The Castle Hotel, Manchester
19-09-23
My, my, my; that was a treat. System Exclusive were in town – Manchester town that is, the Vaticanesque hub of the great God of British music. The System are actually American, LA folks, & are currently touring the UK. The previous night they were in Glasgow – then after some car troubles they finally hit the NW, well less hit, more slam dunk’d their sinthy-riffy-beatbouncy songs into the lovely back room of the Castle Hotel, in the city’s Northern Quarter.
Underneath the church-like beams & rafters, & with a fascinating array of pedals & L.E.D.-flashing sound boxes, System Exclusive are Ari Blaisdell and Matt Jones – she’s on a bolt-of-lightning-strapp’d guitar, he’s on drums, while the sound is fill’d out by all manners of weird & wonderful digitalized sound effects. Blaisdell is an addictive watch, she pulls some reyt moves, like; & faces, & postures, & statuesque stances. Meanwhile, Jones is pulsating us all thro the set with some proper tom-pounding, overdrive drums. Not so much dancey, more transfixing you & locking you into something very special.
Blaisdell’s guitar playing is ethereal, she has a massive affinity for the instrument, & her voice is full of nuance – Adam & the Ants yelps, Joy Division drones – she is in complete command of her coolness. In general a gig is a spectacle, but I sometimes found myself closing my eyes & diving into the music, & it was on these occasions where I was transported to another place – eyes full of rainbows & phosphenes & an ectoplasmic aura surrounding my dark peripherals. Arcane, almost. My favorite song, by the way, I don’t know it’s actual name, had a chorus line of ‘I want to see regret in your eyes.’ A remarkable piece!
Their songs are all quality, tho’ not so much catchy as such. It was funny when they play’d their only cover, of a song by Eddie Murphy, & tried to explain it goes down brilliant Stateside – I don’t think anyone in the UK even new about the song. Outwith that, however, everything was just peachy, especially when they play’d songs they’d been writing prolifically on the road. I’m sure they’d written one in Glasgow the previous day call’d Changing Rooms, & the way they polish’d thro it’s funky staccato chunk seem’d to me as if they’d been playing it years. I mean, that’s cool, right – well, it was to me.
Damo
Mumble Music 