No Age and Wet Nuns – The Deaf Institute, Manchester 10/10/13

Tonight’s bill at Manchester’s always-charming Deaf Institute – non-natives might not be familiar with its gothic facade, giant disco ball and delightfully naff wallpaper – comprises two duos who, despite being sonically complementary to a degree, could not be further apart in terms of their current circumstances.

Sheffield’s Wet Nuns are playing one of their last shows ever, after abruptly announcing an apparently acrimonious split just days before the release of their debut, and now final, album. No Age, on the other hand, are showing little signs of slowing down, with a slew of fine reviews for August’s An Object under their belts and a live show as characteristically hectic as ever.

The decision on Wet Nuns’ part to give advance notice of their demise has, it seems, at least given ticket sales a boost for this final jaunt; the venue’s music hall is already reasonably full by the time they arrive and they certainly don’t pass up the opportunity to remind us what we’ll be missing once they’re gone.

It’s an electrifying set that makes a compelling case for the importance of playing live to bands in any rooted in blues. Closer ‘Throttle’ serves as a microcosm of the pair’s approach; enormous riffs, drums that snap like firecrackers and a fierce growl of a vocal from Rob Graham. Stickman Alexis Gotts chips in behind the mic himself on a couple of tracks, with a delivery so guttural it makes Mark Lanegan sound like Joanna Newsom. Calls for an encore sadly go unheeded, but at least serve as evidence that Wet Nuns are by no means going out unloved.

No Age’s live reputation is already the stuff of indie legend; they’re certainly one of the more logical signings of Sub Pop‘s current roster, evoking the kind of raw sound and riotous stage presence that were so fundamental to the Seattle scene from which the label sprung. You get the sense, too, that it’s something they’re by no means unaware of; their entrance is pure guitar theatre, with the snappily-named Randy Randall building loop after loop into a sonic avalanche, before crashing into ‘C’mon, Stimmung’ once drummer Dean Spunt joins him onstage.

The set leans pretty heavily on An Object; barked vocals are underscored by a strange percussive gurgle on ‘Circling with Dizzy’, while the reverb-drenched ‘I Won’t Be Your Generator’ provides an early highlight. Inclusions from earlier records seem hand-picked for their ability to contribute to keeping things moving at full pelt; ‘Teen Creeps’ simmers, and the screeching guitars on ‘Fever Dreaming’ seem as if they’re in direct competition with the drums in a race to the end of the song.

It’s an incendiary set, even if the crowd is largely static for the most part. The problem, though, is the nagging feeling that No Age have perhaps read a little too much into their reputation for delivering a blistering rock show and sacrificed some of their more interesting facets in order to ensure they pull it off. An Object is a thrillingly experimental record, but its live counterparts are often boiled down purely to short, sharp bursts of energy; that’s all well and good, of course, but it does mean that tonight, No Age aren’t fairly represented as the risk-takers they are in the studio.

Photograph taken by Sara Amroussi-Gilissen at The Dome in London on 02/10/13. View full gallery here.