We saw Barrie at The Deaf Institute. The Deaf Institute is out the way. It’s down a big long road, past YES, past a Nando’s and past the shitty new box park that’s attempting to turn a small section of Oxford Road into Shoreditch. Not for me. It’s a small, quaint building. Narrow, but tall. Three floors including a bar area and gig venue. The food is mostly vegan and the beer, their own brand lager anyway, is cheap – which means it gets a massive thumbs up. £2 a pint is hard to find nowadays, but The Deaf Institute has that covered, meaning the extra 10 minutes walking in the cold is made 100% worthwhile.
It’s bitterly cold in Manchester right now. So cold in fact, that I kept my coat – a brown faux fur number I stole from my mother’s wardrobe – on during Barrie’s set. The New Yorkers produced one of my favourite albums of 2019, the wonderfully dreamy Happy To Be Here. It’s a hypnotic record with a much-needed warmth to it, like a hot water bottle or something.
Live, Barrie’s voice is scrumptious. Soft, timid, effortless, as if she’s only just realised she can sing. Her and the band are together on stage – they have fun, the drummer counting them in my blinking, which they fail at miserably. The keyboard player is class, as well. Lightening fast fingers, a bit like the Sundance Kid, I was in awe. They play a few from the album, drop a quick ABBA cover, play a few more of the album and leave. Bish bash bosh. Purposeful, to the point. The New York way, eh?
Listen to Barrie on Spotify and Apple Music. Get the latest edition of our print magazine featuring interview with Black Honey, Matt Maltese, Mattiel, Molly Burch and much much more HERE.
