Our time to shine

Photo: Gemma Kershaw

The Madding Crowd

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SELF-PROCLAIMED melodramatic popsters the Madding Crowd are gearing up for the biggest night of their six-year existence.

That night comes on Saturday week, November 26, when the Failsworth/Moston-based band - front-man Ben Corry, guitarist Dominic Corry, bassist Claud Corry and drummer Sav Patel - stage their eagerly-anticipated EP launch gig at Louis Beckett's Miners' Community Arts Centre in Moston.

The new offering features four brand new tracks - recently released single 'January begins', 'Where's the glamour', 'You'll get yours' and 'Sinking low' - and will be named 'The 78th Bridge on the Rochdale Canal' EP, apparently after a bridge in Moston where brothers Ben and Dominic regularly visited as children.

Asked about the gig, Ben said: "We're so looking forward to it because we've put together what we think will be a great night.

"The reason we chose the Miners is because it reflects every theme of our band really well.

"It's the perfect place for making it a whole experience and immersing yourself in what we're all about.

"We've got some amazing support acts playing, like our EP producer Sam Smith, who is doing a solo set.

"The stuff he does is really intense and powerful, so that'll be ace, and then we've got a spoken word artist on, by the name of Genevieve L Walsh.

"She is completely unparalleled as far as I'm concerned.

"She's really witty and humane, sad and beautiful - there's just a real load of truth in the things she writes."

A short video will precede the Madding Crowd gig, something the arty four-piece are also clearly proud of, and excited about.

Dominic said: "We filmed it at the actual bridge.

"It's just a little film based on the concept of the songs and what they're about, and what the band is all about.

"We do want to make our headline shows more exciting - make them more of an event, so we wanted to add something like this. The film is going to open the gig. We plan to come on to it.

"After that we plan on doing an hour-and-a-half set."

This year has been another one featuring steady progress for the Madding Crowd following gigs at Jackson's Pit, Glasgow, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Liverpool and more, while already plans for 2017 include trips to Leeds, Doncaster, London and the Kings Arms in Salford.

Saturday week ought to see excellent numbers show up at the Miners club, and the whole band are geared up for what promises to be a special night.

Ben added: "It's just been growing and it does seem like we're the best we've ever been at the moment.

"There's a lot riding on the night, but it feels like there's good momentum behind us.

"We're getting a lot of airplay at the moment, we've done and are doing press stuff, magazine interviews."

Tickets for the Madding Crowd's EP launch night are available via the link on the band's Facebook page.