A one-line review of everything I saw at Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII

I was very lucky enough to be invited to play at the Peer Hat in Manchester at the weekend as part of the Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, and so here is my take on everything I saw at the event …

I got there for a bit of the reading of Simon Armitage’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which was accompanied by some improvised lute and background keening, and was way more accessible than I had feared in advance. After that the main music acts for the day started …

Chelsea Hare, Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, The Peer Hat, Manchester, 1 Feb – This was incredibly technically proficient guitar playing that then broke down into improvised noise, with very heart-on-its-sleeve lyrics about relationship breakdowns and mental health.

Sister Monica, Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, The Peer Hat, Manchester, 1 Feb – As “Sister Monica” Anne Louise Kershaw gave a spoken word performance accompanied by a sound collage, which also touched on themes of relationships and mental health and was stridently feminist.

Futures We Lost, Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, The Peer Hat, Manchester, 1 Feb – With an analogue set-up I was anxiously jealous of – plus candles – this was a pleasing crunchy set of dark industrial drones and beats.

m-orchestra, Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, The Peer Hat, Manchester, 1 Feb – Some absolute fool of a Took with his electronic tunes about ghosts and a laptop he couldn’t get to play nicely with the venue’s projector. The vibe I got though was that it seemed well received and when I looked up from my inept keyboard playing there were even a few people dancing and swaying along.

Ella Kay, Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, The Peer Hat, Manchester, 1 Feb – This was my highlight of the day. Describing themselves as an “electroacoustic / experimental composer and sound artist” over a bed of organised found sound Ella Kay had a voiceover which seemed to me to be about the experience of being neurospicy while the sound coalesced to reproduce the experiences of sensory overload in crowded spaces. That’s what I took from it anyway. It was brilliant. You can find some of their work here.

The Manifestation Group, Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, The Peer Hat, Manchester, 1 Feb – By now I was very drunk. This was pleasing lo-fi psych-rock.

Wooden Tape, Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII, The Peer Hat, Manchester, 1 Feb – I really enjoyed this as well, instrumental acoustic-ish pastoral landscapes with an unsettling sinister edge to them.

As may have been noted when I’ve been on the bill at large events before, the details of all the acts get hazier and hazier because the closer it is to me performing the more nervous I get, and then after I’ve performed the more very, very drunk I get.

[Live pictures of me about ten minutes after finishing my set]

And I also mostly forget to take photos. These are the only ones I grabbed …

[Sister Monica performing at Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII]

[Futures We Lost performing at Manchester Folk Horror Festival VII]

… but I did take a picture of this brilliant angry looking owl in the venue …

… and their picture of a zombie Mrs Thatcher, both of which I sent to my kids to disturb them in some 10/10 no notes parenting.

As well as the live music there was also some screenings going and a couple of DJs. It was packed and had a really nice vibe. I might make attending an annual fixture.