine last year and are now Manchester’s most exciting new band everyone is talking about.
The loutish lads of CABBAGE are made up of; Lee Broadbent lead vocals joined by Joe Martin also on vocals and guitar, Eoghan Clifford is on guitar, Stephen Evans on bass and Asa Morley on drums.
The up and coming five piece have recently released tracks on The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess record label ’O’ Genesis. With their rave reviews and increased local interest, as a result they are busy doing the rounds playing most of the cities venues over the next few months, and are sitting on the line up for a string of summer festivals.
Tonight they grace Gorilla with a sell-out gig. The stage is draped with Manchester Flags ‘Manchester Trade Council, Trinity is Strength, a Better World is Possible’ & ‘We are all Immigrants’
The lights drop and Rawhide is played as the proud Mancunians arrive on stage, the boys are fashioning party hats and letting off party poppers into the crowd, we know we are in for a huge party!
Lead singer Lee takes to the stage in a suit, T shirt and shades, throwing water over the crowd. They hit us with their first track and you’d be forgiven for thinking their opening track was their encore as the venue explodes into life the band leave nothing in the dressing room. Before the chorus hits, the majority of Gorilla is now a mosh pit and the stage is covered in Red Stripe.
The atmosphere shows no sign of dispersing through the second track (most played) ‘Terrorist Synthesizer’ as Joe takes to the microphone the crowd know all the words and its clear to see what a huge fan base the band have already built. Joe stays centre stage and there is no stopping all the way through the next few tracks. Everyone is moshing.
Gorilla catches its breath, and the gig takes a slightly more mundane tone, although Lee still doesn’t hold back stage diving from the speakers. They follow with ‘Gibraltar Ape’ “This is our new single”
Up next is track ‘Because You’re Worth It’ the boys are joined on stage by fellow northerner Bill Ryder Jones former guitarist and co-founder of The Coral. Now a Six piece on Gorilla’s small stage, Bill barely squeezes on. The band can’t praise him enough as they exchange hugs and Bill heads back stage.
The band have rattled through their set list, no messing around with an encore, and before we know it, it’s the final track. Lee is stomping round the stage before inevitably jumping into the crowd and is surfing across the Gorilla’s waving arms. He gets back on stage and gathers his composure just long enough to climb up the speaker stack before tumbling down with it to the stage. Its madness. The music ends but the games continue, the boys are having a wrestle off the edge of the stage and into the stunned crowd, making their way back stage.
The Mossley boys put on a wild live show, they have a great sound, a raucous blend of the Clash, The Fall, and early Nirvana with chaotic stage moments and unhinged vocals, expect nothing less than a great time at one of their gig’s. Post Punk CABBAGE are working their way through bigger stages playing Academy 2 in April, The Ritz in July and supporting fellow Mancunians The Courteeners in May at the Manchester Cricket Ground, another local is Manchester’s Parklife.
