Very wild, very weird, very wonderful!
Alan Dearling writes:
It was at the floating, mobile show on the deck of Opal’s Comet narrowboat that I caught up with a variety of members from Mr Wilson’s troupe. They purvey music, theatre, art. That show provided the impetus to want to see the stage ‘band’ in action. It was a folksy-theatre-affair, but highly unusual in that the audience had to walk along the tow path of the Rochdale Canal to watch the show as the boat traversed the waterway and the locks. So, a year later came an opportunity for me with support from Mal at the Trades Cub venue to visit Mr Wilson’s musical manifestation. It was a full-on 101% sensory experience. Totally immersive. The crammed, rammed crowd were dancing, gyrating, bouncing off the walls from the get-go. It was a highly choreographed piece of musical theatre – a Brass Band Rave, no less.
Mr Wilson’s troupe are seasoned performers. Their members move around the stage with the prowling intensity and the imperial majesty of musical kings of the jungle. The seven members swap places on the stage, each entering the spotlights, the flashing lights, the strobes. Brass aficionados all… This was brass band music, but definitely not as you normally know it. Not for folk who want to sit on their bums and be passive recipients. Many in the audience sang along with tunes, even when the band members were not even vocalising. Mr Wilson’s Second Liners provided their versions of tracks that etched many lives in the late eighties, nineties and into the noughties. Rave anthems. Think Prodigy, think Joy Division, think Faithless, think Leftfield, perhaps Chemical Brothers. A veritable fusillade of sound, an assault and battery of total ‘brass-off’! It was loud, it was an Old Skool mosh-pit of bodies, singing and dancing. Pure Ecstasy. ‘Aceeed!’
From my point of view the whole ensemble was interwoven together by the mobile drummer with his wheelie-rig drum kit. He seemed to manoeuvre everywhere around the stage. The lights flashed, swooned and swooped waves of colours across the performers and punters. Challenging to photograph and capture the essential essence. In fact, Totally Bonkers and sensory overload.
Before the show the advance publicity described them as:
“MR WILSON’S SECOND LINERS
New Orleans meets ‘90s club classics…a rave funeral without the body.
In New Orleans, funerals are celebrated in style, with noisy brass bands processing through the streets. The main section of the funeral leads the way, but the real fun starts with the Second Line, those who follow the band to enjoy the music, marching with the musicians and twirling parasols or waving handkerchiefs.
A rabble of mischievous northerners, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners form a traditional New Orleans style Second Line. However, they expend their collective musical talent paying homage to the diehard days of the Hacienda, ‘90s club culture and its greatest hero, Mr Tony Wilson.
These revolutionary genre bashers knock the First Line sideways, opt for upbeat dance tracks over traditional slow hymns. Proudly stepping out in uniformed style, they channel the spirit of the 24 hour party people and get audiences dancing wherever they play.
The vision is an anarchic, street extravaganza, bursting with colour and sound, rallying impromptu raves on street corners and rousing audiences young and old into a joyful frenzy.”
Mr Wilson’s is something of an ‘institution’ in the North:
“Since 2013, Mr Wilson’s have been producing artistically-rigorous, live performances. We work with programmers and communities to dream up joyous, place-making celebrations.”
And so, there will be old and new fans of the Mr Wilson’s Second Liners recovering from their energy-filled, rampant euphoria. They really are very special indeed. Now arriving Live on Manchester Platform 1 (not everyone can access Facebook videos): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2903986503177315
Mixmag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXtJmnybid8
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