By Vincent
March 28, 2013

Do you want to spend an evening of unpretentious garage rock, a couple of cigarettes, a few beers and have some seriously real fun?

Then a Black Manila concert is definitely what you need!

The English trio takes the music of their ‘60 and ‘70s predecessors, offering songs that reek of cellars and old beer kegs, singing about nothing more than the daily life of any young Londoner who is accustomed more than anything else to hang around, chasing a girl, spending the evening with friends and playing wrecked instrument in hand.

The venue, The Three Blind Mice in Shoreditch, is perfect for this kind of concert (even the band states during the gig, “garage music should be played in places like this”). It is nothing more than a little rough basement full of youths ready to get rid of a long day in the cold gray capital. And it is exactly this characteristic attitude, a little bored, a little carefree, that strongly marks the band, whose sound, reminiscent of the myths of English garage (Kinks, Turtles and some early Who for good measure) as well as the more underground New Yorkers, glistens with a few numbers following close in the footsteps of most typical rock and roll songs by the Velvet Underground and the punk scene.

After a few minutes the dozens of people who fill The Three Blind Mice are already entirely absorbed by the music, moving their head and legs to the rhythm of grooving bass lines, laughing at the lyrics as simple as they are ironic, perfectly depicting the modus vivendi of an East Londoner. The concert is tight, people are having fun, drinking, pushing and embracing one with the other just a few centimeters in front of the band, while the band seems to be really comfortable in such a situation, like a big house party where everyone, from musicians to the audience, just want to have a good time.

The Black Manila will be hitting most of Europe in the next months, so, if you want to spend a carefree night, leaving the day at the office or university behind, pop in and say hello and enjoy a good time with those great guys