swim school – The Deaf Institute, Manchester (4/18/24)

The danger of going to too many gigs is that you go along, see a support band you’ve never heard, decide you need to see them properly at a later date and you end up with far too many shows to attend. In 2023 this seemed to be a recurring theme for me, with tickets purchased to see Desperate Journalist, Girl Scout and Larkin Poe after discovering them opening for other acts. Then at the end of year whilst seeing The Amazons at Sheffield Leadmill I was introduced to upcoming Edinburgh rock band swim school.

As luck would have it, shortly afterwards they announced their first headlining tour, which as the first date was at the glorious Manchester Deaf Institute (yes, the photos don’t lie, the stage does look like your eccentric Aunt’s front room) it didn’t require much consideration before snapping up tickets in the pre-sale.

Never having been in a band that played anything larger than my school’s assembly hall, I’m guessing that setting out on your maiden headlining tour must be one of the most nerve wracking moments in an artist’s career. Will any of the fans who signed up to the mailing lists and subscribed to social media channels actually part with their cash for a ticket? Thankfully in this case all eleven dates turned into sell outs and I suspect in years to come plenty of fans will claim they were there to see the band as their career moved up a notch.

Despite some early nerves and technical problems the band quickly hit their stride, clearly delighting in how many of the fans already knew each and every lyric off by heart. Mini mosh pits appeared as the Deaf Institute witnessed what most have been one of its most lively performances in recent times.

Front woman Alice Johnson, prowling the stage with a manic energy, demonstrated a star quality clearly destined for larger venues. In one moment she was scowling at audience members for talking during the performance and displaying her rage during anti-misogyny in the music industry anthem Delirious, then in the next she displaying her softer side as she took on ballad To Grow solo, choking up at the audience’s response to her heartfelt performance.

But it was the final run of songs where things were taken to another level, with Seeing it Now and Give Me a Reason Why showcasing choruses surely destined to be chanted back at the band in sold out arenas, before the haunting intro of Anyway morphs into an out and out rocker to bring the show to a rousing close.

Two weeks later I managed to grab tickets at Sheffield Oporto as the tour entered its final stages. Same band, same set, but a little more confidence and a little more stage craft. As with any new band coming through these days the challenge is how to take things to the next level, but with the songs and passion displayed swim school are more than capable to do so when the opportunity presents itself.

***

swim school performed:

BORED
outside
kill you
don’t leave me behind
over now
everything you wanted
delirious
let me inside your head
To Grow
Seeing It Now
give me a reason why
see red
anyway

***

Youtube Highlight of the Evening: With only one video to select from it was a straight forward choice to go with this recording of set opener BORED from Keith Webb. And unfortunately if you know where to look you can spot me somewhere in the crowd.