Should you so desire, and if you have the stamina, you can treat the day as a continuous seven hour concert. This one-day festival takes over The Wedgewood Rooms and its smaller adjoining sibling venue The Edge of The Wedge, for the day. While one band plays, the next act due on in the neighbouring space sets up so they’re ready to go as soon as the other act finishes.
Its testament to the slick organisation of the day that it provides near seamless music – and the crowd bounces happily back-and-forth between the two. Now in its second year, Night Currents is put on by ABH Promotions, Fitz Promotions and Rock Coven the 12-act bill aims to highlight the best in up-and-coming indie, alternative and punk. Due to domestic commitments, I can unfortunately only make the latter half of the day.
Phoebe Green is onstage in The Edge when I arrive. Her confessional synth-pop proves popular with the crowd. Aziay on the mainstage brings guitar-driven alt-pop to an energetic and endearing performance where she works hard to win over the crowd with songs by turns spikey and sweet.
When she borrows a trans flag from a front-row fan and dances with it, the audience loves her for it. Mancunian punks Loose Articles in an increasingly sweaty Edge are a revelation. Their take on punk is both fierce and funny, but that’s not to so say they don’t tackle serious subjects – they deal with misogyny and radical politics (and pinball).
However, they’ll do it with a smile on their faces while.