Is there a better way to close out the year than with one final day of new music discovery and frantic venue hopping around Manchester... we think not and Scruff of the Neck's Years End festival provided us with just that. Despite the persistent showers of storm Darragh which made the venue hopping experience a little less pleasant than usual, we still had a fantastic day packed of memorable live performances from the very best in the Indie scene.
We kicked things off with Issy Sutcliffe in Retro Bar, an artist who we've admired for a while but never had the chance to see play live with her full band. It was a stomping, swagger-filled performance that shook everyone in the room awake and announced that the festival was underway with a bang! Quite fittingly, there were some retro tinges to the performance, reminiscent of female Rock icons like Stevie Nicks and Patti Smith yet with a modern day finesse.
The raucous energy of Beam Noir woke us up even more as they thrashed through their set full of big riffs and thunderous electro drones. Liverpool outfit TOY CAR then really impressed us with a sharp, high-octane set led by the powerful vocals of frontman Shuan Hough. They delivered Indie anthem after Indie anthem, the majority of which are currently unreleased so we can't wait for new music to arrive soon from these guys.
Talk Show were one of our favourites of the day, blending Punk sensibilities with a modern Electro-Rock twist. Each track featured danceworthy grooves that begged you to start moving and cacophonous instrumental freak outs that make you feel like you're in some kind of sonic whirlwind.
However, the best was saved till last as Spector took to Gorilla for a wonderful headline set. Combining their infectious Indie hits and quirky lyricism with their trademark showmanship, they drew every last ounce of excitement out of every song, prolonging build ups, encouraging huge singalongs and even coming into the crowd for a final moshpit. They never disappoint and it was the perfect end to the year's festival programme. Now bring on 2025!
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