1,263 CAVETOWN, Ricky Montgomery, Milo, Manchester O2 Apollo, Saturday 18th February 2023

 

Another chance for me to take Jami to see one of their favourite artists, and it’s once again Cavetown, the low-fi bedroom angst-pop alter ego of trans artist Robin Skinner. We’d seen him deliver an understated but entertaining solo acoustic set at Bristol Fleece at the back end of last year (gig 1,255) but this one was the previously-booked, full-on (and pretty much sold out everywhere!) band tour. And a road-trip and overnight stop too – given that Cavetown’s tour dates fell squarely in February half-term, a world of possibilities opened up, so we ultimately decided to book for the Manchester date, scheduling a weekend family visit to meet up with my Manc-domiciled oldest son Evan in the process!

So, we headed up on the Saturday morning, meeting up with Evan for some street food in the Arndale Market and shopping, primarily in Afflecks! Once Jami had burnt a large hole in my wallet, we headed off to our Gorton Air B’n’B house, before Rachel dropped Jami, Evan and myself off at the nearby Apollo just after 5. The gig was oddly scheduled for a very early 5.30 doors, but it was evident that the Cavetown massive had been congregating for some hours before that, and the O2 Priority queue even stretched along one whole side of the building! Yikes! Jami was in a state of high excitement/ anxiety, as they wanted to hit the front, but even with this large priority queue (and a rather disorganised bag search routine) we still pitched up about 3 rows back, front and centre in this large and ornate 2,500 (ish) capacity hall. The place quickly filled up with similarly excited young folks, and it was evident to Evan and myself that this would be a test of endurance – on the knees, at least! The young LGBTQ+-savvy audience amused themselves with some call and responses to phone images held up by various punters (including Jami!); cheers for the pride flag, boos for JK Rowling and Andrew Tate! Openers Milo joined us at 6.30; from Minneapolis and clearly relishing their first trip to Manchester, they played some pleasant if innocuous summery pop with a couple of decent numbers in the clap-along “Greenhouse” and closer “Floating”, which featured some tumbling off kilter drums following a scat vocal and a soulful hook. Alright, I guess, but they went down a storm with the hyped-up crowd…

 The hockey international-level screams then went up a thousand notches at 7.20, as Ricky Montgomery’s guitarist leapt onstage, channelling his inner Jon Bon Jovi with a mighty power chord and initiating a “Ricky! Ricky!” chant. The energetic Ricky himself then joined us, a stadium rock beast trapped in the body of a boy band reject, in the pit and in the faces of the front rows as early as the second number. An early “I’m A Wreck” featured a towering hook, before the set, rather incongruously, settled down to more Buddy Holly-esque 50’s soda bar acoustica, prior to easily his best number, the yearning, Posies-like powerpop of “This December”. A little schizophrenic stylistically, then, but the boy knows how to get a crowd going…

 After Ricky, the crowd was in a state of high anticipation, and Jami had squirmed her way to second row. In fact, during this interval, 3 people either fainted or needed rehydration (then 3 more during Cavetown’s actual set!), so the noise was almost palpable as Robin and his band took the stage prompt at 8.30. Introspective opener “Worm Food” reminded me of old Boston faves Jr. Corduroy in its’ understated poppiness, with Robin swaying around gawkily like a younger Andy McCluskey (OMD singer and another gauche dancer!). “I hope you have the best night ever!” he announced to his utterly devoted audience before “Fall In Love With A Girl”, then the tongue-in-cheek “Lemon Boy” saw confetti cannons spray their contents at its’ climax to huge cheers.

 

Once again, Cavetown’s performance felt understated, Robin’s voice low-key and muted, with the band providing no more than colourwash musical embellishments. Once again, however, the connection with the audience was undeniable, his young congregation hanging on his every word, every question met with screams of approval, and I even noticed a young couple behind Jami in tears virtually throughout the set. Jami was having a brilliant time, belting out the words to every song along with the rest of them! As for me, I liked the rockier “Grey Space”, featuring that old “Buck Rogers”/ “Birthday” riff, and the Death Cab-like undulating alt-indie of “1994”. Robin kneeled at the front to deliver a hushed and tender “Wasabi”; a horde of cuddly frogs were held aloft (along with the constant multitude of phones) during a perky “Frog” (a cuddly bee landed at my feet during this number, so I chucked it onstage at Robin’s feet, for him to pick it up and put in on his keyboard!), then for penultimate number “Juliet” Robin gathered up the many LGBTQ+ related flags thrown onstage, and swirled them around as he danced, a rainbow of colours trailing in his wake.

 A couple of encores saw the confetti cannon blast again, before final number “Devil Town” proved to be my highlight of the night, an uncharacteristic punky blast to end a set lapped up by the faithful. I happily grabbed a list for Jami, then we got picked up by Rach outside afterwards, before a Maccy D’s pitstop on the way back to the house. Cooked breakfast courtesy of Evan the next morning, before a difficult traffic-affected Sunday drive back to the ‘don. Nonetheless, a successful weekend, and another chance for Jami to see Cavetown well and truly taken!