Ist Ist

The Yard, Manchester - 17th November 2023

Bands playing particular albums has become a thing in recent years and it is a theme that serves good purpose. Punters can go along to a gig knowing they are going to hear their favourite songs without having to pick them out between eleven tracks taken from a band's fifth album of jazz-inspired folk ballads played on maracas made from the dried gonads of various farm animals. It works. It's a rarity for a band to play two albums at one time; we very much enjoyed Super Furry Animals' last outing where they took on both Fuzzy Logic and Radiator, but three albums is unheard of.

Ist Ist don't do things the normal way. They are fiercely independent by nature and more importanty they are fiercely independent thinkers. What they have achieved hasn't fallen on their heads by accident, they have planned and worked and delivered. They have built a career doing things their own way and haven't just done these things right, they have done them well. For us old hands who were there when musical independence was born and have cherished its ethos and lived by its rules, they are a marvel. Apart from 'If It Tastes Like Wine' they haven't put a foot wrong and have our total respect and admiration.

If a band is playing three albums, it has to be bloody Ist Ist. Not something we could miss. That they pick the day for the gig when we are down in London to celebrate Johnny Moped's 70th birthday is a pain, but this is soon remedied when the original date at The Yard sells out in no time at all and the Friday is added. Problem solved. Hotel and a coach to London booked for the morning. The Yard is a new one for us. Just out of the centre of town we are able to park twenty yards from its doors and are impressed with the place itself, holding around 350 comfortably, with a high stage that makes it much easier for people at the back to see the band. The sound is excellent; it looks great. The lighting is also impressive, highlighting the band from behind and they appear to have made an effort for the occasion, Andy finally losing the long locks, Joel freshly shaved and Mat wearing a beige suit. "He's wearing a beige suit." We cannot stress enough how many times that thought flashes through our minds during the whole three hours of the gig. Ist Ist continue to challenge the accepted norms.

The three albums are being played in reverse order, beginning with 2023's Protagonists. Some in the audience are wondering if they will play the albums from the last song to the first, making it a backwards evening. No, they are all straight runs through; in our minds this is done so the band could end with Architecture's 'Slowly We Escape' which is more of a set killer than 'Trapdoors'. Whatever the reason, it works well. Andy introduces the album as the band's first proper album, one that "wasn't released when the world was fucked and wasn't recorded when the world was fucked." It is certainly the album which has helped the band to establish themselves far beyond their previous boundaries. It has taken them to America, helped sell out shows across Europe and reinforced their position in the UK as one of the most vital emerging bands around. Next year will be another big one. The sheer success of their endeavours means they will all be full time and a large European and UK tour has been scheduled, as well as studio time to work on that fourth album.

The advantage of being at the gig on the Friday night is that the audience gets to hear some songs being played live for the very first time, in this case 'Artefacts' and 'The Protagonist'. They are listened to attentively and the audience is thanked for showing them respect. This is an important word for this band. They treat their followers with respect and the audience reflect that back. On the whole. Work is needed to exclude the minority of dickheads who seem to want to fight at their gigs; there is nothing that will deter younger fans more from following the band than that. Luckily, this time it is a small incident that is dealt with firmly by Andy Keating but we have seen this absolutely destroy bands in the past so it cannot be ignored.

First album down, the band retire for ten minutes before emerging for The Art Of Lying. Running through the records the week before the gig, we are surprised at just how much we love this lockdown album. And what stands out most pointedly from it is how immaculate Joel Kay's drumming is on these songs. Whereas he is always spot-on with the metronomic, sharp rhythms that build the stark moods on the monochromatic early songs, when textures are added, Kay creates as well as shapes. His touch is immaculate. And these textures are largely built by Peters who is left alone on stage for 'Don't Go Gentle' when Adam Houghton has concluded his evocative vocal. Immersed in the cross-beams of two spotlights he plays the song out and it is a stunning moment; Ist Ist can do drama as well as anybody.

Architecture still appears to be the fans' favourite and it is not hard to see why with 'Wolves', 'Discipline', 'Night's Arm' and 'Slowly We Escape' there as songs that will always rate as band classics. When the latter explodes in a confusion of guitars it's a perfect end to this momentous gig by the least confused band around. The odd moment aside it has been a triumphant three hours as well as a statement of intent. "This is where we are. Now see where we go." Wherever that is, we will be there.

 

Set List: Protagonists: Stamp You Out, Something Has To Give, Nothing More Nothing Less, All Downhill, Mary In The Black And White Room, Emily, Artefacts, Fool's Paradise, The Protagonist, Trapdoors - [Interval] - The Art Of Lying: Listening Through The Walls, Fat Cats Drown In Milk, Middle Distance, Watching You Watching Me, The Waves, Extreme Greed, It Stops Where It Starts, If It Tastes Like Wine, Heads On Spikes, Don't Go Gentle - [Interval] - Architecture: Wolves, You're Mine, Black, Discipline, A New Love Song, Silence, Drowning In The Shallow End, Night's Arm, Under Your Skin, Slowly We Escape.