Sweat beads hang on foreheads and walls, strangers slam into each other with abandon, the guitars wail and ears ring. It’s perfect, really.
Night and Day Cafe, Independent Venue Week, Opus Kink. It’s a recipe for success and mosh pits as Opus Kink brings the noise to one of Manchester’s best-loved music institutions.
Support comes in the shape of two local risers: The Great Unwashed, whose fantastic band name is backed up with broody, fuzzy melancholia and The Slow Country, who have been the subject of local buzz for some time. The Slow Country are everything you want from a support band – a similar vibe to the headliner and bursting with passion and energy, leaving everything on the small stage. A superb advert for Independent Venue Week before the headliners have even begun.
By the time Opus Kink take to the stage, Night and Day is nearing frenzy. It’s early 2025 and the gig scene in Manchester is bursting out of January hibernation. People are ready to cause some chaos and Opus Kink are intent on delivering. The group tear into tune after tune, effortlessly coalescing grungy guitars with sleazy, funky bass and sax – they make an unmatched noise in the Cafe, inspiring swirling pits from the word go.
Angus Rogers directly incites the mayhem; placing a foot onto the speaker on the cusp of the stage, staring into the eyes of his baying crowd. Throughout the gig, he signals the bar for more Guinness, like a guitarist asking to change the mix. He bounces off the rest of the band, who gleefully respond in turn. Opus Kink are not playing around this evening: chaos is their MO and chaos is what they deliver.
Rogers parts the crowd at one point, diving into the masses. The band continue at frenetic pace as he is buffeted by sprawling bodies: the energy of the moment is magic, it’s exactly why independent venues are so important to the culture. The intimacy and energy in gigs like these are the very pinnacle of the British music scene – Sweat beads hang on foreheads and walls, strangers slam into each other with abandon, the guitars wail and ears ring. It’s perfect, really.
Opus Kink serve up a selection of gear from across their career. They’re on top form and the intimacy of the room plays into the band’s hands. They fill the space with cataclysmic funk punk – it is an utter joy to behold.
