The Slow Readers Club, The Ritz. 19th December 2019

Strobe lights capture flailing limbs, hundreds of arms reach for the sky as the sound from the stage battles the audience and the decibels rise. This is The Slow Readers Club. Now firmly on their way to bonafide Manchester legend status. The sound inside The Ritz tonight is huge, punchy, wonderfully aggressive. Whether that’s down to equipment, atmosphere or the band I’m not sure, but I suspect all three. The band seem especially tight, they always are, but it’s razor sharp to suit the sound, each component at the top of his game, but the overall sum much much more than its parts. It’s not weird to describe this band that way, there’s a mechanical industrialness to it, born of the city we’re in, but draped in great swathes of emotion and it’s that emotion that connects with the audience. A Readers gig is a celebration, a chance to open up, escape, rejoice! This is my church and it... is... miraculous.