//Gig Review\\ Juno/Plain Sight/Pretty Colours-Off The Square-28/04/2023

As the sun cascaded over a busy Manchester evening in April, there was a distinct sense in the air that something big was coming, and only those who would be in attendance would know exactly what was about to hit the city.

On the 28th of April at Off the Square in Manchester, Northern Parasol hosted their first off-the-Square residency show featuring three promising alt-rock and post-punk artists; Juno, Pretty Colours and Plain Sight, whose sound may have juxtaposed the weather of the day but still embodied a similar power, warmth and enthusiasm that fuels the nights we cherish close to our hearts and worth it neck pain the next morning.

Kicking it all off beautifully was post-punk three-piece, Pretty Colours who were ready to make their presence known.

Pretty Colours:

From the jump, you knew exactly who Pretty Colours were. With a gritty post-punk sound that filled Off the Square from ceiling to floor, the trio quickly earned well-deserved adoration from a small but enthusiastic crowd of both familiar faces and new ones.

Throughout the set, tracks flowed brilliantly into each other to create a musical sequence of high energy, head-shaking post-punk that would make idles grin from ear to ear. They may not have been dressed for the same band but were united as one with clear chemistry between all three members (Jack, Rhydian, and Tarrin ) both musically and personally between the songs as if they had been in a band together since forever. This band proves that even as a support you've got to give the gig every part of you and that is exactly what this band did throughout their set with a sound that had the potential to melt your brains but also warm your soul through sleek instrumentals and strong rock vocals.

With so many opportunities in the set for the crowd to easily get lost in, by the end there was a longing in the air to hear more of what the band had to offer, the crowd didn't need to worry though, because the band were sure to give them something to remember: to bring extra guitar pics but also that Pretty Colours are here to stay with angst in their lyrics and high energy, roof smashing power.

This set solidified Pretty Colours as a band who are worthy of their own headline gig, a force to be reckoned with.

Blink you might just miss their incredible rise to the top.

With the stage now well and truly warmed up, and the crowd bonding over various anecdotes with both friends and strangers about all kinds of different topics, it was time to change gears a little with Plain Sight up next on the show’s exciting rock line-up.

Plain Sight:

From the minute they walked on stage you could tell grunge was in the building. Plain Sight are best described as a rose with thorns when it comes to their music delivering a brilliant combination of shredding guitars, soulful crystal vocals and hard-hitting drums to create a performance that would fit perfectly into an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or some other 90s teen drama and be recalled for years by fans.

This band possesses such a ferocious fire in their performance that even a crowd unfamiliar with the band couldn't help but thrive off: singing along to every lyric, and moving to every beat as if it was flowing through their veins from birth.

Not even a power cut mid-set could stop this band in their tracks, who quickly turned the tables with an intimate rendition of their third track of the set where the crowd got to witness the band's high energy up close and personal, the kind of experience that can easily make the whole night worthwhile.

Plain Sight didn’t just like to get grungy and sweet though, they proved they could also rock the other side of the coin with groovy tracks that light up the room and get the crowd dancing like there is no tomorrow as demonstrated closer to the end of the band’s set.

Back on the heavy side of the band’s discography, came the band's debut single 'Inhale', a very clear crowd favourite, which brought hard-hitting musicality and a very exciting cherry to top the rock cake that was the band’s set at Off The Square. Having been previously unfamiliar with the band, this set for me showcased that Plain Sight are a band who are ready to rock their way right to the top of Manchester's rock scene and solidified them as a band that I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for, especially if the sets keep being as exciting as this one.

Overall a set to remember.

The end of the night was now nigh but not before more chatter from the crowd, drinks and some very deserved thank yous to the venue, photographers and all those involved in this brilliant gig, and Juno’s headline set.

Juno:

Juno was the name on everyone’s lips before the band had even taken the stage, with various crowd members proudly wearing the band’s merchandise and telling their friends that this would be the set to change their life, and it wasn’t hard to see why once the band took the stage, faced with excited chants of Juno, Juno, Juno.

This may have been their first time playing in Manchester, but it certainly didn’t feel like it with the way the crowd responded to their stage entrance and first track of the set.

From the get-go of the band’s long-awaited set, the room swayed with a unified alt-rock flair that featured rich basslines, warm reverb guitars and harmonious vocals that aligned better than the stars ever could to set the band on track for a set of pure magic and alt-rock brilliance. The band were one with the crowd, and you couldn’t help but join in, and that was just the first two songs!

Juno's set had momentum throughout with room-filling melodies and joy radiating in bucket loads as well as fun anecdotes about certain songs showing they weren’t just musicians but all-round entertainers, with a favourite story being that the third song of the band’s set had made an audience member cry the last time they played it.

Juno could have probably asked the crowd to do anything, and they likely would have, especially when it came to dancier tracks such as Detox which earned a comment,' We want to see you dance to this one, I don't want to see anyone standing still' from lead singer, Peter Hayes, a comment that the crowd quickly took on and adapted to.

Juno showed they were a band who could do it all throughout their set, but it was most clearly seen through two excellent covers within their set which included Message in a Bottle by The Police and Californication by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers which showed excellent range in not only the band’s influences but also skill to put a rocky twist on two quite chilled songs.

By the end of the set, the band decided to take the music back to their roots with the first song they ever wrote, a harmonious, melodic rock track that kept the crowd on its toes and cheering for more, a request the band were more than happy to fulfil further with their final two tracks including ‘NRG’, and surprise closer, Bouncers, which brilliantly wriggled its way into the set after enthusiastic chants of one more song from a still energetic and thriving crowd. A track which in my opinion, is the best kind of track to close a night of high-energy rock, and good times with that will be worth the aches and the hangovers in the morning.

As the lights rose and the crowd filtered out into the cool Manchester night air to continue their night, three names were circling their minds and dancing on the tip of their tongues. These are the nights that make life so vibrant and I’m sure this won’t be the last for Pretty Colours, Plain Sight and of course the mighty Juno.