Originally published on 30 May 2014. Words by Alex Tadros

Smoke Fairies at Band on the Wall, Manchester

Tuesday 27th May 2014

It began with a small collective from the North East called The Lake Poets, opening with an acoustic set and making great use of the pedal guitar. The crowd had gathered and the Smoke Fairies were set to enter. A man with a strong handlebar moustache and a Brian Jones hairdo started setting up guitars and mics. With everything assembled they entered, dressed in matching white dresses to a large welcoming applause, kicking things off with their most recent release Shadow Inversions. Hypnotic and with a heavy bass line, the track got heads nodding in the front row as it transitioned into the first single off Smoke Fairies’ self-titled album, Eclipse Them All. One of their most ethereal songs, making a bit more use of their keyboards, it was easily this crowd’s favourite, and the audience seemed to sway at every note. It wasn’t so much a dancing kind of crowd, however Smoke Fairies are not necessarily a dancing kind of band; their music was mellow, ghostly – even dreamy.

All that changed though as the set moved on; the London duo showed serious prowess on guitar, with a fantastic use of slide on songs like Strange Moon Rising, which had people moving more rhythmically to the intriguing mix of psychedelia and blues.

A lot of credit has to go to the Smoke Fairies – their song writing is brilliant, the melodies they capture truly beautiful – yet their backing band deserve praise in equal measure. The hard-hitting drummer landed every beat in accordance with the song, knowing exactly when and where to take it down and build it back up (an important trait when it comes to music such as this). The revived Brian Jones on bass was no less phenomenal, working alongside the drummer to form a strong backing track to the girls’ elaborate piano and guitar riffs, giving an added boost of blues rock, which really tied the songs together. Likewise, it would be wrong to mention the backing band without their multi-instrumentalist; one minute strumming out rhythm chords on guitar, the next fiddling around with a violin, his input added real value to the country blues feel upon which the duo had clearly built their songs.

With every track so well structured and flawlessly played, one can only imagine how long the Smoke Fairies’ rehearsal sessions must have been. The set was not without its improv and flair, however, and the girls chuckled along with the audience throughout, mainly to calm down a man called Brian who kept shouting out for his favourite tunes.

A phenomenal gig from a phenomenal band – catch the Smoke Fairies on one of their few UK shows over the coming month before it’s too late!

9/10