Between the 13th – 15th of October, Manchester plays host to the annual In the City festival. This year, it’s relocating to the Northern Quarter, and looks set to play host to it’#s most exciting line-up in years, giving both the industry professionals and the normal gig goers a chance to get involved with it’s unique mix of exciting concerts and engaging keynote speakers. Wristbands are currently priced at £29, which gets you access to some of the most exciting shows the city will see this year. If you’re not quite sure who to see yet, here’s some help:
When a band is opening up a gig, it’s usual for them to get their heads down, go about their work and hope for the best, grateful of being given the opportunity to play to the handful of punters who’ve got there early. But D/R/U/G/S hardly come across as the most conventional of souls. Coming on stage as second warm-up for Toro y Moi at Deaf Institute earlier in the year, the duo proceeded to put on one of the greatest, most mind bending shows that the venue’s Music Hall has ever seen, not only showing up the bands that followed but pretty much anyone who’d taken to it’s stage before.
If ever there was an act that manage to destroy the myth that electronic acts are dull in the flesh, these are it. During performance, there’s no between-song banter and little acknowledgement of the crowd, but huddled over a synth and a keyboard, they produce some of the most atmospheric noises around. Slightly influenced by the burgeoning witch house scene, there’s a quality that runs through their works that is absent from those of their peers that makes them more thrilling, more cutting edge. D/R/U/G/S are daring and innovative, exhibiting complete control over the ebb and flow of their work, never shying away from a change of pace or beat, something that carries over to the various tracks and acclaimed remixes that have sprung up around the web. They’ve been duly rewarded with an upcoming tour supporting the excellent Whyte Ring and oOoOO, but judging on past form, the two will need to be on at their best to avoid being shown up, as will pretty much every band at In the City – expect them to be huge this time next year.
D/R/U/G/S – Love/Lust (darkmixx) [download via bad-fotography] Download: Love__Love_Lust_.html
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damnnn love/lust is such a good song
D/R/U/G/S is brutal, man.