Ambulance Ltd,The Cinematics Live Review @ The Night and Day Cafe (Manchester) - 12 Jun 2005

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Live Review

The entire 200 or so crowd stood sheepishly away from the front five feet of rustic tile flooring that preceded the stage area. Thus implying that people had been informed on their arrival that if they trod on any of those tiles, then the locally famous cinematic screen that serves the dual purpose of entertaining and concealing pre-act preliminaries, would rise up and reveal a Cast covers band.

The fear of onlookers was allayed when snappy beat rockers The Cinematics from Glasgow entered and instigated a shuffle towards the front. Headed by the wiry and artily clad Scott Rinning this quartet brought rhythm and realism into the room by way of Interpol shaken up by the power of The Clash and hint of Talking Heads opener Trapped. The captivating outfit that formed in 2003 demonstrated confidence and poise that hit a high in the jagged Be in the World. A brief set built up towards a captivating conclusion that resulted in the polished and piercing Wake Up, reminiscent of Joy Division joined by Television. The attention of gatherers then turned towards the back of the venue, as people were anxious pick up memorabilia of this catchy outfit from the merchandise stall.

A relaxing opening by way of the hypnotic instrumental Yoga Means Union introduced New York’s Ambulance LTD to an expectant crowd. The pungent previous single; Primitive followed that represents one of the highlights on their self titled debut album. This number combines the caressing sound of Grandaddy crashing a private show by the Mar-keys, and was the perfect forum for the Elliot Smith and dash of Neil Young vocals of Marcus Congleton. The mid-tempo country fuelled indie on show, provided for a largely upbeat and relaxed set. The slower and laid back acoustic fuelled Michigan provided one of the main focal points of an illuminating and promise filled set. With tonight’s performance Ambulance LTD hit back at the stereotypes of the New York sound in the right way. I for one did not think about The Strokes or Interpol during the entire set!

David Adair