Live Music Review: Skinny Living at The Deaf Institute, Manchester

Score: ***** (5/5)

I probably arrived at Skinny Living’s gig as their least dedicated fan and left as one of their most. The upcoming Yorkshire-boys-next-door somehow managed to convert an RnB, hip-hop lover like myself into a girl who seeks the soulful sound of soft indie pop after their impressive 40-minute set.

Having never been to a gig on my own before or one of this genre, I didn’t know what to expect. Yet upon my arrival I felt somewhat ‘accepted’ by the band’s welcoming fan base, which like myself, was predominantly made up by star-struck female teenagers.

Skinny Living or the Wakefield-four-piece as they are commonly referred to, mixed their musical mastery with lyrics about love, the journey that we call life, and finding one’s own feet - a relatable concoction to anyone. It was their bearded solo support-act, James Gillespie however, who kick-started the voyage of relevant and heartfelt emotions with his powerful, electric guitar-led ballads.

Live at a venue named after its former role as a home for the deaf, the quartet took to the stage ready to be heard. Their opening track “No Low Lower Than Low”, immediately lit up the audience with its euphoric dance beat and turned the young crowd into a wave of bobbing heads.

Throughout the night, lead vocalist Ryan Johnston effortlessly displayed his faultless falsetto, confirming that he was indeed blessed with god-like vocal chords. In fact, in their second song “Let Me In,” which expresses the hardship of opening-up to someone because of your past, I felt my eyes well up and the delicate hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

As the next few songs slowed down, the oversized disco ball which hung above the dancefloor seemed somewhat out of place in such an intimate and cosy setting. It wasn’t until the Hollywood beam lights turned from white to brightly coloured mood lighting for upbeat “Strawberry Jam” that the funky reflections added to the atmosphere.

I think the song we were all waiting for was their penultimate, “Why”, which to me is what music sounds like at its best, stripped back to the very basics. Alongside guitarist Danny Hepworth, frontman Ryan used touching lyrics to open-up about his ongoing battle with depression. The line “how many suffer in silence? ‘cause real men don’t cry” single-handily pulling the heart strings of everyone in the room.

The boys ended on the very apt “Simply Sorry” - they didn’t want to leave the stage as much as the audience wanted them to stay. Triggering two encore songs, the four-piece said their final goodbye with “Messiah”, also the word that covers their band merchandise, made up of baggy t-shirts and hoodies.

Manchester’s endless drizzle greeted me as I left the venue. I put my headphones in, opened Spotify and pressed repeat on Skinny Living’s top 5 tracks. Despite the rain and having three Uber’s cancel on me, I was completely content with the music to my ears.