Live: Tribes, Academy 2, Manchester

...Then there's times like tonight. Times that make you worry for the future sanctity of live music. Times that make you half-question why it is you spend your free time doing this in the first place. Footing the bill tonight are Birmingham's eclectically electronic Superfood whose fresh brand of “nouveau electro” kicks things off in brilliant style. The energy the band possess on stage is nothing short of infectious, or at least it should be. Somewhere between leaving the monitors, and entering the quarter-capacity crowd, it gets lost in translation. There are, inevitably,  pockets of attendees which seem to get what Superfood are doing, and well they should. But for the vast majority, taking photos of themselves and uploading them to Instagram, as if lacking proof they were actually there, seems to be of the utmost importance, and as Superfood close with the eponymously named 'Superfood' an anarchic and psychedelic foray, no one seems to realise that their evening has probably just peaked, and it wasn't to do with the four likes their picture just got on Facebook.

Second to take to the stage tonight are The Brute Chorus, a London based four-piece (with aid of a session sax player) who are bringing blues in to the contemporary. Unfortunately for them the words time and place have never rung more true, and although singer James Steel is certainly getting his rocks off, the rest of the band look nothing short of bored while the crowd, larger than before yet ultimately just as placid, seem to care little and less with every passing number; it says a lot about a support act when the bar staff have more energy than the band, and when those propping up the bar seem to be having more fun than those at the front of the crowd.

Finally, 21:30 rolls around and Johnny Lloydet al take to the stage and launch in to the Pixies-esque 'Whenever' from last year's Baby, prompting perhaps the best crowd reaction of the night thus  far, which still isn't saying much. I don't know what it is about tonight, but there's a distinct lack of atmosphere, and it isn't entirely the fault of Tribes. Sure the set feels overly polished, lacking the grit and grime that populated the aforementioned Baby, but there's just no energy in the crowd. There's the obligatory crowd-surfer here and there, and a half-hearted attempt at a mosh-pit every so often, but it all feels so lacklustre. There are obvious moments of gold that sparkle completely, such as 'In the Corner of an English Field' and 'When My Day Comes' but they all seem to come from the first album, a shame given the esteem in which I personally hold second effort Wish To Scream, and this can probably be attributed to two things, the first, is the album was only released two days prior to tonight, and wasn't leaked at all. The second, and perhaps most important, the tracks from Wish To Scream are far too ambitious for the cramped confines of one of Manchester's worst venues. The songs are made to be played at festivals, or on road trips, places witha sense of space, and that's something Academy 2 lacks, despite its approx. 1000 capacity. Unsurprisingly, new single 'Dancehall' gets a huge reaction, from a surprisingly early inclusion suggesting there might be life in the crowd yet (unfortunately this is soon disproved). A personal highlight of the night is the moody 'Nightdriving' which sees Lloyd excel himself vocally, the sound on this track is close to being perfect.

It's a shame that there seems to be a huge a sense of lethargy amongst tonight's crowd; Tribes as a band are as tight as you could want them, and though not quite as vivacious as Superfood, their energy is undeniable. The sound too, is as good as I've ever heard it in the venue, which makes me wonder why the atmosphere just isn't present. I left tonight having already freed up the space Tribes took up on my mental Leeds Fest itinerary, however given the ambitious sounds of Wish To Scream it may well be worth giving them the benefit of the doubt and seeing whether those ambitions uphold in a distinctly different environment and atmosphere.