Cruush - Live at YES Manchester by Jessica Guscoth

cruush take the stage with an engaging and moody performance, which transfixes their small and passionate crowd in the basement of Manchester’s YES bar.

Manchester’s own cruush follow a series of excellent openers and fit right at home amongst the low ceilings, dim lights and foggy atmosphere. With Amber, as front person, Arthur and Charlie performing guitarists and Fotis on the drums. 

Their crowd is a collection of passionate shoe gazers, ranging in age from young to old, they are united in the love of echoey vocals, reverbed instruments and looking down at your feet while you sway side to side. The content focuses on embracing life, rejecting limitations imposed upon you and finding beauty in sadness. 

The performance begins with Wishful Thinker, lead by a deep electric guitar, piercing snares, muffled vocals which blend into the melody alongside the other instruments and all of which is support by a calm baseline. This transitioned peacefully into the As She Grows, the bands latest single. 

The tempo quickly raised, with fast paced drums and energised chords which seek to elevate the vocals. The song regales a tale about neighborhood garden fairies dancing amongst the grass and finding joy in the mundane, a simple wonder which encourages the crowd to dance along in kind. 

There was little crowd interaction between songs, the music passes delicately from one to another which seeks to keep the crowd transfixed, this delicacy is mirrored in the on stage performance from the swaying movement on guitarist to the tip toeing lead singer. 

Rupert Giles is called out as the next song, and an audience which all love “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” cheer out as the band dances across the stage together performing a fun ode.

False Start allows the guitars and drummers to take shine, a long introduction where the sound bounces through the room and creates a deep melancholic atmosphere, a story of love lost and rejection. The crowd feels the passion of resistance and the sadness of wasted time, all of which culminates into a loud crash of sound and energetic chaos which is reserved for select moments. 

The show culminates in the performance of an unreleased track Head Space, standing on stage covered in fog, there is one last ballad which demonstrates the immersive sound of shoegaze.The crowd chants for one more song as the band thanks them for taking part. 

The first show of their short tour, Cruush is sure to continue spreading their moody sound! 

Click here to see the photographs taken alongside this review