The Orwells - a rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Fronted by Mario Cuomo, they hit the small and intimate Night & Day Cafe in Manchester.
Stepping into the venue of which i'd never been before, photos of Bowie and The Beatles proudly hang on the vintage wallpaper. Matched with a few chandeliers and cushioned booths, it hardly looked like the place to hold one of the maddest gigs i've ever been to.
The support act, Silver Palms kicked off the night and were sounding great, dressed in the typical indie band attire; denim jackets and skinny jeans, topped off with that Jake Bugg hair cut. They launched into their set of catchy, garage-y rock songs and were definitely not a support act you watch with your drink in hand, wishing they'd hurry up and finish.
I knew it was going to be a weird one when Mario Cuomo stumbled onto the little stage with half a bottle of red in his hand. Rattling through the first song, seconds into 'Mallrats (La La La)' the crowd proceeded to lose their shit. I can only describe the lead singer as a 'possessed goldilocks', he seemed undisturbed as the obeying crowd yanked and pulled at his curly blonde hair whilst he yelled the lyrics at them. Standing only metres away from this was a fascinating thing to watch, the small mosh pit at the front of the stage worshiped him. The band proceeded to play 'Halloween All Year', 'In My Bed' and everyones favourite 'Dirty Sheets' slap bang in the middle of the set.
What was the most notable thing throughout the set wasn't Mario Cuomo being on queue every time despite being completely out of it, ripping his jumper off mid-set or when he grabbed an Asda water bottle, sprayed it across the crowd then crumpled it and dropped it on someones head. It was his stare, it was as if his body had been possessed, taken over by another being. Between each song he didn't speak, he would just stare to the back of the room or into one of the green stage lights. One of the weirdest but most brilliant things i've ever seen.
♥
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