The Lodge at the Deaf Institute is the smaller of two rooms at Manchester’s long-established venue. In the not-too-recent past, it was a café and a bar – the likes of Jonathan Richman and Hayes Carll had been witnessed as customers within its environs.
On a couple of previous visits to this room in the venue, crowds have been a bit threadbare – to be fair, it’s been down to competing attractions across the city – one poor recent US touring act had the misfortune to clash with Bruce Springsteen, Kylie and Manchester City at home, all taking place on the same night. So it was good to see a decent number of bodies in place – on a Tuesday night – in time to catch the support Jacob Coley. Coley’s half-hour set of ambient, floaty and atmospheric soundscapes featuring the psychedelic guitar tones of Jack Boles acted as a taster to a forthcoming album release, which will be interesting to hear within a full band context.
Fifteen minutes earlier than the advertised time, John R. Miller and J. Tom Hnatow took to the stage without ceremony and started, as they had with the prior gigs on this trip, with ‘Shenandoah Shakedown‘. After the rowdy and partisan reception to the opener, Miller commented that he was sorry that the pair were being low-key – and joked that the rest of the set would be of a similar mood, although he wryly promised a slight semblance of a shift in dynamic in the middle.
A few new songs were cast into the set – as they weren’t introduced by title, it was impossible to name them, but in tone and style they were what you’d expect from John R. Miller – literate, world weary and somewhat noirish tales of the highways and byways of America and those who populate it.
After a rapturously received take on ‘Half Ton Van’, Miller remarked that they’d be happy to listen for audience requests -and that opened the floodgates. A passionate and clued in audience then proceeded to offload the names of all the deep cuts and favourites they could think of – and the duo kept playing them – even the ones that lap steel and guitar accompanist Hnatow hadn’t rehearsed – or in one case – even heard before – and when Miller forgot the words to one long unplayed song around the third verse, the audience put him back on track. The connection and warmth in the room was making this a special night for audience and performer alike.
To add to the increasingly surreal nature of the gig, an audience member then politely requested if he could take a picture of Miller with a dangling soft monkey toy hanging from his mic stand. Such was the conviviality in the place, he just shrugged, looked at the phone camera and smiled…
In between the requests, there was at least one new song – about being stuck on an east coast turnpike, and the experience of restroom literature – from an upcoming release that Miller said would be released at some indeterminate time in the Spring – ”Providing we survive the apocalypse”.
‘Cornbread and Pinto Beans’, ‘Forgive and Forgotten’ (A Ward Harrison co-write which was the only song introduced by name all night) and ‘Faustina’ were highlights in the mesmerising lead up to the final rush of ‘Conspiracies, Cults and UFOs’.
Following on from his UK support slots to Tyler Childers. John R. Miller has clearly picked up an enthusiastic core of followers in the country, and special nights like this one will only serve to broaden his reputation and fan base.
