The Travelling Band at The Fly

The Travelling Band, a six-piece, Mancunian folk-rock group, are the musical equivalent of being hugged, stroked and licked by a good-natured cat.

And they are equally furry or – as my friend put it at a gig at The Fly a couple of weeks ago – ‘altogether you could stuff a mattress with their hair’. I’m a great believer in hair. There’s something soothing about standing on tip-toes, craning your neck and being met with the sight of a bobbing mane of curls.

So what do they sound like?

There’s definitely a dash of fellow Manchester legends The Stone Roses with the tinkly, melodic guitars and a honey voiced singer in the form of Jo Dudderidge. Tracks like On the Rails have something of Primal Scream’s slower output and, if you want to get more modern about this comparison business, think The Fleet Foxes with a heavier guitar presence.

Traditionally, I favour bands that obliterate all thoughts via a string of electronic bleeps or that ruminate darkly on the constant turmoil of being alive. However, other genres exist for a reason and as I bopped along in a pleasant trance, able to communicate freely with my friends; my system got a brief jolt of what it’s like to unwind.

The Travelling Band were the headline act and the downstairs of The Fly was packed out and whooping at every available opportunity. To make the most of an hour-long set, Jo decided to leap into the friendly crowd for the last few songs. As the hair milling on stage became even more dynamic, I overheard a boy behind me say to his girlfriend in an amused voice, ‘is that a band or a group of guys having fun.’

And this is the main charm of The Travelling Band, they make you feel like you’re listening to them in someone’s front room or maybe around a camp fire in some remote glade where in the distance a naked hippy plays a harmonica.

Minus the naked hippy, it would seem that this is a fair reflection of how they roll in real life. Having chatted to them a little after the show, I found no difficult egos to dance around, just nice guys making nice music with enough vocal spike to give them an edge.

The Travelling Band played at:

The Fly
36-38 New Oxford Street
Bloomsbury
WC1A 1EP

The Travelling Band on MySpace

Photograph by Joanna Dudderidge